Am I Dumb?
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- Опубликовано: 26 янв 2022
- For a good part of my life I thought I was dumb. Actually, that was the bad part of my life. I struggled in school while my siblings earned honors. (Is that what they call it? I don't remember.) Naturally I assumed the problem was with me. Now I realize, as do a lot of researchers and educators, that the stumbling block for many students and adults isn't the amount of brainpower, but how your brain learns the best.
For example, when I purchase something with a long list of written instructions, I'm overwhelmed. Whereas minimal words and lots of illustrations and I'm good to go! (Thank you, Ikea!)
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After being terrible at math all through school especially algebra, when I was a senior in high school I took a class called occupational math. I was also taking automechanics. When they applied algebra to automechanics in that math class, it finally made sense!!! I got my first A ever!!!
That’s classic. It’s all about presenting information in a context that matters to you.
That's how math and all subjects should be taught -- applied/practical and interdisciplinary. I have always struggled with math and still do. Maybe I would feel different if it had learned the practical applications/uses.
i coped with algebra because it had fewer numerals, and more letters. i easnt scared of letters, because i didnt get letters mixed up.
Thanks! You gave me an idea so that I will be able to learn math too!
I had a similar experience. I hated math all through school until I took chemistry and physics, discovered it had a purpose.
Great video!
“If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself.” ~ Albert Einstein
Yes.
Einstein is my hero.
But there is actually a limit to what a 6 year old can comprehend, so it might not be entirely true that quote.
1000% agree with all of this. I was tested for learning disabilities in grade school. Not only did they find out I didn't have a learning disability, but I was actually pretty smart. So, then, I just wasn't trying hard enough. I didn't find out about the ADHD thing until I was 42.
Potential vs the skill level is how you qualify for learning disability (Learning differences) programs. That means the higher IQ you have the more likely you’ll be able to qualify for the learning disabilities class. You have to have a normal or above IQ to qualify. So I have taught students who are considered to have learning differences or learning disabled, gifted, and have ADHD. Learning differences classes had to have the same content as the regular classes. They have the same timeline, exams but I taught it in a totally different format. So you’re probably do have learning disabilities or differences but the more gifted you are the better you may have covered for it. This awareness will help you achieve your potential by doing things your own way.
62 for me!
I'm one of those ADHD Inattentive types that wasn't diagnosed until late in life, probably BECAUSE I did great in school. Well, academically anyway... I was a complete social misfit... ugh, so embarrassingly awkward. I loved and still love to learn, but I always waited until the last minute to do homework or study for a test. Something about the time pressure of that put me into hyperfocus and it just worked for me. I think part of why I did so well was the ability to figure out what the TEACHER liked and thought important about the subject. I think that was a lot of what I was paying attention to when I wasn't paying attention to something else.
Interesting that you bring up and title this "Am I Dumb?" I find myself saying several times a day, "ugh! Idiot!" or "You are so stupid!" or just plain 'ol "Dumbass!" when referring to myself after I've done something silly that I can't help that my brain blipped on. Things like forgetting what I walked into a room for, or having to reschedule an appointment I was too late for, or what did that person JUST tell me??? I really need to work on changing these thoughts and being kinder to myself.
I can relate to this.
Yes, learn to be kinder to yourself. Im now trying to ensure that I tell high school kids (niece/nephew's friends) not to say things like that. Especially when noone's ever shown them something and they make a blip in that process. Our internal dialogue is so impactful.
How can you be kind to yourself when it’s a full civil war?
@@dgorrell7 Even if it's a civil war! The exact reason to stop is bc the war was not intentional, or created purposely. The opposite would be learning to accept it as it is, and love yourself despite. (& Find companionship in those who understand!).
@@dgorrell7 Accept that the things that you do that seem dumb or wrong (or any other negative word) are not your fault. You can aim to achieve more without putting yourself down. My go to self talk now is" well that clearly didnt go to plan, time for another plan" . All the time that we ADHD folk spend thinking can be put to good use. I was taught by my martial arts teacher from 7yo that, if I can't stop thinking, I should think about what I am doing. It takes some practice and discipline to do that but it has become my superpower. I can do a huge variety of skills because of that teaching, just look at my videos, particularly the portfolio video.
Same boat. I got great grades in some courses for the first couple chunks of school, then started to fall apart in high school. And then I got an ADHD diagnosis at age 30. Would have fucking helped 20 years earlier.
I was diagnosed with Learning Disability and struggled through school even through college and still struggling and I am almost 60 years old.
I don’t know a lot about learning disabilities but I’m pretty sure I have a audio processing issue. Or possibly a reading issue. I don’t read things in a linear manner.
So I am wondering if I also had ADD/ ADHD but was never diagnosed back in the mid60’ s or early 70’s because my son has both so that is why I am wondering.
ADHD is linked by genetics. Many of my students parents were diagnosed after their child. So if you have a parent, sibling, or child that has been diagnosed with ADHD you are highly likely to have it. You only can get the diagnosis by talking to your doctor. So if you think you may have it you should probably get tested. It is not 100% correlation just a tendency.
You're a genius, Rick. Thank you for your work!
I have always firmly believed that not using jargon in supposedly highly niche fields like engineering, urban development or policymaking was and is and will always be my super power. Of course, I used to get annoyed at people who did use jargon ( and they always did, just to prove they're scholars!)
But after listening to this, I'm never changing my stance on the jargon vs simple and effective communication wherever I end up in life. Thank you 😄💞💞💞
Thank you, Amruta. I’ve always felt the key in learning anything is, “how does this matter to me?” There are 1 trillion things I could learn about. Like, for example, how a steam catapult on an Argentinian aircraft carrier works really doesn’t affect me. No if I had been an Argentinian sailor…
I grew up thinking you were a comedic genius. Certainly not dumb.
I had a very similar school experience to yours. I have a collection of notes from teachers to my mom... "Christopher could do much better if he applied himself"... "Christopher has trouble concentrating on school work"... etc. I was probably in my mid 30s before I figured out I was actually relatively intelligent.
I love that term "Apply yourself." Like you're a layer of glue.
How exactly do I apply myself? Give me a hint, teacher! What do I actually do?
I got those notes in my reports too..... with scores of 90% plus. It seemed that they would never be satisfied, I grew up thinking that I was smart and useless
@@rickgreen4131 Yeah, I've heard "apply himself" once or twice. What does it mean? Forget your interests and curiosity and activity and do something that doesn't matter?
I learn so much about myself when I watch your videos, Rick. Thanks!
You are welcome! (Check out all the benefits of becoming a Patron, through Patreon! Exclusive webinars and chat rooms. And I can make more videos!) rickwantstoknow.com/
He's like a twin brother who is great at explaining things!
English and reading were my interests and I did well in them. As long as I didn't have a lot of homework. That would always, across every subject, be done late Sunday night. And wow, cool stuff about lasers!
Ha ha! I still have dreams [nightmares] about running around a school trying to find which classroom I’m in, or going over my university credits to see if I have enough to graduate. Ridiculous!
It's like the bright child who gets everything done in class, and therefore has no experience or structure for homework when they hit high school. No place to do homework. No regular time. No reminders...
Math was more than hard for me all through Grades 1-12, still is. It certainly didn't help when my Grade 6 teacher basically told me I was stupid as I hadn't been able to finish the math homework. As I stood at her desk in front of the whole class she was attempting to "teach" me everything I didn't know in 2 minutes. It wasn't working so she slapped my notebook closed and threw it to the back of the classroom, told to to get out go home don't come back til..... Yeah, school did my undiagnosed ADHA a whole lotta good! I was diagnosed 2 years ago with Adult ADHD at the age of 65! I still hate math, thank goodness for the internet and Mr. Rick Green!!
This is so relatable and those are some great tips for reaching people.
Thanks. Why didn't I know all this when I was in High School?
Every once in awhile you watch someone's video that pinpoints everything to the T. This was perfect and meant a lot to me, as someone who's almost 50 and has struggled with everything my whole life. Can't say I could ever do that type of math that you were talking about that you could do, I forgot what it was called. LOL. Math does not like me. But we need more people like you and there are many out there to challenge the school system and their approach to learning. If they would have just done this back when I was a kid, I probably could have finished college.
Are secular unschool to autistic kids we all have similar traits, the good thing is I live in a state that allows a lot of freedom and how I teach my kids so, I am of the mind that they don't have to do everything overly structured and on a Time line like everyone else they don't have to be 18 and graduate they can be 19 20 21. And you hit a lot of key things that really really are important and that's interest driven. I would like to hear your opinion about unschooling?
You are far from alone, Pamela.
Educational reform is so needed. Some people do really well in the classroom setting. But the fact that so many of us struggled suggests it's not working for the majority.
A modest suggestion: become a patron through Patreon. It is only through our patrons that I am able to hire the crew to produce these videos. And patrons can have a say in what the videos are about, there are webinars twice a month, And an amazing community sharing ideas, questions, and answers in the Patron chat rooms. rickwantstoknow.com/
I am not familiar with the term unschool. Is that the same as home school? If it is a term for teaching your children at home outside the public school system it is very helpful for any student that learns differently. Pace and presentation make the difference in how well a student learns.
I have noticed that I am good at instructing or teaching things to people. I wonder if its a talent common to those of us with ADD.
Interesting. I think great teachers tend to have a Multidisciplinary bank of knowledge and can come up with simple analogies that make sense.
@@rickgreen4131 When my children would want to know an answer, and I didn't know, I would have to really think alot about it to give them some sort of answer. Racking my brain, I would come up with a fair, if not good answer to give them! Either a mothers desire to answer their inquisitive minds or just had to have an answer for them. I actually enjoy trying to figure out answers for things. Could be like a game?
I saw "teaching" on a list of great jobs for ADHD. I found it on the internet. If it's on the internet, you know it's true! Oh wow, I didn't know the Earth was flat. Hey, I gotta go watch some bigfoot videos, but good luck with your career in education! Ooh look a puppy! BTW I'm not a teacher.
Many great lessons in just one video … 🙂
Thank you! I am so glad you got value from it!
Great and funny video. As a teacher, I appreciate you sharing your experience and strategies for reaching people. Thank you for the tips.
You are welcome. Get someone interested in a subject and they will learn everything and anything they can. They become relentless. (See my video about my hobby and how it releases stress.)
ruclips.net/video/MPBLxZmDp14/видео.html
I have radiators in my apartment, should I be scared?
oh, and I wish I could go back in time and tell child me that one day I will have several lasers in my home.
Only if one of them falls on your foot. Man those things are heavy!
Reminds me that about a decade ago my wife and I rented a big old house that had radiators. First time I’ve ever experienced them. No noisy fans. No dust from the furnace air blowing around. It was actually quite nice.
My best mark in one year of university was also in Quantum Mechanics. My worst mark that year was in Weather and the Environment - an easy course that didn't go into the details of fluid dynamics.
And it’s fascinating to me the range of interests that people have, the obsessions, the pursuits that engage them. Where does that come from? What early experience or event triggered their interest.
As well, there's something valuable in understanding that you actually like a new challenge, (or your brain does,) and you can't be bothered with routine stuff that is easy. Housework piles up but you're locked into a video game, a REDDIT stream, or trying to make raisin bread for the first time. (It's making it for the 10th time that we get bored. The challenge is gone.)
Excellent stuff -- every teacher should watch this video!
Glad you think so!
I have enjoyed your channel and it has helped me understand and get behind my diagnosis. Thank You (By the way Power of Habit is a great book)....
Thanks. I’m glad to hear that.
Yes it’s a great book. Every Christmas we do a family book exchange. Everybody brings books they quite enjoyed over the year and we lay them all out on the big table and everybody can take whatever ones they want. The nice part is they’re recommended by a family member. And they’re free!
True. When I actually can relate school to one of my hobbies I can pay attention in class as long as the teacher isn’t just giving out random equations in, for instance chemistry, with no explanation at all as to how they work and where they come from
I totally agree I've wanted to learn grammar, science, English, math, and electives such as computers, art, and photography my whole life, the problem, is, the money, and you not dumb C's on a report card means you correct
I love to listen to you. I wish I met you (or stumble upon your channel) when I started University... I finished it, got masters in technical physics and I still am convinced that I am dumb.
It never quite goes away, does it? Such is the human mind.
I have thought that if most of us a.d.d. Folks could dummy up, the problem wouldn’t be as noticed. Less iq, less ability to generate a lot of thoughts , less distractions. Higher iq, more thoughts generated, a lot more distractions, with the person desperately trying to hang on to just one of them, before another arrives. Just my swing on it. Love your work. C
Thanks Catherine! Always pleasing to know I've struck a chord. It's an interesting premise. I remember a business coach saying, "Companies always say they want people who are creative. But they actually don't. They don't want ideas that are disruptive or unproven. They want simple tweaks to what they're doing to reduce costs and/or increase sales."
I have read that people with a higher IQ are more prone to Depression. My mom had an amazing capacity to imagine everything that could possibly go wrong with everything.
@@rickgreen4131 "I have read that people with a higher IQ are more prone to Depression. My mom had an amazing capacity to imagine everything that could possibly go wrong with everything."
Oh. Yeah. I don't *think* I currently have depression (I've learnt that nothing really matters, might as well enjoy day to day life despite never achieving anything, and also I want to contribute to the international movement of liberation of all oppressed peoples ie. communism as much as I can so should definitely not give up on life, even though I personally have very little to gain from it) but I definitely seem to always be able to find a list of flaws in everything. To the point that it annoys other people because I like to point out things they should consider. IQ in the mid-130s, only going through the diagnosis process now in my 20s. I think during school classes I managed to stay focused by stretching the boundaries of the questions and solving problems in the most complicated way I could imagine while remaining technically correct, focusing on the little curious details and asking lots of questions from the teacher in order to make it sufficiently intellectually stimulating for myself...
@@rickgreen4131 Maybe is it was socially acceptable to be a worry type. Housekeeping can be boring after a bit. Might have felt like a way to predict a new upcoming slice of misery, rehearse her response to it? Too bad she didn’t join you at your train set!
I totally agree but want to add a different slant. Your laser demonstration not only creates interest but also is very visual. Often people with ADHD are visual learners. So lecture without any visuals will not be remembered or even understood. Learning styles are generally not an issue because most people can learn in many ways but have a preference. Those of us who learn heavy in one manner are at a loss if not taught in that style.
Algebra often is difficult for visual or kinesthetic learners. I could not fathom the need for negative numbers when I was in high school. When I was transferred to teach in a new school I had to teach algebra to students with special needs. I relearned algebra but in my way. My students were successful because I taught it visually the way I learned as well as kinesthetically. The use of algebra blocks, number lines, and movement in the class. They’re even have scales to help you understand negative numbers. I had to get a grant to buy these items because they were in standard classroom materials.
So, you are not dumb you just were not taught in a manner you can learn best.
YT needs a LOVE button!!!!! If only understanding this guaranteed success in life... Now that I KNOW!!! 😢😂
Me too, Rick. Me too…..
It's tough, I know.
I love your jokes! Thx for all you've done so far :)
Love your videos, i can relate to all of them.
My daughter said several times that she is stupid. She is great at things she is interested in (just like me). I try to make homework a bit fun to peak her interest, it fails often. But when it works she gets the wok done without being pissed at me 😁
One of my favourite sayings is, "If you judge a fish by it's ability to climb a tree you'll assume it's a failure." I have written thousands of comedy skits, but only managed one movie script. (And that was basically a bunch of skits strung together.) I could write five or six scenes for The Red Green Show in one day, but a half-hour sitcom script, which can takes days to work out the structure and story line before you start on the dialogue, so difficult.
Why am I so ... Fill in the blank... 'dumb' 'stupid' 'lazy' 'crazy' 'bad'
You're the best 💖💖💖
Blushing!
Ontario Science Center? I was there when I was a kid. It was the year 197?. I remember a Canadian Mountie explaining fingerprints. Saw the NASA Mercury (or was it Gemini?) capsule. I remember lots of cool things. I forgot most of them. My fave was a display with some circuit boards loaded with inductors and capacitors and some transistors. Push a button and you heard a word spoken from a small speaker. That fascinated me! Now I earn money doing signal and image processing, and synthesize any audio I please any time.
10:29 Listening with my headphones I had all you just explained about lasers flash through my head and it occurred to me that's how to handle ADHD and I loudly exclaimed "OHHHHH!" and my nearby people were staring 😹
LOL. Stare back. Or share the video!
Amazing video!
LOL, grew up in the days of the encyclopedia - I could spend hours and hours distracted by other interesting things as I slowly made my way to what I was supposed to be looking up 🤪
"I'm not Greta Thunberg" - that cracked me up! X'D I'm interest based myself, but the current education system is rubbish with this sort of thing even now, even for adult education 😔
I'm a big fan of mentoring with someone who knows what they're doing (In December my friend, a professor who teaches electrical engineering, came over and helped me replace the switches and outlets in our new house, and install a high-tech thermostat. Hugely helpful.
I don’t think my kids teachers need the whole laser analogy, but this video would be so helpful for all teachers to help them understand ADHD, ESPECIALLY adhd like yours and mine, and my kids!
I can’t understand how we’ve come so far and yet there is so little knowledge shared with the people doing the teaching!
Even NT kids learn better (sometimes) the way you and I learn!
Can you come to my kids schools?
Just kidding, I’ll bring your video to a p/t conference!
That’s my biggest issue, every year I have to explain AGAIN that this kid is different! They need different expectations. Argh!
Sorry, I have to go talk to the administrators at my kids school, (I’m already going because my kid hasn’t spent two weeks straight in school since 2020. Missing 80% of the last 18 months.
THANK YOU!!!
"You're so intelligent, sweetie!" ~Mom
"I failed 3rd grade; I didn't know how to read?" ~Me
In actuality, I didn't have any interest in reading, so I didn't have any practice. I was struggling in math, but going a 2nd round on the multiplication tables did allow me to grasp it better, and my fear of failure focused my efforts to avoid that in the future.
So, I was dumb; but, I became smart.
Story of my life, failed school, joined the air force has an airman aircraft mechanic usually on the apron when everything was an emergency, honourably discharged, changed my career to Computer Science, find myself doing a lot more than just programming and people call me the good kind of crazy for having so much stuff rolling in my head, it's very useful in modern DevOps because issues can range from code all the way to the network stack wither logical or physical.
The bad part is it is frustrating because you can't finish stuff or hyperfocus a lot when people always need your help to solve an emergency, but I love my job so maybe I just help organizing my day and priorities, the usual ADHD issue.
You are hilarious!!
❤️ your videos.
Thank you so much!
i was enjoying the laser demo..... 🙂
Im not gay Rick.....but Im nearly there with you !!!!!
I'll warn my wife big changes are coming.
I noticed today how BLUE are your eyes. 😮😂
Sorry; back to focusing on what you are saying!
Thank you - yes I was a “daydreamer”
Omg they are really blue..lol he's also wearing a very blue shirt.
I see you have Dr Greger's books.
Yes. My wife and my daughter are both vegan, so I'm vegan too because it's easier than learning to cook! LOL.
The fact that I lost 20 pounds, eat a ton every day, no longer wake up stuffy, and my blood work shows I'm healthier than I was at thirty... is nice too. And I like animals. But I have to admit it's tricky and if I was on my own I'm not sure I would have stuck with it. (And the fact that french fries are vegan was a big factor too.)
@@rickgreen4131 it also helps that real vegan food, not that processed crap, is much cheaper than the crap the average American/Canadian eat.
Alot of your complaints are rather similar to mine
Did you delete all your ADHD videos or I’m searching the wrong channel?
Hi Sara - Those videos are not currently available.
Geez Rick you lost alot of weight
Rick Green.°(-∆)
Psshh psshh psshh psshh psshh
you have a great sense of humor ! amazing video ! thanks for sharing