Can't See The Forest For The Trees (Bottom-Up Thinking)

There are some short courses on Futurelearn which I've found really helpful. It's sort of "accessible academia" and you can engage with others in discussions as well as do tasks so theyre quite interactive.  The one by the University of Kent has been really useful and I'm part way through one with the Uni of Birmingham about attention in autism/adhd/dyslexic individuals. They are free for a limited number of weeks. Theyre sort of a "next step" past reading blogs etc. because they delve into the science but are understandable to the every day person.  

I really like FutureLearn, I liked parts of the course on autistic experience because it included autistic academics and advocates such as Damian Milton. There were other parts that could have been improved/were not accurate though. I think the one I am talking about is the same one you have completed by the University of Kent. What was your favourite part of the University of Kent autism course? I liked the case study part.

I also tried the Understanding ADHD course but didn’t like it because it was very pathologising and unnecessarily medicalised.

The course on attention in autistic/ADHD/dyslexic people sounds really interesting! Does it include the theory of monotropism? Hope you continue to enjoy it! 

Thanks for the recommendation!

Yes I did that one too, I thought it was really good and I liked the case study too. What I liked was how it made me think about others experiences of autism, as I've only got my own to go on and people struggle with different areas. Also how autism and learning difficulties are two different things and can occur together or separately.  I liked how research and videos of Milton were included as it supports the idea of more autistic people being involved in and leading research.

The one I'm doing now about attention, the first bit was an introduction of what autism is. We have to remember these courses are for autistic and allistic alike. I found the explanations quite simplistic and a bit "deficit based" but I put that to one side. If people doing the course don't know about autism, they have to start from somewhere and it cant be overly complicated and get into politics too much.

I dont think it includes monotropism. I get the feeling that is a very new concept, not necessarily scientifically researched much and maybe not known much outside of autism circles. I think it will cover aspects of this but using different language. I'll post any revelations should they happen.

Yes I did that one too, I thought it was really good and I liked the case study too. What I liked was how it made me think about others experiences of autism, as I've only got my own to go on and people struggle with different areas. Also how autism and learning difficulties are two different things and can occur together or separately.  I liked how research and videos of Milton were included as it supports the idea of more autistic people being involved in and leading research.

The one I'm doing now about attention, the first bit was an introduction of what autism is. We have to remember these courses are for autistic and allistic alike. I found the explanations quite simplistic and a bit "deficit based" but I put that to one side. If people doing the course don't know about autism, they have to start from somewhere and it cant be overly complicated and get into politics too much.

I dont think it includes monotropism. I get the feeling that is a very new concept, not necessarily scientifically researched much and maybe not known much outside of autism circles. I think it will cover aspects of this but using different language. I'll post any revelations should they happen.

I'm actually probably going to leave the attention one and not complete it. Some of it isn't well put together and some of it just doesn't sit right with me. It seems to be aimed at neurotypical school teachers and aimed very much at what children shouldn't be doing or can't do and how to change this. (Although I am aware teachers have a job to do). It seemed to be a lot about "atypical attention shows in autism" and heres what it looks like in behaviour but no other info. Nothing about the internal processes. I think anxiety can account for a lot of atypical attention! And I do wonder how much "difficulties with attention" are exacerbated by exposure to modern technology in childrens' developing brains across all types of brain wiring.

I think the final straw was "here's the medical model now discuss how you think the traits affect attention" with no further input from the course creators.  The discussion contributions were quite simplistic. That and a brain scan which showed "normal" and "autistic". Im not saying I "know it all" but feel I already have a greater understanding of attention in my own autism because I have got to grips with understanding executive function/inertia/bottom up thinking/monotropism. 

 I'm sure it has good intentions but I won't be continuing!

One interesting thing I found out in the discussions was about Bionic reading. Where some of the text is in bold. It's said it can maybe help focus when reading (aimed more at dyslexia and adhd really). My adhd friend have it a go and said there's probably some potential in it.

On the Kent one, I think I did a case study on both because I was enjoying it so much. The boy was very different to me and I wanted to stretch myself a bit.

Unknown said:

Yes I did that one too, I thought it was really good and I liked the case study too. What I liked was how it made me think about others experiences of autism, as I've only got my own to go on and people struggle with different areas.

Yes it’s good to learn about other autistic experiences as our community is so diverse! I am glad you enjoyed it, it’s good to know that some courses about us are actually endorsed by our own community. Which case study did you choose to analyse? I chose to write about the autistic teenage girl.

Unknown said:

I found the explanations quite simplistic and a bit "deficit based" but I put that to one side

This is exactly what I thought when I researched the attention course, it seems very much based on the medical model, and understanding the subject of autism as opposed to actual autistic lived experiences.

Unknown said:

I dont think it includes monotropism. I get the feeling that is a very new concept, not necessarily scientifically researched much and maybe not known much outside of autism circles. I think it will cover aspects of this but using different language. I'll post any revelations should they happen.

You are right, monotropism is not a new theory the first paper on the subject was published in 2005, but not much is known about it outside of the autistic community. I look forward to hearing about your revelations!