Are we ALL math whizzes?

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Yeah, I think I also developed my math phobia when I was younger.

I'm only diagnosed ADHD (Inattentive), though suspected AS has been a recurring theme with me (by me and by doc's). End disclaimer.

I have a love/hate relationship with math. I love math. I hate math classes. I strongly dislike algebra for this reason. I love calculus and can get lost in it for hours. That's partly why I hate math classes - when I start to understand it, the material demands I move on to something I don't understand. Everything feels rushed and I rarely learn much, get bad grades, and can't enjoy it at all. I have failed many math classes.

On the other hand, I have a massive vocabulary that hardly ever gets exercised. I tend to do extremely well in English assessments. Words are like building blocks for me - I shuffle them around and arrange them how I like them, and that often works in my favor when I'm attending school. I have never in my life failed an english class.

I think tying math into a career helps me. Anyone else have similar thoughts?

Thank you all for the great responses.

I'm fully aware that no two aspies are alike, but at the same time, there are certain traits that seem to be focused on or at least brought up in every single assessment for Autism/Aspergers/ASDs that are available online, which led me to believe that perhaps those traits were more firm or common.

Guess not!

Um, NO.
It just helps me know what career(s) to avoid.
I am currently writing a humorous book about greyhound adoption. And working on the illustrations.
The book I finished and the one that is half finished are on animal rescue.

ABSOLUTELY NO MATH

I know art has math formulas n' stuff you're supposed to use. If I worried about that, I'd never get past stick drawings.

Yeah, I'm a Rebel

That's what I mean. If we can connect our hobbies to a career then we can be successful.

I have a degree in English. I love mathematics but I'm not good at it.

Ok, You're right. Good call.

Do you have to use the word ''all''? I'm certainly not a math whiz. And I know a lot of NTs who are good at maths or enjoy it.

The stereotype that we are all good at math is one of those that Aspies in general love to hate. Even many who are good at math (and I am one of them), hate the stereotype. Just because we're good at it doesn't mean we like it, so many that are good at it still hate being stereotyped as good at it because they'd rather avoid it like the plague.

Your point about needing to solve problems differently than the way the class is shown to do it though, is a really good one. My middle son excels at math, but not the way the teachers want the class to do it. He understands the principles behind their methods so well he sees shortcuts that accomplish the same thing. Thank goodness I'm pretty good at it too, so if he shows me how he does problems, I can see how his methods relate to how I would do them. We insisted on allowing him to use his own methods as long has he can demonstrate that they work, and had it written into his IEP.

He also has a big problem with repetitively showing his work. In his mind if he can show that he understands it with a couple of problems, he's ready to move on to the next level. Unfortunately, the idiots at the school refuse to let him do it. Stupid schools are still all about repetition, and that bores the hell out of him. If the fools would let him move on as rapidly as he wanted to, he'd be in calculus by now.

I hate public schools. I just wish I had the time and patience to home school. Tried it with his older brother, and I'm definitely not cut out for it.

For those who are good at math, how do you think? I think spatially. Maybe that's a left-handed thing?
I'm sure this is normal, but I also feel math and answers feel intuitive sometimes.
I also have a hard time with thinking abstractly sometimes. I also have a very hard time communicating math to other people. I can solve it but have a hard time explaining how I got it.
I'm trying to cut the caffeine out because it really reduces my math abilities. It really screws me up.
I'm sure this is normal, but I used to be able to solve whole problems in my head.

Yes, I'm good at math. I is also good at the englishes (j/k). I'm actually quite well read and did very well in grammar, spelling, punctuation and creative writing. Where I failed miserably was in answering those "What was the author thinking when they wrote..." and "What do you think that character X intended to do" questions. If I was in sync with the teacher, it was fine and I did well. However, one year I got into a major pissing match with one teacher who kept asking for "opinion" and then insisted that I was wrong every time. It was the first class that I ever failed and I spent two weeks in summer school before I had my assignments and exam reviewed and regraded by the school board. (resulting in an 'A').

I can do well with anything that I can derive from other information. Math, physics, chemistry, spelling, grammar, etc. all have rules. Once I know the rules, I can use them to figure out the subsequent information. Memory work like biology, history, geography and literature are much more difficult for me.

It sounds like you approach it the same way I do. I'm right handed, though. Math or writing, doesn't matter which, I always have a hard time explaining anything I do, or creating summaries. It's like my mind goes blank. I point to it and say "Um, there it is. Isn't that enough?"

I have absolutely no interest in math. I'm not sure if it this disinterest or my not understanding it, but I have always done very badly at it.

Actually, there's some really interesting research on Autism and Aspergers that points to us processing more information through the visual cortex than through the frontal lobe (memory, emotion, context). So, the comment about thinking spatially makes a lot of sense.

I can't remember the specific researchers, but a lot of it was out of the University of Montreal (so it was probably Laurent Mottron. I only remember that name because his team is one of the few that actually has an autistic researcher/collaborator involved. It surprises me that more researchers don't do this. I would think that the rest of them are like a bunch of blind people trying to study color pallettes.)

I'm Asian and autistic, and I'm neither interested in, nor good at, math.