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Advice?

Bianca_Black

New Member
I need some help, I am currently failing my health course in high school, I ace all the tests, but never do the homework, why would I do homework on something I already know? But, I can't explain this to my mother, who would think I have a choice, though I can't do it, I'm unable to concentrate. She's threatening to take away the only thing that calms me down, so I don't know what to do. Any advice?
 
I need some help, I am currently failing my health course in high school, I ace all the tests, but never do the homework, why would I do homework on something I already know? But, I can't explain this to my mother, who would think I have a choice, though I can't do it, I'm unable to concentrate. She's threatening to take away the only thing that calms me down, so I don't know what to do. Any advice?
I take the book and turn the important factual statements and write them down as questions, leaving out answer. Then test myself till I get it. I think in pictures...it helps of I rewrite out my way. Less words.
 
I take the book and turn the important factual statements and write them down as questions, leaving out answer. Then test myself till I get it. I think in pictures...it helps of I rewrite out my way. Less words.
Oops...that was about test taking. They need to see you're moving forward and making the effort. The more it piles up the worse the anxiety. Just do it[emoji214]
 
I am like this too and rather a bit older than yourself.

What you need to do, is make a pretense of doing your homework, to be honest ( sounds ironic, to put pretense and honest in the same sentence lol).

It is awful when you know something but those around you, insist on you studying. I am like this with the highway code, but my husband has a hard time believing I can remember so much, without actually being dilligent with the book and even says that he disbelieves me and this is because he has a bad memory and cannot grasp that perhaps his wife hasn't, even though he often comments with how good my memory is! So I have had to make a pretense with reading the stupid book, to keep him quiet.
 
Well, the best remedy for this situation would be for you to do your homework, as to how: I always found it helpful to stay after school and go to the library and do my homework then, because then I'm still in "school mode" as far as where my attention and concentration were centered, as opposed to going home, switching to "home mode", then trying to switch back to "school mode" on a whim in order to be able to focus on the homework.
 
Yeah, homework can be very tough for those with autism. For me it was the feeling that home time was my time not work time. It's the time I need to relax and de-stress after a long day at school so I would then be able to handle another day of more of the same.

Tony Attwood mentions this in his book, one of the suggestions is to create a period of time for each day where homework would be addressed without distractions in a quiet area. Problems with executive functioning can also be problematic, not knowing how to address the problem you're faced with and organise the task.Help from a parent to set up a time and what to do can be really helpful for many.
 
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Homework can be hard to do at home. I never did homework at home. i always did it at my school library or during a study period at school that way when i got home i didnt have homework to do. I got better grades from it too. You seem a lot like me in the respect that you dont do homework, but you ace the tests. I was a lot like that in high school, but i found that doing homework in the school library helped bring up my grades and helped me see things differently. i would probably still be in high school if i hadnt done that because i would have failed every class. I encourage you to find what works for you and do it as far as homework goes.
 
I hated homework too. My favorite solution was doing it in the class itself, but that became harder as time went on, The going to the library idea is a good one. Or perhaps do it as soon as you get home, but after a small comfort break. Sometimes you do just have to do something you dislike. Just getting it over quickly then, is a good approach, and leaves the rest of the evening yours without the pall of homework doom looming over you.
 
I found that working in the library was the best option for me, also.

Before that, I would delay and delay, exercising, reading, playing guitar, drawing, etc. until it was late at night and everyone else at home was asleep. I would listen to classical music and do the homework. While this worked OK, it also led to a very hard to break habit of staying up late, and chronic sleep deprivation.
 
Bianca_Black

So you are saying that when you
know the topic, there is no reward
for you in completing what seems to
you to be nonessential tasks [aka busywork]?

And virtually any other activity engages
your attention, instead?
 
I wish I had some advice on how to 'want to do homework' but I was the same way. Between homework and tests many of my high school grade books were filled with 100s and 0s.
 
I'm studying again at age 40 and I agree with those who suggest doing homework in the library while still in school mode. I also find it easier to study straight after spending my day at school. If I wait, it is so easy for distractions (chores or fun) to get in the way...and that makes getting back into study mode all the more difficult.

As for doing homework on what you already know...I am doing this in my current botany class. I know most of it already. But I have to do the work to pass. So I do it. But I do it when I'm already "on a roll", right after my botany lecture... It's much easier to just do it while I'm on a roll... Use that metaphorical gravity to push myself through it, rather than procrastinating and then having to get back up that hill to get into study mode.

If you don't want to do homework at school, is there a quiet space where you can do it instead? Somewhere away from distractions? That will help, although there is still a certain amount of willpower involved. :) Put your phone away, or on silent, or turn it off, etc.
 
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