Slow to learn?

[newmom2008]

I sometimes have difficulty learning new skills. Anyone else?

It takes me longer to learn a skill, and people tend to get frustrated with me. I am tired of being called "slow". I know I am slow but don't need to be told this.

[Margee]

hi newmom2008! I am 'slow ' at everything!! Even after cutting hair for 35 years- it still takes me 45 minutes to do a real good cut. One of my most vivid memories is sitting on my Dad's lap at age 7 or 8 and he was trying so hard to teach me how to tell time. He had a big clock in his hands and was trying to get me to understand the small hand from the big hand. I couldn't catch on and I remember him pushing me out of his lap and calling me 'stupid arse'. God, I wanted to please him that night!

Most  everything I do well has been patiently taught to me by a 'teacher' of some kind. I only started to use the computer 5 years ago and with a lot of help, I finally caught on! I wouldn't even have one in my house because I just knew that I would NEVER learn how to use it! Here I am typing tonight!    (although, still very slow!  ) Who would have thought?  Not me!

If someone takes the time to answer the 'thousands of questions' I have when it comes to learning something new - I am able to learn. But, they must be very patient with me. The trick is to find that 'certain someone' who cares enough to teach you how to learn the new 'something'.

 Funny - sometimes I can 'catch on' very quickly. I remember a time when I first got on ice skates and roller skates. Within 20 minutes, I was skating backwards and doing twirls! I also remember catching on to 'sewing' very quickly.I learned how to 'ski' within minutes!!   It was like my 'mind' just knew what to do!

Playing card games?  - forget it - many have tried and many have failed!! They all got fed up with me!!LOL

Now, I tend to teach myself. I do research on everything for answers! I can get very frustrated, but when I finally catch on, I am soooooooo proud of myself!!

As the old saying goes................ If all else fails - try again! Good luck, my friend!

Sincerely, Margee

[FallenofTrack]

I am also "slow" at picking up on new skills.  I had similar experiences to Margee when it came to my parents trying to teach me new skills. My father would get very frustrated with me and start being verbally abusive, which really didn't do much for my self-esteem.  I eventually got the handle of the skills that I was taught, but it just too me a bit longer to learn some of them. And then there were some things that I picked up on very quickly.  I notice that I need time to do things on my own, and to read through a book or instructions on my own, so that I can practice until I know what I am doing. 

This is why I was never a big fan of classroom learning.  Most of the other students seemed to pick up on things more quickly, so I always felt embarrassed if I needed to ask the teacher a question.  Kids can be quite arrogant. If they have picked up on a skill, and another student hasn't, a  lot of them will try to make that student feel bad.  I even experienced this in college, in a computer applications training class.  There were two girls who were always laughing among themselves, simply because I needed to ask the professor a question.  What was really funny about the situation was that one of those girls didn't know much more than me, but she had the other girl helping her, so she started getting arrogant.  I hate situations like that.

[newmom2008]

I am also "slow" at picking up on new skills.  I had similar experiences to Margee when it came to my parents trying to teach me new skills. My father would get very frustrated with me and start being verbally abusive, which really didn't do much for my self-esteem. 

My husband gets frustrated with me when he tries to show me how to do something, and I can't. I don't pick up on mechanical things very well.

Also don't work well with my hands, at all. I could not sew or embroider. I can knit, but only with very large knitting needles and chunky yarns.

In my first knitting class, I did not pick it up. Everyone else knitted half a scarf in the first class.

When I started first grade, I was younger than almost everyone else in my class. I was six years old, but many students parents enrolled them late for competitive reasons. Many were already 7 or almost 8, in some cases. Well, a six year old can't always keep up with 7 year olds, however, my first grade teacher just insisted that I was "slow". It still makes me mad, even today. I think many teachers fail to realize the disparities in ages of students who are in the same class. In the grade school years, it can make a huge difference.

[newmom2008]

 I would NEVER

If someone takes the time to answer the 'thousands of questions' I have when it comes to learning something new - I am able to learn. But, they must be very patient with me. The trick is to find that 'certain someone' who cares enough to teach you how to learn the new 'something'.

[/quote]

Its hard to find people with the patience to teach me. They get frustrated and upset. A lot of teachers explain things like you should already know all of it.

[radames]

Hey Margee,
It seems that you are better able to learn with your motor leaning abilities rather than your cerebral abilities.  There are a variety of modes of learning including visual, kinesthetic, auditory, and intellectual.  It seems that you have a favorable strength in kinesthetic learning as you were able to learn to ice skate and roller skate just by copying that action.  Of course, learning each action takes a certain amount of time based on the natural abilities of the individual yet people that have a more natural ability in kinesthetic learning will always learn faster than those with the other learning faculties when the same amount of tests are performed with the different individuals.