Asperger's and the math stereotype

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I'm awful at remembering math, but if asked to write an algorithm I can do it in pseudo code or a programming language easily enough. I love logic puzzles and I'm sort of addicted to Sudoku.

I think many people automatically assume those with Autism are extra gifted at problem solving and are awesome at math, chess, card counting etc etc. That's mainly because of TV and movies. These days people associate Autism with Sheldon Cooper.

The truth is many with Autism are hyperfocused on certain subject areas throughout their life. So they become experts in their subject area and not so good at areas where NT's are.

Problem solving is likely because we struggle with many things in life and we are constantly finding solutions to our daily problems so we naturally problem solve all the time even if we thing we dont.

I remember what I was told in my diagnosis report. She said "James has an excellent IQ but lacks skills in required areas". Something along those lines.

Maths was by far my strongest subject at school (though I've not done anything academic in 17 years). Everything else - science, english, history - I was average, or maybe a smidge above. I was always quick with mental arithmetic when younger, and on just getting the more advanced stuff as I got older. Music was the only other subject that came close - the two are strongly related for me. My abilities (and memory of rules) have declined in the intervening years, as it's not something I use, but it was still the standout area of the Weis IQ test I took as part of my assessment.

I think this 'standout' of a particular academic area is quite common in AS. I knew the true bright/academic kids, and while I may have been a little better than them in maths, they were way above me in everything else - consistently capable in a way I couldn't be. My school reports were littered with the phrase, 'he needs to try harder'. There was an assumption I was just coasting in other areas - it never felt like I was. Often, it felt like I didn't even know how to try harder.

I've since found I have to figure my own way to learn (about) a subject - even in music, it's a mix of what feels like intuitive abilities, what I can understand of established theory, and my own applied analysis and understanding.

I have dyscalculia so no I'm not very good at math, however I keep trying to get better at math anyways because it's interesting to me, still I'm fairly terrible at it.

definitely a myth. no doubt about that.
I am very good at maths but we can be either good at it or not.
Also I hate traditional teaching methods. No wonder so many people have trouble with maths. Instead of making as curious and incentive us to relate maths to problem solving and real life and letting us develop our own individual strategies that work for us, they throw up formulas.
It makes me daammn angry
one of my dreams was to create a school with this perfect revolutionary method I developed based on my intense observations and researchs on educational methods. The kind of school I would have loved to study in! Unfortunately I would need tons of money. If I win in the lottery someday I'll do it (or if I get money somehow). And it would be a school with lots of scholarship of course.
Too much disgression. But average math teaching methods suck and this is why most people hate maths or have trouble with it.

Its seems that most people with AS tend to have high intelligence but suffer horribly in mathematics and abstract based thinking.I think this is because people with Aspergers tend to link on more of a logical based only form of thinking therefore any form of abstract or spatial thinking makes it rather hard for them to go pass.

I don't have Apergers but PDD-NOS and I am a wiz at math. I even disprove any write my own math theories in my mind. Its quite a hobby of mine actually

I hated doing math back when I was in school, and I always struggled with advanced concepts like algebra and trigonometry. I'm not that bad at basic math (addition/multiplication/subtraction/division), but it took me a long time to get to the point I'm at now, and by the time I got to that point, all my peers were way above me. As well, it takes me a LOT longer to do mental calculations than most people, and things like estimation or "educated guesses" don't come to me as naturally as most people.

I was so glad when they FINALLY allowed us to start using calculators in class, some time around 8th/9th grade. Before then, they pushed the idea of "mental math" quite heavily on us, and I struggled with it. I remember doing these "mad minutes" in third grade where you had to complete a series of short mathematical equations within a minute, and a new one was given out every day. However, if you didn't pass or finish one, they would make you keep doing it over and over each day until you finished it. I remember being stuck on this one that had a few multiplication problems for about a week, and it was so frustrating to see all of the other kids in my class passing me by.

I also remember when they tried to teach us how to do long division in fourth grade... GOD I HATED THAT! It made absolutely no sense to me, and it still doesn't.

On a strange note, I actually recall getting top marks in my 10th grade math class. It was not a pure-level course however, so there were a bunch of kids in there who just goofed off and chatted with one another the whole time, so while I still struggled with the work, I managed to pass them just by actually finishing my assignments and working like a mofo on my exams. It wasn't a great mark, somewhere in the 75% range, but somehow it was higher than everyone else's marks. I also happened to have a really awesome teacher for that class, who liked showing us chemistry experiments and YouTube videos when he was done lecturing. I remember being amazed when I found out that he was an avid StarCraft player!

As for 11th grade math, I only took it during my second year of Grade 12, and it was kind of a wash anyhow since it was a lower-end course, much like my 10th grade math class. The course material was much more practical and geared towards "real life" use, so as a result it wasn't that hard of a class for me.

OK, so I'm probably better at math than what I give myself credit for, though that does not mean I'm a math wiz. Other than the last two math courses I took, every other math course has been a challenge to me to some extent. I do much better with basic, concrete mathematical concepts than anything veering into abstract or theoretical territory.

My teachers called me the absent-minded professor. I have blurted out answers, without making a conscious effort, and, luckily, they turned out to be true. Or, if I am preoccupied, I don't remember to do ordinary things. I have won trivia contests and felt like it was an accident.

I sometimes imagine that I have a sort of tunnel vision, as though I am in a dark place, looking out, into the ordinary world. I can come out of my shell, out of autopilot, but basically have to tell myself to put one foot in front of the other. I am thinking of a tortoise. I can solve problems on paper, and take charge of chores, but have to plan ahead and force myself.

I was very good at all kinds of math in school, and statistics, but I don't remember any of it now. If I refresh my memory on something I can still do it though.

The only thing I had trouble with was memorizing the times tables in 3rd grade. I had trouble remembering the 12s, and a few of the 7s and 8s. I still don't remember them very well and I have to really think about it.

I'm very good with matrices. I just don't understand why I can do so well with matrices, and then have trouble reading stove burner symbols which are basically just VERY simplistic matrices.

I love Sudoku puzzles but have to be in the right mood for it. If not I just get very frustrated with them. But if I am I find it soothing and can play obsessively for hours, while watching videos on the computer.

I used to be good at chess but now can't play at all. My skills in that area have completely deteriorated.

Often I used to get math problems right in school, without really thinking about it. The answer would literally just appear in my head as a visual. But it wasn't something I could do reliably, on purpose, it just happened off and on. Teachers didn't like it because they wanted everyone to show exactly how they did the problem. Maybe if they had encouraged it I would have developed that skill so I could do it on purpose(?)

I'm not great at math but I'm not terrible either, and I'm just now realizing that. I took a pre-assessment for school with no preparation and passed (although just barely) even though some of the material was stuff I'd never encountered and I had to figure it out myself. I think I actually have a talent for figuring out math answers my own way, and tests that don't make me show my work, I can do well on. But my brain just works in a different way. I get tripped up when people insist I show them how I got the answer because they want to see that I did it using their formulas, and then I've often gotten answers marked wrong when I got the right answer but arrived at it the "wrong" way. I am great at solving the puzzle and bad at learning and memorizing other people's formulas, I guess, is the takeaway.

I wouldn't call myself top of the class due to self-disgust but I am above average and therefore mediocre. I agree that it is a stereotype, no part of asperger's developmental disorder should mean that an entire group of people who have it excel at maths, especially considering the co-morbids often associated with autism, such as dyscalculia.

I took about ~60 college credits in math some graduate courses, and the lowest grade I got was an A- in 'game theory'.

Math is order and solving problems is a creative expression of order.

I might have OCD, or a strong OCD component within an ASD.

i would call my aptitude for maths competent, but that's about it. it was one of the subjects to which i had to apply myself more to achieve As--at least later on (i'm looking at you, differential calculus)--so i enjoyed it because it caused me to stretch myself intellectually, and i liked the feeling of accomplishment when the extra effort maths required payed off and i learned a new concept/skill. i never had the facility with it my father has; my highest (and most easily achieved) marks were always in the sciences, especially chemistry.

Poetry on the other hand.. I never knew it was possible to have an incorrect opinion on what a piece of writing conveys to me.. until high school English classes.
It seems to me that logic just didn't come into it.