Math and Asperger's

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Hey gang,

Just curious about people's thoughts on this topic. I'm AS and Gifted, but I struggled immensely with Math back in my school days.

It's not that I find Math irrelevant or unimportant; I just found my brain didn't respond well to the methodology in which the subject was taught. It was too dry, too rote, too far removed from my daily experiences to feel any kind of connection to it. I didn't care, mostly because it felt like it was just making me think a way I didn't want to.

Since then, I've been thinking a lot about understanding Mathematical concepts better. I'm wondering, though: has anyone else ever struggled with Math and having AS? I know it seems counter-intuitive, given that AS people are supposed to have logic-based brains, but there's quite a bit of diversity in this topic as well.

Thoughts?

Oh my gosh, yes. Math is extremely difficult for me.

Maths was my best subject in High School and Uni (my old course). There's a lot less rote memory involved as opposed to a subject like anatomy, so you have to know how to apply the formulas and rules.

My worst subjects by far was English, I had a lot of trouble expressing myself in a way which sounded mature. I had the tendency to write in a manner that appeared too straightforward and simplistic, no charm. I also had a very hard time understanding/analyzing texts like Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, and Lord of the Flies. If it weren't for the study guides, I probably would've failed English or got borderline passes in high school...

I had enormous trouble with maths at school. I found that i had to absorb what was being put forward by the teacher then re-teach it to myself in a manner i could understand. I then changed schools and fell behind and that was the end of maths for me. I am very curious about trying to teach myself again because i do find advanced maths concepts fascinating. It hasnt really held me back though as i am now completing a masters degree and another undergrad science degree concurrently.

Maths was hit and miss for me but I've shown good improvement since school. My teacher would show us how to work out equations but I would always use a different method that suited me better. The teacher would get annoyed with this and tell me to do things the way he taught it. This was counter productive. The common method was unsuitable for me and it meant I learned more slowly.

I was a whiz at geometry, and anything that could be visualized. Formulas, not so much.

I heard Temple Grandin (I think) say that a lot of us have trouble with algebra, but that we can learn it if we turn the equations into things we can visualize.

I use thought models and boundary conditions a lot. A friend of mine was studying engineering dynamics and had 12 study problems to prepare for his final exam. We were on a snowboarding trip, so I was going through the problems with him. I didn't remember the formulas, but was able to solve all 12 exactly using only thought models and boundary conditions. No formulas at all.

I'm starting to think that math is pattern logic, and the way a lot of aspies naturally think is actually in math, but that 'The Maths' like algebra are like musical notation. Lots of people are really good at making music, but can't read or write sheet music.

Despite the fact that people with AS are stereotypically considered to be good at math, I've read on a website describing AS that people who have AS commonly struggle with math. I wonder if this is due to the geek stereotype.

Personally, I've struggled with math until I began working really hard at it.

To be honest, I seem to exhibit the same problem with mathematics. I never understood algebra until I was 16, and then, I had to visualize most of the concepts in order to comprehend the formulas and other models used to slightly understand and to solve the paramount mysteries of nature and human concerns. (I think that was a run on sentence; sorry for that one). Due to one of the worst teachers I have ever had, I never grasped geometry either. However, I am the one in class that struggles and struggles until I am the last one to understand it right before the test. I can not help it though; I happen to love mathematics. One of the many ways for which I'm weird (uh oh, now I did it...a fragment! The grammar police will surely come after me for that one - lol).

I hated maths at school, because my older sister didn’t like it.
i just copied from others all the time.
It was my weakness and I thought I will never need it in real life.
But 8 years ago I started working in casinos, where you have to calculate by heart.
And I have found my strength. I do all the casino math tests 100%, even when all other’s do them 50%.
Once manager thought that something was wrong with the computer and I had to do the test again.
And it was 100% again.

Because I’m not a classical good dealer (aspie traits), nobody cares or notices how good my maths is.
But I do work now one of the best casinos in the world. I don’t understand why I ended up there, they do bully me. But I’m fighting.

Also there was no one in school who could beat me in Rendzu, when my math teacher organized a competition.

I'm not very good at maths, I'm good with basic maths but anything else like algebra or geometry I'm crap at it.

My older son (23) has always been really quite good at maths, but avoids it now like the plague. It's as if he has a fear of it or something -- I actually think doing some engineering would help him in his career choice (urban planning) but he will have nothing to do with it. And that's ok.

My younger son (13) is quite good at maths as well, but I don't think it comes naturally -- just like my older son. He just works hard and applies the formulas correctly, and oddly enough, even when he doesn't do too well at the homework, he somehow manages to do well on the tests. Odd thing though -- in elementary school, he got C's in maths. I think that he had teachers who were not gifted in teaching math, and did not provide daily homework. Now that he is in middle school, his math teachers have been EXCELLENT, and they are consistent in providing daily homework. He has consistently received A's, and we even asked to have him bumped up one level in maths. Odd thing, though -- he never tests as well in standardized tests.

Our NT daughter is the best at maths -- she initially didn't do well in elementary school, and then something just clicked in high school, and she is a natural. She is the only one of our children who does math at the same level as my husband, who has always been good at math.

I am now having to study math along with my 13 year old. My husband is often out of town or working late, and I need to work with him for homework. I was NEVER good at math -- always a great English and writing type of person. So this is a struggle for me, but I am very interested in seeing if I can learn at this late stage in life. I am finding the Math for Dummies books are a wonderful resource. I totally enjoy those books, and the simple, logical way that they present math.

I had a horrid confusion with maths. I can't write numbers down without getting them in a jumble, and yet I've always been good at the concepts ... I loved algebra, even in primary school. It frustrated my Dad no end, because he's a polymath, good at absolutely everything, and he couldn't understand why I wasn't brilliant at maths. I was always bouncing between the remedial set and the top, or second to top set.

It wasn't till I'd failed my O level once (last year of O levels) then my GCSE resit that they thought to test me, and sure enough, I'm dyscalculic. Arithmetically I'm extremely challenged, but mathematically I'm above average. (Not quite gifted.) Hence all the confusion growing up.

Oh, I'm dyspraxic as well, so I can even get up and down, and left and right confused.

I finally did pass my GCSE maths, and only this year an advanced competency paper (which I had to take when applying for a job in the DSS... which I didn't get, but at least I managed my maths.) But it took so long for me to wrap my head around the way my brain approaches maths. I think it will always be a struggle. At least I know why.

There is currently little research on AS as it is being described in this thread. Once there is more, it will likely be the case that all the skills and strengths of those with AS are despite the AS not because of it. So, there is no reason to believe that anyone with AS would be better than or worse than anyone else in math or anything else except that to be identified as having the disorder requires an extreme deficit in interpersonal skills.

Basically, when I can't visualise something, I will suck at it.
Maths, if it's a big bunch of complicated formulas, I will certainly fail at.
I'm not stupid but I do suck at maths.

I love math and was excellent at the subject since I was a young girl. At age 5, I knew how to add, subtract, multiply, divide, do fractions, and small squares and square roots. My mother also taught me pre-algebra at that age, giving me problems such as 2x=6, 3x+1= 10, or x+3+2=10. I could never get along with most other children but I found solace in patterns and numbers.

I love statistics as and love to calculate the probability of different scenarios. I can play with a calculator all day. I love solving problems involving matters of finance, especially when it comes to inflation and investment. I also like to calculate the amount of expendable income one has, after taxes and social security as well as liabilities have been paid.