Published on 12, July, 2020
Long time autism user, first time caller.
Turns out I'm an adult who got a (very) late autism diagnosis. And on that spectrum, suffers massive difficulties in reading and comprehension. Newspaper headlines make no sense to me. Never passed an English exam et cetera et cetera et cetera...
I've not had much success or help with my autism (or as my autism puts it having to put up with me) . You contact the NAS - who tell you to contact local autism authority, who in turn tell you to contact the local council who in turn tell you to contact NAS And around we go... Sound familiar, to any one?
I can easily spiral this into the lack of help for adults with autism, but I'm sure I can do that later.
With the exception of (expensive) private tuition I haven't found any leads for help for adults looking to improve or overcome barriers in English comprehension. "if you've not figured it out by now you never will" being the general census of thinking. If I've written this then what help do I need? The irony of trying to find help with comprehension on a bulletin board is not lost on me.
I enjoy reading, but since my diagnosis and realisation that I "ain't reading it right"* and maybe misunderstanding a great deal, my interest has fallen dramatically and I think I've managed to actually finish three books in the last two years. Whereas unfinished books number about seventeen.
Where do we go now?
NAS83147
*#IFYKYK
I think the best solution is to use an online iq test, I saw 50 websites, but settled on IQ Global Test and https://worldiqtest.com/ the results were 121 and 123 IQ which is about the same.
Hello, I used the site https://officialiqtests.com
I was very pleased with the IQ report and brain analysis page.
The trick to passing an English exam, and other exams, is to figure out what the examiners are looking for and give it to them.
At school I failed all my English exams, ungraded at my first attempt, ungraded at my second attempt, then a D and another D. I was hopeless. I managed a Maths degree easily.
In my middle age I gave it another try, I went for the functional skills English level 2, equivalent to GCSE, I did the English course from start to finish, I also read books on hints what the examiners are looking for. In the comprehension exam I passed with a mark of 100%, a record grade for the centre.
There's always hope
I did your test, nice one, no linguistically related questions, so it doesn't matter if you even speak any language at all
That's faster than 97% of people tested.Your strongest category is Spatial Orientation where you scored higher than 99% of people tested.
What reflects my way of viewing any traffic, and my relation to it
I've got auditory version of dyslexia, it becomes real nuissance during phone conversations, so I dread them.
I watch movies, and tutorials with subtitles, at an increased speed, because it's easier for autistic+ADHD person with speech recognition difficulties
Hi.
It might be wrong type of books, not in your area of expertise/interests/hobbys.
I found really good channel on youtube with lots of advice for us, when we find out to be autistic as adults and feel lost. It starts with Double Empathy Problem www.youtube.com/watch
I struggled with Comprehension at School; until it finally clicked when doing GCSEs.
Having the right Teacher helped. From first to third year, I had a b***h of a Teacher. She rubbed our position in a Secondary Modern on our noses. But at GCSE level, I had a more understanding Teacher.
Prior to my autism diagnosis I forked out for a dyslexia test. I was told the results would be same day and told some relative weaknesses... no dyslexic or dyspraxic profile. Oddly the results needed to be referred to the board as it wasn't clear cut. Several weeks later I was told that I do not have dyslexia.
Many thanks.
Hi, used this one, I don’t know how valid it is. There is a cost at the end to get your result and report. It’s not general knowledge, it’s all based on working out patterns in diagrams, ‘what comes next?’
https://www.test-iq.org
Did you do an online IQ test and if so would you mind posting a link please (or telling me the name)?
I have never done one and have been unsure if it's worth it at my age with my diminishing brain cells but I might give it a try.
Thank you.
Hi, something that is more common in autistic people is dyslexia. It’s a common misconception that dyslexia is just seeing letters jumbled up. It does include how we process text and understand it. I’m older and have read two books in my life. I can read a paragraph 4 times and still struggle to understand it. I use a lot of audiobooks as the person reading it blocks out other thoughts and at least I can now enjoy books. I took an IQ test as I always thought that I was of low intelligence. It turns out to be quite the opposite.
There is The Dyslexia Association but as usual it seems more geared towards the young.
Your English written comprehension seems much better than a big percentage of people that I have encountered in my life. Some of whom have University degrees.
Not being able to process spoken or written word is very common along with being extremely tricky with autism. This was especially the case with the latter with me before the common usage of emojis. Spoken word, especially instructions regarding tasks that I personally find very difficult to process. I usually note them all down in my iPhone. As in general spoken conversation I rely a lot on facial reactions. A lot of the conversation tends to me going off on a tangent anyway.