Horriable at math

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I can remember ever since I was little I used to have such a hard time with math after addition,multiplication,and subtraction you lose me...its like my brain wont let me learn the other levels...even though they are melded togather with the basics i still find myself know matter how much i try I just dont grasp them and i lose them after about 5 mintues...i dont seem to make the connections at all with math...anyone think this has some thing to do with my Autism (i have mid to high func. autism not aspergers)

It really fustrates me because I want to learn and yet my brain wont let me no matter how much i try and practice...

These kinds of things happen in many areas. Maybe you've had a particularly bad experience with trying to learn mathematics, and developed a sort of mental block. I don't know what stage of education you're at but a good way to catch up is to return to the areas where you started to struggle and do loads of examples. As a high school student I generally did every question in the chapter if I felt I was struggling a little, and only a few questions if I felt I understood. In college mathematics is far more difficult in that sense, but the basic strategy of relieving mental blocks is still there it just requires more resourcefulness and self-discipline.

Im in college and have already since freshmen year in HS have done:
a tutor come to the house 4 times a week (that didnt work) I even tried less times a week (they didnt work) I even tried less time and more time to obsorbe it all (they didnt work)
Going over the chapters again and again and writing out the problems (that didnt work)
Watching movies about certain math (that didnt work)
tried childrens books for math (that didnt work)
Tried getting workbooks from grades k-12 (that didnt work either)
Recorded my prof. lecturs (that didnt work either)
Looked over my notes (that didnt work)
Tried to take it really slow and master one skill at a time (that didnt work)
I have study for hours on certain types of math that i needed to know (that didnt work)
I tried to study for less time (that didnt work)
I tried using math in everday life to be able to SEE it work (that didnt work either)

So I have the will and I have the time and I have the ideas and I have tried them....I just dont get it...Its like my brain wont allow me to learn it and if i do get something it stays with me for a little bit like 5 10 mintues and then BANG its gone...math is the only thing that does this to me I am good at everything esle...just not math...

I was never good with mathematics. My biggest problem was problem solving and fractions. I also took a while to learn and under division.

I always had low grades on mathematics tests. Even in college I had difficulty with math.

What's your family history regarding math? Perhaps it's a genetical trait...

Hello,

I am a 16-year-old girl from the Netherlands, and still looking around here, but I've already seen loads of interesting articles and discussions. (So now you know for a bit who I am )

When you live in Holland, like me, you have the possibility to drop maths, and so I did, because my maths were always a disaster. That was very strange in my third year at high school (I was then about 15) that I was rather dumb at maths, but extremely intelligent with everything that was not , so I found myself in a very weird situation.

But about a month ago I found the answer to my questions, because when I got diagnosed, it also came out that I have a very odd IQ. My verbal IQ is 137, but my performal IQ is 91. That is a huge difference. For me, it means that I can get everything you want, except for the maths. When you think about it, it is quite strange. However, it does explain why I always was extremely smart at everything except that subject.

Is it really true that it is possible that you're bad at maths because your autism? I didn't know that. Maybe that was abit the case with me, I can't think abstract that well.

nope i thought that too...my father has his Masters in Math...and my mother is good at it as well as all 3 of my uncles and my grandmother lol im the oddball out LMAO

How are you at abstract thought? That's what math is, at it's core -- a formalized description of abstract relationships.

How much and what kind of math are you trying to take at one go? Sometimes math books are written in a very dense and compact way -- I've had more success treating them more like puzzle books than novels.

Does your major require a lot of math?

What is it that you forget fast? Have you tried mnemonics?

my abstract thought is ok its not that bad.....
it's not really a matter of how much math im trying to take go on its basically learning things that at 25 you should know like divsion,fractions ect.....My major only requires basic math which i can't seem to master at all.............i forget everything from the beginging of the problem on......yet i can remember other things like phone numbers,dates for peoples b-days,my address you know the normal everyday stuff....like i said math is a language i will never understand it seems LOlL i dont even know prime numbers...so im a lost cause i feel like...i want to learn yet like i said its fustrating me because i cant grasp it...

Hmm... division and fractions are kind of more at the rote memorization level than actual abstract thinking. Quite a lot of professional mathematicians actually aren't any good with calculating in their head. Of course, these days with calculators and computers, they can just cheat.

You don't need to remember very many prime numbers. It wouldn't hurt to know the first few, but that's easy (up through 13, it's every odd number higher than 1 except 9, and 2). Understanding how they work can help with some other things, like gcf and lcm.

Sometimes if I can't see the point of something I can't make myself concentrate on it no matter how hard I try.

Let's suppose for a moment that your parents have a recessive gene each (and said gene gives you abyssimal math capability). And perhaps their dominant gene gives them better math abilities than if they did not have it. It was at best 25% chance for that to happen.

I'm crap at maths, yet I'm fascinated by the history of it.

I'm also bad at math.

I found that I think in pictures and the pictures of letters and numbers don't stick.

For example:

124 X 293 =?

I'd get so focused on one set of numbers that I would forget what the rest of the equation was or I'd lose the image of what I had already solved for.

Eventually I just quit.

I feel pretty stupid.

But I was at an Autsim confrince and some of the information given was that we seem to be seperated into typs of skills.
Some kids are brillient with numbers and computers but not as good at English/ Art. Then the opposit is true -those of us good at English seem to lack that in math.

This is true in my case.

Geometry is a weak spot for me and this has always been the case as long as I can remember. I can solve problems though, but definitely not in a very high level.

I'm struggling with math myself at the present (not everyday, though).

I'm pretty good at equations (it's not university level), though. And to be honest I like it too.

When I was a kid I didn't do that well as I never wrote down my calculations although, I got C in GCSE maths even though all my coursework got destroyed. I wouldn't consider myself a genius at it but I know enough to apply it to practical matters.

I'm better at simple maths like mutiplications and so on. I remember when I was a kid I set it upon myself to work out 99 by the power of 14 in my head and I eventually did it.

It sounds like you might have dyscalculia. This means that you have problems doing maths. I have this condition and it has taken me years to learn even simple maths. Don't give up.