Help! Getting proper instruction at work

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Unfortunate_Aspie_
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04 Mar 2016, 3:04 pm

The people at my job think I'm smart... Not sure what I did to earn that praise but whatever be that as it may- it has stayed affixed to my social image somehow....

However, I realize that there is linguistically a huge gap between what I am understanding with them and what they feel like they are conveying.

I am very very very much so a "pictures person" if I don't have a picture in my head of what you are talking about I will simply never understand it NO MATTER WHAT much like temple Grandin I imagine. However, most things and most oral instruction I can convert effortlessly into my picture language in my brain. It usually isn't a problem. however sometimes I come across translation issues.
I have been for the past three months at my job. And it's been two months of training and intro stuff however, I still basically have no grasp of what I am doing and keep asking them questions every day - very similar questions. I can tell that they don't understand why I don't understand what they are saying. I keep telling them "I don't understand the way you are saying it could you draw out a flow chart or make up a business flow or give me a procedural booklet or something all this oral instruction is very difficult for me to understand. I'm not seeing it in my mind I need to see it."
Or "I don't have a sense of product and work flow I am not seeing the bigger picture here what can I do to better understand that?"
And they keep explaining in words and I STILL am not getting it. Also I find I am having a very hard time generalizing their instructions - this is all beginning to affect my work so.... Like I will understand it in one setting for one account but then they expect me to use that for the others too and that's just isn't making sense to me.
Any tips? Pointers?
They never provided me with a manual or anything written down or concrete it's just all orally said and that's a huge problem. Especially because it's very industry specific vocab and such as the words bill of lading they kept saying and saying this word and I kept repeating I don't understand the significance of this word when you say it it has no meaning for me because I don't understand what the word lading means in this context. And I didn't understand it until I looked up the dutch etymology for the word..... Then I understood it but they just never really bothered to explain it...
It's starting to affect my work performance :oops:



btbnnyr
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04 Mar 2016, 3:17 pm

Perhaps you can draw a diagram of what you do understand, then show it to a coworker when asking about what you don't understand, then they can put on the diagram that parts you are missing, or tell you if your diagram matches their understanding of what you are all working on.


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Unfortunate_Aspie_
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04 Mar 2016, 4:48 pm

btbnnyr wrote:
Perhaps you can draw a diagram of what you do understand, then show it to a coworker when asking about what you don't understand, then they can put on the diagram that parts you are missing, or tell you if your diagram matches their understanding of what you are all working on.

Oh wow that's actually a really good idea. Huh I didn't think of that. That's good since the exchange of words don't seem to be working here.
I will do this today and see what happens!
Any other suggestions are welcome as well!
This is a good first step I think though!



hmk66
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08 Mar 2016, 3:38 am

I have a similar problem. Instructions must be either written or paper or mailed to me (on my workmail), especially I can have multiple tasks that I am working on, or are suspended for whatever reason.

Most tasks are clear enough, but sometimes tasks must be in a graphical form: This is the desired situation. Please do this task in the way that the result is the same as in this picture. Then I know exactly what I must do.

The problem is that some colleagues (including my previous boss) think that I have an intellectual retardation, while other colleagues notice that - when they are talking with me - I am smart.

One some machines, especially a copying machine, there are pictograms that shows for example, how to replace an empty toner with a new full one. They are either sticked to the door of the machine or displayed on its display with Next and Previous buttons. This is very useful, although it is more a way to circumvent language problems than knowing that there might be picture thinking or autistic users of the machine.

In case of computers, my life become way easier since the introduction of Windows like system and graphical text processors like Word, because I can see exactly how the document will be, when I would print it.