• Feeling isolated? You're not alone.

    Join 20,000+ people who understand exactly how your day went. Whether you're newly diagnosed, self-identified, or supporting someone you love – this is a space where you don't have to explain yourself.

    Join the Conversation → It's free, anonymous, and supportive.

    As a member, you'll get:

    • A community that actually gets it – no judgment, no explanations needed
    • Private forums for sensitive topics (hidden from search engines)
    • Real-time chat with others who share your experiences
    • Your own blog to document your journey

    You've found your people. Create your free account

How much self-directed education do you do? How do you do it?

I like reading all sorts, well almost all sorts of things. The next thing I need to learn how to install flexible plumbing in a crawl space that is only 10" high under my very old house. lol

Here is a recent one, beautifully written as always, by Oliver Sacks - if you are interested in the brain (as I am).

Trying to edit this as I just realized due to its ending, it might be upsetting.

Spalding Gray’s Catastrophe - The New Yorker
 
Last edited:
I have fleeting interests, they chop and change a lot.

At the moment I'm going through a nuclear physics phase, I've got my eye on a pile of books (I'll probably never read) but the idea is a nice one
 
danielcollins said:
I have fleeting interests, they chop and change a lot.

At the moment I'm going through a nuclear physics phase, I've got my eye on a pile of books (I'll probably never read) but the idea is a nice one
Click to expand...
My interests change constantly too. I get upset with myself because I can't focus on one thing long enough to really learn it well. They cycle through a few different subjects so I know whenever I lose interest in something it will come back around later and I'll pick up where I left off.
 
I have an "obsession" with anything DIY and if it's broken, I can most likely fix it. My main "thought-theme" is that I just understand how things work. My hands-on self-taught experience with computers, mechanics and many subcategories of those two, has helped me figure out how my brain's thought processes and patterns work. I'm currently working on a diagram.
 
I'm self-taught with writing, and self-teaching programming. When I have more free time, I'll go back to math. I'm happier learning on my own.
 
My thing is before I found this forum I really didn't care for computers. To tell how bad off I am, today I had to ask my daughter what a blog was. So when I say research I mean books, magazines and video.

It goes like this; I get interested in a subject and research it as hard as I can for say 4 months, then I'll just lose interest. Then I go through a lull. Then I'll inexplicably get hooked on a completely different subject and process starts all over again. This has followed me ever since high school. I have never considered this a bad thing, but it is peculiar.
 
danielcollins said:
I have fleeting interests, they chop and change a lot.

At the moment I'm going through a nuclear physics phase, I've got my eye on a pile of books (I'll probably never read) but the idea is a nice one
Click to expand...

Hah, another recreational physicist! I went through a brief, intense phase featuring Frank Tippler and Brian Greene's stuff.

Sully said:
My interests change constantly too. I get upset with myself because I can't focus on one thing long enough to really learn it well. They cycle through a few different subjects so I know whenever I lose interest in something it will come back around later and I'll pick up where I left off.
Click to expand...

I do this too; I cycle through an art year, a music year, and a writing year, and within those domains are a lot of gnarly distinct interests. That "learn it well" thing, though--I've come to believe that "it," the thing I'm learning, is not part of the domain of a specific art, but of thinking artistically. The exercise of the creative mind may even require learning this way, as ideas and concepts are often reshaped when they go through the formatting from one type of knowledge to another.

thecybrknight said:
My hands-on self-taught experience with computers, mechanics and many subcategories of those two, has helped me figure out how my brain's thought processes and patterns work.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I would not have thought that a computer was a metaphor for brain, but my (light) experience with acupressure treatments have got me thinking of the computer circuitry as a metaphor for the human body; it's led me many times into the brain-and-gut relationship that so many Aspies are sensitive to.

thecybrknight said:
I'm currently working on a diagram.
Click to expand...

I LOOOOVVVE diagrams. Hope you're willing to post it, or blog about it, sometime. As art, or as process illustration, it would be interesting. I've used a number of these to explore how I think (or fail to) in the blog.
 
I go it alone. When drawing and I'm on vacation, it's museums and a life-instruction workshop, but most of the year I use references and then alter them, upload, then get feedback. Copying is boring, I like to create a concept for my characters.

I know when something is enough when one sees no improvement, which is why I had stopped writing (and drawing) years before. I have since returned to drawing. I dunno if the same would happen with the novels. They need editing.
 
Most of my learning is self-directed; most notably, in high school I taught myself calculus to pass the AP exam (I was in a class for it, but the teacher was pretty terrible and then we were left with a substitute for a while when he had to get major cancer-related surgery, so out of the 13 people in the class I was the only one to pass). To some degree, I like to learn on my own because my way of thinking through a lot of problems kind of works backwards from the way things are taught. When tutoring a neurotypical friend in math, he had to end our sessions because it seemed like I did math backwards.

Currently, I'm working on learning different game development tools and methods, including the writing and art element creation (ideally I'd like to do animated pixel-art for my own projects). I've picked up several textbooks to start out, building on what I already know from my time in school taking computer science classes. Hoping that my new telecommute job will leave me with more energy in my off hours to work on this stuff more! :)
 
Part of my regular schooling was home study because my BPD suffering father got the idea that the government was out to get us, and public schools were brainwashing us into a one world government mentality. So I learned to work on my own - parents were no help with school work.

Later I did get one degree at a university, then three more via correspondence. (Meteorology, Veterinary Technician and, Computer Programming all correspondence. Music with a minor in psychology at the university.)

I enjoy learning and, I prefer to do it at my own pace, in my own time. I still take correspondence courses, just individual ones that are of interest to me, not working on another degree right now but, I may find one I want in the future.

I also read a lot, mostly primitive living, self sufficiency, off grid living, eco friendly yard and garden management, animal husbandry, cooking, home preservation of food and, disaster preparedness books.

I have to be interested in a subject to take classes about it and get the coursework done on my own. If it bores me, I won't do it. I don't need another degree so, I see no reason to be bored with useless classes just to learn something I do want to know more about.
 
self-directed education. I think I disliked school's formal education since they didn't do it playful-wise, or directly left no room for anything creative at all. I lost my interest when it turned mechanic, still I had to finish my studies. I currently study long distance but manuals and exam system are still mechanic and still I'm not productive that way.

I learn a lot better if is more playful, creative, so I tended to study and work on my own since I was a teen and I was pointed by the teachers because we were suppoused to do team-work. I couldn't fit into team-work most of the times.

I guess as a writer I do a lot of self-education, research for a story, a scene a particular job or hobby, a particular time in History, a particular place, makes me learn a lot about many "random" things, that fit together in a story, so they turn to be not that random, right?
In my current studies I couldn't filter my "random" knowledge and the teacher pointed at it as if it were a bad thing, said all those things were just useless, even when some of those "random" contents were further knowledge about what our manuals said we had to learn.

I'm going to take a year off my current degree and think afterwards if I finish that degree, change to another, try another educative system or not take any more formal studies and just fit in small groups or particular courses that I'm interested on or just keep researching on my own on my fields of interest -like checking psychology manuals and such-.

The only semi-formal course I felt better taking were creative writing courses, which given my bad experience with other formal studlies I was hesitant to take, but those were creative, and open-minded, so I learnt a lot there and had a great time.
 
Asher Skyler said: Quote: I kind of want to go back to college, but only on my own terms. No degree, only what classes I want, and at the pace I want. I really hate how these "online" classes require me to be physically present at the campus, and that is not a realistic option for us parents with underage children and no babysitters. Either let the kid on campus or let me take it online. If I'm paying for it, you are then my employee, not vice versa.[/QUOTE]

Ashe Skyler have you heard of Coursera? Coursera - Free Online Courses From Top Universities They are free online courses from some of the best universities and colleges in the world. I've taken many courses with them, especially art courses. It's all completely online and you don't have to be physically present at the university offering the courses. You can't always get exactly the 'perfect' course to fit you, but something being offered might interest you. They are free for everyone in the world who has an internet connection. They also change their offerings every school semester. My spouse has also taken several as well.

Note: Just to add, many intro courses are free, and many in the humanities as well. The business and core computer courses cost, as well as some other offerings. Check before you sign up.
 
Last edited:
What kinds of things do you like to take on as self-education?

Fixations and obsessions.
2-14 years old - Taking apart electric and mechanical devices, to figure out how they work.
12-17 years old - CB radio
10-19 years old - shortwave radio and scanner listening
16-21 years old - Amateur radio / antenna theory and design
19-23 years old - 1972 Chevy C-10 truck - completely rebuilt/modified the powertrain for high performance.
23-27 years old - existential dilemma / the fall - coming to terms that I'm very out of sorts with the world that I live in.
25-present - numerous attempts to rekindle my special interests. All flounder do to failure to live by the hierarchy of needs.
27-30 years old - radio wave diffraction theory
35-39 years old - hash extrapolation (A set of bash scripts (with mythological underpinnings) for archiving files, and then mining them for data.
38-present - (non)existential theory, philosophy

What experiences have you had doing this?

When I immerse myself in my interest, I find in very comforting, even vital.

Is it easier working with a small group when it's self-directed, or do you need to go it alone?

I'd like to try working in a group, but I've always tended to work on my own, with the exception of internet and radio conversation.

How do you know when you've had "enough?"

When something else becomes more interesting, or I get frustrated, I'll set it aside for awhile.

What have you learned recently that you're excited about? Or what's your current fascinating subject?

A lot off my free time these days is spent educating myself about living with ASD, as I am sure that I'm on the spectrum.
 
Right now I'm reading Livy's history of Rome. I may have to stop, though, since I'm taking five classes :eek:

I've studied several languages independently, although German and Latin are the only ones I'm still any good at. Actually taught myself Latin well enough that I tested out of the introductory classes, so I got to skip two semesters. A lot of what I teach myself ends up being related to the classes I'm taking now, though.
 
Mia said:
Asher Skyler said: Quote: I kind of want to go back to college, but only on my own terms. No degree, only what classes I want, and at the pace I want. I really hate how these "online" classes require me to be physically present at the campus, and that is not a realistic option for us parents with underage children and no babysitters. Either let the kid on campus or let me take it online. If I'm paying for it, you are then my employee, not vice versa.
Click to expand...

Ashe Skyler have you heard of Coursera? Coursera - Free Online Courses From Top Universities They are free online courses from some of the best universities and colleges in the world. I've taken many courses with them, especially art courses. It's all completely online and you don't have to be physically present at the university offering the courses. You can't always get exactly the 'perfect' course to fit you, but something being offered might interest you. They are free for everyone in the world who has an internet connection. They also change their offerings every school semester. My spouse has also taken several as well.[/QUOTE]

I shall certainly be looking that up, looks amazing! Here's hoping my attention span lasts the course..
 
I'm trying to step up my self-learning, I used to be very frustrated with my own lack of general direction but I'm not somewhat more content to just go with whatever interests me.

My interests in physics and pharmacology leads me to some, interesting places that others would probably find very weird (like researching mercury poisoning perhaps?) but I see it all as a healthy interest in something I don't understand. I think I probably lose interest in something when my mind perceives to understand it (at my level) so maybe that's another effecting factor.

With the news that we've confirmed gravitational waves in the universe I'm back on physics again. Wish I understood some of the algebra though, some of it is mind boggling. Don't even start on quantum mechanics.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New Threads

Top Bottom