Literal-mindednesss and academia
A couple of nights ago I was at a party, and one of the other people at the party was a university professor. She said that the first assignment she gave her students was to send her an e-mail. In the e-mail, they were supposed to include their name, their hometown, and their major. That's all she told them. She didn't say to include anything else.
Then she gave zeros to any student who didn't write "Dear (professor name)" as a salutation, didn't include the course number the assignment was for, and didn't sign off, as in "Sincerely, (name of student".) Now, I can understand the course number part. When I was in university, we didn't have e-mail, but we were instructed to put the course number on all assignments. However, I don't understand the rest. Why would you give students a zero for not including something they were NOT TOLD to include? If I were a student, I would do the assignment exactly as I am told to do it, and I'm worried that other autistic students would have the same problem -- doing exactly what is given in the assignment without including anything that is not specifically asked for in the assignment. So I asked the professor: how are they supposed to know what you want if you don't tell them you want it?
"They should just know," the professor said.
"How should they 'just know' if you didn't tell them?" I asked.
"They just should."
I don't get how exactly somebody should "just know." A couple of people have told me that an 18-year-old university student should "just know" that you have a business relationship with your professors. Again, I don't understand how somebody should "just know." Are they taught this in high school? If not, how should they "just know"?
I've run into this problem a lot in my life because I take things literally. If I am given a task to do, I do that task. I don't do things that I am not told to do. I was once staying with my sister and was asked to do some housework while she and her husband took their baby to the doctor. I was given a list of things to do. I later found out that I was expected to do MORE than what was on the list. I didn't (and still don't) understand this; if there is more to do than what is on the list, why was it not on the list? Apparently, this is something that I should "just know." I should "just know" that she wanted more than what was on the list. I also sometimes have problems at work when I do something wrong without being told how to do it correctly, because I should "just know" how to do it without being taught how to do it.
Then she gave zeros to any student who didn't write "Dear (professor name)" as a salutation, didn't include the course number the assignment was for, and didn't sign off, as in "Sincerely, (name of student".) Now, I can understand the course number part. When I was in university, we didn't have e-mail, but we were instructed to put the course number on all assignments. However, I don't understand the rest. Why would you give students a zero for not including something they were NOT TOLD to include? If I were a student, I would do the assignment exactly as I am told to do it, and I'm worried that other autistic students would have the same problem -- doing exactly what is given in the assignment without including anything that is not specifically asked for in the assignment. So I asked the professor: how are they supposed to know what you want if you don't tell them you want it?
"They should just know," the professor said.
"How should they 'just know' if you didn't tell them?" I asked.
"They just should."
I don't get how exactly somebody should "just know." A couple of people have told me that an 18-year-old university student should "just know" that you have a business relationship with your professors. Again, I don't understand how somebody should "just know." Are they taught this in high school? If not, how should they "just know"?
I've run into this problem a lot in my life because I take things literally. If I am given a task to do, I do that task. I don't do things that I am not told to do. I was once staying with my sister and was asked to do some housework while she and her husband took their baby to the doctor. I was given a list of things to do. I later found out that I was expected to do MORE than what was on the list. I didn't (and still don't) understand this; if there is more to do than what is on the list, why was it not on the list? Apparently, this is something that I should "just know." I should "just know" that she wanted more than what was on the list. I also sometimes have problems at work when I do something wrong without being told how to do it correctly, because I should "just know" how to do it without being taught how to do it.