I don't know what's wrong with me! I just can't think... even typing this right now is difficult. I'm not sure if I have ADD, since I've never been diagnosed with it, or any other disorders. I have a really hard time in school because I don't really understand anything. I tell myself that I'm going to "try hard" today in school and really try to soak up the info, but when I get to class and we're learning something I don't even know if I'm trying or not. It's weird, I don't really know how to "try." I feel like my mind is constantly blank whether I'm writing essays or just talking to someone. I sometimes have trouble reading books. History is my worst subject; if I'm assigned reading, I'll read it without a problem, but I just don't "get it" and I can't retain any of it. I've tried a bunch of techniques like taking notes off to the side but I still don't understand it. When I'm reading something boring I think more about finishing it than what I'm actually reading. Whenever I get worksheets that have questions like "What is ___" I can answer it if the answer is in my book like this :" ___ is _____" But when I'm asked a critical thinking question... I just can't think. I can't make connections between things either.

I hope that made sense. Does anyone know what this is called? Stupidity?

You aren't stupid, Peach. Your post was clear, concise, and offered specific examples of where you find things to be difficult/lacking. You used punctuation. You had noun/verb agreement. See? You're intelligent. SO, if this doesn't feel like it's coming through for you, maybe you should look into what you can do about it. You mentioned being in school, but do you mean high school or college?

Peach, your post made perfect sense. I didn't see anything stupid hanging around you at all. You seem to be aware you have a problem, and are trying to find an answer (that is just waaay more intelligent than so many) The things you say appear around here a lot.. so it may be worth it to check into diag for ADD.

ms_sunshine- You aren't stupid, Peach. Your post was clear, concise, and offered specific examples of where you find things to be difficult/lacking. You used punctuation. You had noun/verb agreement. See? You're intelligent
...uh oh, just another reason i'm riding around in the short bus. i feel i spend so much time typing, i've just quit worrying about those things. i'm boycotting the shift key most of the time, and feeling more comfortable with lower case, and words such as sitin, sein, pikin..etc

Peach..you seem very smart to me, but jump on the bus antime you want.

I hated reading assignments in University, they were always from unbearably boring books and dry as the Mohave Desert.

Anyway, I didn't learn until much later a technique for getting through dullsville material:

I set up a series of questions to ask what I want to get out of the material.

So if it was a novel even, you might ask yourself:

What was the basic story?

What is the point or message the writer was trying to make?

What kind of imagery did the author use to set the scene?

How does the style of this book compare with the other books I've read by the same author?

And then as yu are reading, keep looking for the answers to these questions.

You can adapt questions like this depending on what your are reading/the purpose and so on.

Hope this might be an option for you.

cs

I have asked myself so many times weather I'm just stupid, or what. It's a totally natural reaction when you've tried things and have run out of answers.

I have a lot of trouble with reading textbooks too, especially math-based ones, and history, but also with anything else which gets assigned to me, even if I find it interesting. I've learned one trick from my 5 years in college though: don't read just for the sake of reading, read to find answers. Just like what crime_scene said, but you can apply it even more broadly.

Next time you have to read a chapter, read the questions at the END first. Think about them and try to answer them without reading - that will help you really understand what the question is and get you engaged with the text. Once you've thought about it and you're thinking "how am I supposed to know THAT?" then you go back and start reading the book, looking for the answer. I do it with only one question at a time, becuase otherwise I forgot about looking for answers.

For math-based stuff, do the exact same thing, except with the problems at the back. Those problems are like little treasures! If I can figure out how to do a problem by only reading one tiny section of the book, then great. If I read that and need to back up a bit, then so be it. At least now your search is TARGETED. If I try to read a math or physics (or any other math-based book) straight through without trying the problems, it will wash over my head and be a complete waste of time.

I'm a mechanical engineering major (about to graduate), and I don't know a single person in my class who doesn't use this same technique. I'm not sure if this is right, but I read somewhere that Albert Einstein did it too.

ur not a dunse, ur not stupid in fact ur the opposite, me on the other hand am, i'll give u an example:

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41165000/jpg/_41165356_lights_bbc_66.jpg

ok the title of this headline is:

CLIMATE CHANGE

can uk goverment policies put the break on climate change?

ok i saw the picture and i quickly skimmed the title, to me it looked as though the uk had come up with some sort of highly advanced solution to the climate change problem and it was something that were to build in space that would do something about it, i clicked on the link and it was just about policies that the uk is trying to hold to by cutting emisions, me confused went back again and though somethings not right here, clicked on the link and read the whole article then went back and it dawned on me, the picture is actually a slant side of a cars rear light not anything to do with space or anything like that.....for some reason i thought i was something to do with on of those theorised solutions something about building mirrors in space or something to convert the greenhouse gases, something like that anyways i can't remember it now lol

but as u can see what i did there THAT was dumb, u on the other hand seem the opposite, u can tell my the structure of the text and they way in which u convayed ur problem.

Hi Peach -

I so related to your posting. After going through lots of frustrating classes because I could not retain a thing, I was tested for learning disabilities. What I got out of it was this: most people have this thing where when they see something their mind makes a mental picture and it sticks, some don't have the "sticking" mechanism. What that means in simple terms is we have to be creative to make things (info) stick. Some people already mentioned some great techniques and they will work. I was taught to make an outline for a play and then filled in the blanks. Things like, what is the plot about? who are the main characters? what is the date of the event? where do things take place? what is important to remember?

Bottom line is that we need to take the info and find a way to make it stick that works for us. Using color helps too, black and white info (type) is hard to retain for some. I use colored index cards, colored highlights, something about the brightness makes it easier to get the info into my brain.

Hope these suggestions help.........and the most important thing is that you have to review, review, review. Don't schedule more than one class in a 3 hour time span, there has to be time to let things sink in and make sense of it in your own way. This is if you are in college, of course. Good luck, you are not dumb!!!!

I ask myself the same question very often. It's really sad because I'm going to med school in the fall, and I'm scared as crap that I'm gonna fail out. It's not that I don't learn the material, it's just that it takes soooooooooooooooooo long (like 3 or 4 times as long as my friends!) to learn one simple concept. On the up side, what I do learn, I learn it VERY well.

I've been told that med school is a fast paced learning/memorization game (we're not gonna even get into how I have the WORST time with memorization), and I won't have time to spend a whole day on one concept...

It makes me sad, but also a bit motivated to find what can help me "learn to learn".

Some colleges ,or voc schools have courses that teach you how to study and learn. I hear the functions on med school it's like me and the computer certifications now the certs wants a year experience which is recommend to pass the test you need the paper to get the job and the experience.



Never feel about how much time it takes you to learn anything be happy that you are learning period. Grades aren't everything I admit it's easier said then done the less you worry the better of you are.

In school, if we were reading a story, it always seemed like mine was missing a few pages. Same with any type of directions...It's like I had step 1, 3, 5 but 2 and 4 got cut off on my copy. I get stuck a lot. I was convinced that I was just stupid but then someone pointed out to me that when I understand something I get A's on it so I can't be stupid. Although I'm beginning to question that lately because yesterday I sent alll my bills out. I was so proud because they were all on time this month. The problem is that I sent them all to MYSELF! Duh...

The only thing that worked for me was to study at 3:00 in the morning. No distractions, no thoughts from the day running through my head, basically nothing else to do or think about. I would sit in class most days unable to learn, staring at the instructor and counting the minutes. I would just expect to have to teach it to myself at a time I could focus. At 3:00 in the morning my mind is empty and I can process 10 times more information in a very short period of time.