academic grades

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My son who is a junior in high school is able to hold on to an "A+" grade in both social studies and english yet is failing in mathematics and science. Does anyone else have such a dilemma? I find this odd. Any feedback? I ask him about this and his reply is,"Well! Whaddaya want?!" He wants to pursue marketing in college. I guess that's good??

If he wants to pursue marketing, he should get his math grades up.

It's common for people with high functioning autism to be less proficient at mathematics. I'm one of them so I can relate. I think it has to do with defected executive functions like reasoning and problem solving. I am reasonably insightful but not enough to handle advanced mathematics. It's not easy either you know; relatively few people are intelligent enough to major in mathematics, let alone people with learning disabilities.

Maybe he finds math and science uninteresting. My son is the opposite and does much better in math and science than in English and social studies. He really hates social studies especially b/c it is about people and he has a ton of issues with fiction b/c it usually concerns people and requires understanding people's motives etc.

Getting an autistic kid to focus on uninteresting subjects is difficult, but if he can focus on having to do A, B and C in order to achieve his lifetime goals, perhaps that will help. Sometimes just understanding why something has to be done, helps.

Kraftie Kortie is right that if he wants a business degree, he is going to have to do some math in all likelihood: accounting, business stats etc.

If his issues stem from an actual learning disability in math, then that will need to be addressed differently, of course.

I was like this somewhat in school. I was really strong in English, writing, languages and had to get academic intervention to stay afloat in math. Science I was better at, because I just memorized everything. I think some people are just wired one way over another. We can't all be great at everything. I also used to experience some math anxiety, and this held me back in math a great deal. Later on, I realized that I was much better in math than I had assumed. It just seemed so foreign to think numerically for me in school. Can you get him some math/ science help? One on one help made a world of difference for me.

Yep...of course...tutoring!

There's lots of math in marketing.

Everyone is good in different things. I am not good at math but I do better at reading and writing. Science is also abstract too so I had a hard time in that class also. Math was also too abstract for me.

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR INPUT. I fall apart when it comes to my kid and I need all the support I can get. Thanks!!

Let me tell you how I handled the "math" issue for college (Marketing requires math, and depending upon specialty, can be LOTS of math).

I basically have...well, really had...a math phobia. I thought I was terrible at math. So, I created a self-fulfilling prophesy. However, when I went to college, I knew I was going to have to take statistics and pass it eventually. When you go to college, they make you take placement exams for things like Math. I dealt with my phobia by taking the math level lower (easier) than what I tested into. This made my first college math course relatively easy and it helped build my confidence. So, by the time I took the class that I tested into, I already had a bit of a math "groove."

I think some people have the misconception that math and science are "hard" and writing, reading, and social studies are "easy." The truth is that they require different kinds of smarts. My son, for example, finds math easy and writing hard. Also, although I was not good at math at all, I am very good at logic puzzles. I solved Einstein's logic puzzle rather easily. And it really seems like if you are good at logic you should be good at math, but it doesn't hold true for me. Different people have different strengths. The trick is just figuring out how to play to your strengths and fortify your weaknesses.

Can you get a math tutor for your son?
With subjects that are really hard for a student, I think the best approach is to get one-on-one tutoring if possible, and the goal is become ok in that subject, doesn't have to be A+, but also doesn't hold him back from what he wants to do.

We all have different brains.

Take me for example. I get 75% to 85% in my first language when writing text, notably fantasy, wich I do the best and I get over 90% in English and science, wich I find ridiculously easy.

On the other hand, I failed my first semester of ethics and religious culture with 58% because we always have to write about ourselves and our reactions and thoughts to stuff and that makes me struggle a lot. Also, I get 60% to 70% in maths because sometimes I can't concentrate and I end up missing theory so I get stuck in exams when I need to use said theory that I missed and I can't progress so I fail.