Attention span

Thanks. I think in part, this is related to being bored and have had depression for the last week or so.

I am not normally this bad. In fact, it's quite easy to just get so drawn into things that I lose track of time.

I'd meant to add before logging on started playing up, something about concentration when reading.

This is a widely reported phenomenon and not necessarily connected with AS but I do wonder if AS (or a co-morbid factor like ADHD, as David suggests) plays a part.

When reading a story the thread of the story (or "storyline") helps you overcome the boring/less stimulating bits. However people on the spectrum may have trouble imagining the characters in a story. Also some people with dyslexia, because they lose retention of the beginning of a sentence by the time they get to the end, may have trouble with continuity.

Consequently if you are reading something where the "storyline" is hard to follow, such as an academic paper or textbook, or an engineering specification, you will find it difficult to concentrate because you cannot identify a connection between one bit and the next. You may be having to remember lots of information, and that in itself is distracting.

I frequently sat for days reading engineering specifications never getting beyond page 2, about which I feel very guilty, but also glad no-one seemed to notice. Engineering specs are often written on a template on a computer where dry facts are just set down in pre-determined spaces.

I'm currently reading a book about Welsh Kings. Trying to remember the regions, like Dyfed and Deubareth as a non-Welsh speaker and the complex patronymic names, which all seem much the same, the reading process is just tortuously slow. I'll often pick up after a short break and find I'm reading a page I've already read fifteen minutes earlier, the content of which I hardly recognise. 

The only way round this is to keep a notebook, or just bits of paper, on which you record the facts you feel you need to remember, and draw some arrows, spider diagrams or flow diagrams to show how things connect. This provides points of reference and some degree of "thread" or "storyline". For visual thinkers this may be especially helpful. Conversely number fanatics may find it easier to give blocks of information codes.

There are also systems for structured reading where, instead of reading from the beginning to the end of a chapter you read the key bits (if you can find them) then a little bit round them to get the context, then fuill in the gaps, making notes as you go. If this seems repetitious, yes it is, but so is reading and re-reading linearly, if there's no storyline.

In brief many people with Autism have diffiiculty paying attention as they have a Co-Existing condition called ADD Attention Deficit Disorder.

I have heard that some people take medication for this condition but I do not really know if it is good to take medication for this condition.

Use medication as a last resort for Psychiatric conditions in my humble opinion.

This does not mean that you should not try to pay attention.

A quick reply from the Libriary as I cannot log in at home to this forum.

David

You either need supportive structure or conducive environment or possibly both.

Supportive Structure means having a plan broken down into a set of goals. You don't say what you are trying to concentrate on, whether it is coursework for a qualification, the task in hand at work, or something less formal.  If you can break the task down that helps remove anxiety about which thing to do when.

You may find you need the prospect of reward: a drink or a biscuit or hald an hour on a favourite compter game or piece of music. Also some people like a displacement activity. There used to be a range of office creations for this, like the device with suspended ball bearings where swinging the first sets the others iin motion.

The other issue is Conducive Environment. What's distracting you?  It may mean wearing headphones. If it is not in itself distracting playing some quite music over the headphones. Wear a cap or a hood so you are not affected by peripheral distractions. Find a room where the colour of the wall or curtains makes you feel more focussed. Some people feel better in a darkened room with a localised reading lamp, others prefer to study in sunlight or in a room lit by ceiling reflected light.

Make sure you are not responsive to flickering in fluorescent tubes, or outside noises.

Hopefully that may give you some ideas - or if you can give more information, maybe someone can offer more useful suggestions.