I've lost count of the times people of mocked me as a professor, geek, boffin or even called me Dr. Billy, for my near encyclopedic knowledge of health and nutrition. While it might seem that nutrition come easy for me its all to do with my ignorance of the social expectations of life. My total dedication to health (you'll never find anyone who walks their talk more) means I've built up massive schema of the topic. Wikipedia describes a schema (pl. schemata or schemas), in psychology and cognitive science, as any of several concepts:
So, how can someone with Asperger's become so talented at their chosen obsession (for me its bikes and health), for one they are able to thing literally and logically to dump the useless information that everyone else soaks up (ask my old physiotherapy tutor as I told him "what's they point in learning **** for an exam if it doesn't work in the real world).
With my asperger's I am able to ignore the social pull that most people feel/crave and dedicate my attention to my obsession(s). I'm also more likely to notice things that fit into my preferred schema and if something contradicts my schema I'm also more likely to ignore it. Schemata means we tend to look for patterns in a situation and recognize them super quick.
Procedural schemas, tell us how to react in certain situations different situations. For example; A client attends my clinic with right shoulder pain and based upon previous experience I decide it is a problem with liver function. Or when I'm on my bike doing a rolling endo I know just how much brake to use to keep the wheel in the air but avoid tipping over the bars. Both of these use schema to speed up the decision. Someone without the schema would have to take longer to make a decision. In the clinic they may have to consult books or look online. On the bike they'd probably just crash.
Role schema is the set rules on ‘how’ we are expected to behave and act. This can be how we behave at work, socially, take on our role as a parent etc.
While I take on my role as a trials rider and health consultant well I am particularly lacking in other areas.
Being the "professor" in a gym who knows the answer to any health based conundrum should go down well. However if you don't understand your role is also to be make profit for the gym it can lead to problems. When I worked at Virgin Active I had no proper schema of how to act around the other PT's and manager's which ultimately lead to my downfall. Being asked in a 1:1 what my opinion of the club was probably wasn't the best situation to put me in...honesty doesn't always pay. The child does not grasp what their role is, or do not have
So while I come across as a little professor who has an innate ability to ride a bike or understand health and diet, its not innate, I just sacrificed the ability be social in order to dedicate myself to the pursuit of my interests.
- An organized pattern of thought or behavior.
- A structured cluster of pre-conceived ideas.
- A mental structure that represents some aspect of the world.
- A specific knowledge structure or cognitive representation of the self.
- A mental framework centering on a specific theme, that helps us to organize social information.
- Structures that organize our knowledge and assumptions about something and are used for interpreting and processing information.
So, how can someone with Asperger's become so talented at their chosen obsession (for me its bikes and health), for one they are able to thing literally and logically to dump the useless information that everyone else soaks up (ask my old physiotherapy tutor as I told him "what's they point in learning **** for an exam if it doesn't work in the real world).
With my asperger's I am able to ignore the social pull that most people feel/crave and dedicate my attention to my obsession(s). I'm also more likely to notice things that fit into my preferred schema and if something contradicts my schema I'm also more likely to ignore it. Schemata means we tend to look for patterns in a situation and recognize them super quick.
Procedural schemas, tell us how to react in certain situations different situations. For example; A client attends my clinic with right shoulder pain and based upon previous experience I decide it is a problem with liver function. Or when I'm on my bike doing a rolling endo I know just how much brake to use to keep the wheel in the air but avoid tipping over the bars. Both of these use schema to speed up the decision. Someone without the schema would have to take longer to make a decision. In the clinic they may have to consult books or look online. On the bike they'd probably just crash.
Role schema is the set rules on ‘how’ we are expected to behave and act. This can be how we behave at work, socially, take on our role as a parent etc.
While I take on my role as a trials rider and health consultant well I am particularly lacking in other areas.
Being the "professor" in a gym who knows the answer to any health based conundrum should go down well. However if you don't understand your role is also to be make profit for the gym it can lead to problems. When I worked at Virgin Active I had no proper schema of how to act around the other PT's and manager's which ultimately lead to my downfall. Being asked in a 1:1 what my opinion of the club was probably wasn't the best situation to put me in...honesty doesn't always pay. The child does not grasp what their role is, or do not have
So while I come across as a little professor who has an innate ability to ride a bike or understand health and diet, its not innate, I just sacrificed the ability be social in order to dedicate myself to the pursuit of my interests.
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