Boy / girl Aspergers differences (and maths)

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gratin
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31 Mar 2013, 3:27 pm

Does anyone know how Aspergers differs in girls than boys in general, I believe its more difficult to diagnose in girls.

... and do you know if all Aspergers kids are good at Maths or do some struggle ... and is that different in girls / boys.

Thanks.



Mirror21
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31 Mar 2013, 3:53 pm

I agree with Rudy Simone that the marked difference between girls and boys is more so how society perceives gender roles and displays of emotion and body language than there being marked differences in signs and symptoms. For example a little girl rocking side to side may be perceived as just a little girl moving and bobbing (which we see a lot of girls do) while the same movement for a boy is automatically seen as strange (it is not role specific as normal).

Women I think are usually more able to be considered eccentric or depressed than neurologically diverse.

As for math, I am not sure, I think this is an individual thing rather than a male/female thing.

I am female and though I am good at pattern perception I suck at Algebra and have never had better than a C average in those courses.



mikibacsi1124
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31 Mar 2013, 3:56 pm

Some aspies definitely are not very good at math. Myself, for one. I typically got B's and C's in math classes (I think I might have managed an A or two in high school Algebra), and completely struggled with Pre-Calculus and computer science. I worked harder to get a C in college Pre-Calc (after failing it the first time) than I did to get A's in a lot of other classes. Oh, and don't even get me started on science classes like Physics, Chemistry, and Meteorology.

There do tend to be differences between male and female aspies, but I'll leave that to people who know more than me on the subject. I think Mirror21 does have a point that the differences are perceptual due to gender roles.



Mirror21
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31 Mar 2013, 4:18 pm

mikibacsi1124 wrote:
Some aspies definitely are not very good at math. Myself, for one. I typically got B's and C's in math classes (I think I might have managed an A or two in high school Algebra), and completely struggled with Pre-Calculus and computer science. I worked harder to get a C in college Pre-Calc (after failing it the first time) than I did to get A's in a lot of other classes. Oh, and don't even get me started on science classes like Physics, Chemistry, and Meteorology.

There do tend to be differences between male and female aspies, but I'll leave that to people who know more than me on the subject. I think Mirror21 does have a point that the differences are perceptual due to gender roles.


Now that you mention it I have always struggled with any kind of science, but I was great at literature courses and photography, my favorite class in college was Choir Practice (and we did not even get a grade go figure!).

But to exemplify the gender role Idea: I am 29 years old and if i have a meltdown in the middle of a grocery store, people just think I am depressed, got bad news, I am having a sad day/moment or am on my period (crude i know). If a 29 year old man has a meltdown in a store he is "that weird guy".

Last time I tried to talk to a therapist about meltdowns she put me on mood stabilizers, like that helps sensory over stimulation.



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31 Mar 2013, 5:21 pm

I have read there are a number of differences between males and females with an ASD.

Females tend to be more expressive than their male counterparts it seems although this may not always be the case. I can be remarkably expressive when I am in creative mode, but not so expressive otherwise (when in natural mode). Ie in writing I am VERY expressive, in person not very expressive at all.

As for maths I have no idea. My maths was good but not quite as good as my English. In short I was a better writer than mathematician although my maths skills were still adequate enough for me to be in the top sets for both classes.



Mirror21
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31 Mar 2013, 5:24 pm

*is filled with envy* After two dedicated semesters between reading algebraic theory, memorizing steps (or trying to) and tutoring I still got nothing but c's and D's in algebra and most math courses. Did great with my labs for statistics (go rote memory) but when it came to formulas and stuff . . forget it.



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31 Mar 2013, 5:25 pm

I was pretty terrible at maths as a child. I was always behind the rest of the class in mathematics, though way ahead of them in reading and spelling. Though, I was better at it when I could do it somewhere quiet - I think I wasn't so much bad at it as needing to be able to concentrate more to be able to do it than with other subjects, and I couldn't do that in a classroom environment with all the noise and other children.

I have always been a right-brained "language and art" person rather than a left-brained "maths and science" person, and I think the fact that maths/science ability is seen as an AS stereotype is due to the focus of study always being on males, who, as you say, are more frequently diagnosed. Females have a stronger tendency to be creative types than males. Though there are a good few males who are right-brained aspies too, myself included.

There are a lot of interesting threads here describing the differences in the female presentation of autism to the classic (male) presentation - you should do a search or just look through the first few pages of this forum, as there have been a couple very recently.



theshawngorton
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31 Mar 2013, 5:45 pm

Which brain is more literate/creative?



uwmonkdm
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31 Mar 2013, 6:19 pm

I'm a pure math student, and math tutor... but you're trying to find a stereotype where there is none. Some aspies are good at math, some aren't.



Mirror21
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31 Mar 2013, 6:34 pm

uwmonkdm wrote:
I'm a pure math student, and math tutor... but you're trying to find a stereotype where there is none. Some aspies are good at math, some aren't.

Exactly!



cathylynn
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31 Mar 2013, 8:14 pm

aspie girl here. top .5% in math on SAT's.



WrongWay
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31 Mar 2013, 10:39 pm

Some aspies are good at maths, some not so good. Personally I was very good at it as a young child (3+ years ahead for my age) but am only average in my maths degree I'm doing now.


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01 Apr 2013, 4:29 am

gratin wrote:
Does anyone know how Aspergers differs in girls than boys in general, I believe its more difficult to diagnose in girls.

... and do you know if all Aspergers kids are good at Maths or do some struggle ... and is that different in girls / boys.

Thanks.


This link isn't too bad. http://autism.lovetoknow.com/Aspergers_in_Girls It's important to remember though, that not all girls have the girly version. (and not all boys the boy version). I don't have the subtle girly version, I've never copied anyone, and allegedly I was an obvious case (diagnosed in my early 30's).

As for maths, we fall all over the spectrum there, from severe dyscalculia to math genius. I've had severe learning problems in maths and sciences since early in elementary school, and I haven't been able to do the maths problems since elementary school. I was never helped to learn it properly.


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gratin
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01 Apr 2013, 5:22 am

uwmonkdm wrote:
I'm a pure math student, and math tutor... but you're trying to find a stereotype where there is none. Some aspies are good at math, some aren't.


Thanks, I thought that was the case but an interferring sister-in-law made me doubt myself.



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01 Apr 2013, 6:40 am

I've always struggled in maths. It is my biggest weakness, I think I am better with socialising than I am with maths.

People have assumed I was good at maths because I am good on the piano, but I didn't know there was a connection with mathematical abilities and musical abilities. There isn't with me anyway.

I've always been good at spelling. Heck, I am better at spelling big numbers out than writing them in figures.

I remember when I was 15 or 16, my maths class teacher (I was in the lowest maths group in the school) was teaching a really hard kind of maths, but was explaining it in the most simple possible way, and all the other kids (who all had some sort of intellectual delay in some way) got it after a few maths lessons, and I still didn't get it. So the teacher assistant had to pull me out of English classes (because I was good at English) just so I can be taught one-to-one, because it was important that I got this difficult maths. I got it for a couple of days, then it faded out of my head again. So when the final exams came, I just had to get it wrong. Couldn't do anything about it.

I got an F in maths.


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ker08
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01 Apr 2013, 7:55 am

Just a random comment but I still can't get used to seeing "maths" lol. I've always been one to correct people (which they don't like oddly enough) so admittedly this is bugging me. Then again, people from the UK probably feel the same way when we write "math".

Oh, and I was always excellent in math :) But I do best at anything that requires large amounts of memorization. My two favorite subjects were always math and history. And now I'm an actuary (think statistician) and my obsession is genealogy, mine and everyone else's.