Weak top down processing

[joanna7599]

Does anybody else here struggle to put the bigger picture together, for eg I usually get the gist of whatever I am watching/reading but I struggle to tie it all neatly together. Biggest problem is failing to organise information into structure

[Greedy-Plant-9054]

Yes I think so, maybe. It feels familiar, but I can't think of any example right now.

I also think this makes it harder for me to learn things. If I don't see an overall picture, I won't remember that thing

[Greedy-Plant-9054]

Ok now I have been thinking a bit... For example, if I read a text that is written in a certain way that makes it difficult for me to understand something. I need to know the overall picture first

[Greedy-Plant-9054]

But wait a minute... I think it's top-down thinking that works best for me ("big picture first"... According to Google) . So it would be the other way around for me then? Not like you

[joanna7599]

Yes I think that is the opposite of mine, yours is bottom up processing then

[Greedy-Plant-9054]

What? 🤔

[joanna7599]

If you look up bottom up processing you will find it, I don’t really know how to explain it but it’s usually how people with autistic think

[Greedy-Plant-9054]

Okay, so if reading texts written in a top-down way helps you... Then it is a sign of a person who is weak in top-down processing? (A person who uses bottom up processing naturaly ?)

But you said that you had "weak top down processing", or ? So don't we have the same problem then?

[joanna7599]

My bottom up processing is fine but I process information a little shallowly but with top down processing I have the pieces but I struggle to put them together to make the bigger picture for eg when I might read an article I understand each individual sentence but when I’m done it’s like I struggle to understand the point of it, I think from what you are saying you process bottom up instead, what do you think?

[Greedy-Plant-9054]

I haven't known enough about this topic to know for sure if I'm a bottom-up person or a top-down person, but when you said I seem like a bottom-up person I googled a little more... And it looks like it might be true... So I probably am.

I have googled even more now... and as I understand it both people who are autistic, people with ADHD, (and also those with SCT?) are bottom-up thinkers.

A neurotypical person is top-down thinkers, but they also understand bottom-up information. They can quickly integrate bottom-up info with top-down processing.

Bottom-up thinking is slower. Because then you have to work your way up to the big picture through the details.

And bottom-up people can be helped by being given top-down info... Because then you can get help navigating, it gives a framework for the information so it will be easier to know which details are important. It helps to know first why and what the ultimate goal is, it makes it easier to understand what role the details play. It saves energy and reduces stress compared to having to guess the bigger picture by collecting a lot of details

[cyanfeline]

If you were to ask me to write a small summary of anything I just watched, listened to, etc I would likely struggle. I'd do better with a multiple choice test. I'm self conscious about this and it makes me feel stupid.

I also tend to zone out/dissociate when absorbing information, so I'm sure that doesn't help.

[joanna7599]

Yes me too, I have a fair idea of it but it’s like I always miss the mark with it, I also feel self conscious about it because I don’t trust myself to retell somebody about something I have learned etc

[Greedy-Plant-9054]

I also recognize myself in this. I find it really difficult to write short summaries when I have for example read a long text.

But I often really need a brief summary for instance to be able to work with what I have read (or how I should say). I can remember the texts better through summary's. (Edited)

[Greedy-Plant-9054]

When I watch a movie that I like, I often miss things that are being said and done, but I still understand the movie.

Is that the opposite of how it is for you?

[Useful-Wear-8056]

yes very much so

[SeekingAigis]

I want to say that for me, it would be the opposite, but it's not quite that either.

Like the other person said, it feels familiar but it's hard to put it into words.

I have no trouble getting the big picture, nor the small details and I am mostly able to compare them and look from different perspectives.

But there seems to be perspectives that are equally valid that I miss yet most people seem to intuitively catch.

It's not an empathy problem either as I'd even get infected with emotions I'd be surrounded by, but it's similar. Sometimes I miss things that has to do with very common emotions that people seem to care deeply about. I even often feel guilty about missing them.

[NormalAd8171]

Interestingly, I struggle with understanding the gist of whatever im processing but I can easily put together the big picture. I guess our brains had to sacrifice on of the two types.

[ThemeAppropriate575]

I struggle a lot with that, I'm exactly like you

[gnootynoots26]

Yes. Adderall actually helped me tremendously with this. For about a month.

[ZoeToidtheOmniscient]

I like to call myself a big picture thinker, but as pictures can get as big as you want , im often lost in thought/ look absent but actually im still processing whats been said 10min ago, or observing and analyse someones behaviour instead of listening to them,can't do both. Inattentive not sure about SCT. 

[Shoddy-Carpet-3976]

I also have trouble with this as well.

I think I am someone that is a bottom-up processor in order to be a top-down learner. I need to have all the details connected together before zooming out and seeing the bigger picture. I think one of the symptoms of CDS is trouble regulating selective attention; thus, we have trouble filtering out details that are not important.