AI-powered
podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
4min chapter
EP. 307: Not a Disorder, But a Wildtype: Dr. Idit Hazan on ADHD as a Natural Human Variation
ADHD for Smart Ass Women with Tracy Otsuka
Embracing Self-Awareness in Academia
This chapter discusses the significance of self-awareness and seeking help in academic success, especially for neurodivergent individuals. It highlights the importance of reflection in overcoming challenges and tailoring educational practices to accommodate diverse learning styles.
00:00
Transcript
Episode notes
Speaker 2
It's just, you know. You enjoy other things more. Yeah, exactly. So as a professor who might have ADHD, what message would you want students, especially those who are neurodivergent, to take away about learning, curiosity, and success in academics? I
Speaker 1
think you can be successful no matter how you are. You just have to, first of all, know yourself. And second of all, ask for help. Because a lot of my students don't ask for help. And I can be a lot of things, but a mind reader is not one of them. And so if you ask for help, and I know not every school is the same and not every professor is open, but there are going to be people and there are going to be resources that would be able to help you figure it out or study or get some extra help. And you just need to ask for help and figure out what works for you. What works for one person doesn't work for another person. And, you know, studying different things, if you study something that really interests you, then you're more likely to be successful. If you've convinced yourself somehow that you need to be, I don't know, a doctor, but it's not your passion, it's going to be a very tough road. But if you find, and I've had students like that, that had kind of this idea, like, this is what I want to do. And they were so miserable doing it. And it felt like banging your head against the wall. And then one day they just took a class in a different, you know, in a different field. And like their whole demeanor changed. It's like, I'm successful. I'm doing what I love. So I think that's really important. Find what your passion is and do that and ask for help when you're stuck.
Speaker 2
I think we all just want to know that the people that are around us, whether they're, you know, our friends or our students care, right? If you have a student who you see, oh, they they're really trying, they're doing their best, you're going to give them a lot more of a break than someone who you just think could care less. Yeah,
Speaker 1
I mean, obviously, I have to treat all my students the same. But you know, there's always help if you need it. There's always that extra word or the extra, you know, you can come to my office. I can help you. I can help you figure out strategy. I always tell students after a test come, let's take a look and see what the issue was. Was it vocabulary? Was it did you just get nervous in the middle of the test and you need to work on like breathing techniques? Did you forget what was it that tripped you up? And let's figure out what that is and figure that out. So, you know, have students kind of reflect on what went wrong. Because a lot of times people know what went wrong if they spend the time thinking about it a little bit.
Speaker 2
Yes. Versus beating themselves up and then they're not focusing on what maybe they could try next time. Yeah.
Speaker 1
Yes. And, you know, in the sciences, we tend to be very kind of like, you know, here it is, this is what you do. But really, you know, there are different styles of learning. We're not very great at reflection, we tend to not be very touchy feely in the sciences. But I think reflection is really important. Just sit for a minute and think, try to think you, you probably know what what went wrong. And I asked my students to reflect on that and, and write what went wrong? What do you think you should have done? Because you know, and nine out of 10 times, they know exactly what they should have done. And they'll admit, yeah, I should have studied more and I didn't, or, you know, I got really nervous and I didn't eat before the test or whatever. They know what the issue is. So reflection, I think, is really important. Is
Speaker 2
there any part in education now when we're talking about grades? Is it simply tests or is there any is there anything that's a little bit more subjective? Any part of the grade?
Speaker 1
Well, it really depends on the discipline. Obviously, you know, when you ask a genetics question, there's an answer that is correct. But a lot of us try to do, you know, a lot of low stake assignments, assignments where they do group work. I know not everybody likes to do group work. There's it's not just the test and they're, you know, they write stuff. Obviously, in other disciplines, there's a lot more subjective stuff. You know, the sciences were a little bit limited, but so definitely, I think people are much more aware of differing learning styles and trying to help students of different styles and different neurodivergences to be successful.
Get the Snipd
podcast app
Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
AI-powered
AI-powered
podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover
highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
Discover
highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
Save any
moment
Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways
Save any
moment
Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways
Share
& Export
Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more
Share
& Export
Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more
AI-powered
podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
AI-powered
podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover
highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
Discover
highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode