Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello lovely people! I'm a late diagnosed autistic adult, and I've been trying to work on my imposter syndrome. I was convinced I was autistic right up until I was diagnosed, and now that it's official I keep questioning it (as I am overall functioning fairly well, on average, especially since I started working from home, which has removed the majority of my social triggers).
One thing that keeps making me feel like an imposter is that I hate research. It stresses me out. There is so much information out there, I find it overwhelming, having to choose how and what to look for, and then there is so much to read or watch. I know wanting to learn everything about a subject is a big aspect of autism, researching things in depth etc, so not enjoying research makes me feel like an imposter within the autistic community. I do spend a lot of time checking things before buying so I know I'm buying the right thing, but I hate doing it. And one thing that doesn't help me at all is that I rarely research new places I'm going to, how I'm going to get there, where I'll park etc, because the research stresses me out so I ignore it or leave it to the last second. But then I get to the place and I get overwhelmed because I don't know where to park etc.
Can anyone relate to this? Do you have any recommendations for ways to approach research in a smaller, less overwhelming and stressful way?
I'm with you on hating research. I like to know things, but I'm a kinaesthetic learner, not visual. Keep in mind that autism isn't one catch all thing where everyone has the exact same qualities. Some of us are non-verbal, others uncomfortable with silence. Some are very schedule oriented, others feel pressured by them.
The first thing I think is to know what kind of learner you are. I learn more from simulations and hands on experimenting than I do reading or listening. Of course, reading is often our only option, so I'd suggest where possible to control the formatting, if you can. If you're on PC, for example, copying and pasting the text into a word document with a more preferred font and line/paragraph spacing might help.