Who has aspergers/autism here, who are good/bad at maths?

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Math is a weird thing for me. On the one hand, I won the State Mental Math Bee in sixth grade, "invented" an entirely new method of solving a problem in Algebra 2(it was a super-tough problem the teacher was offering extra credit for, and i showed her a new way of solving it that still had the same result), and I can do the quadratic formula in my head on a good day. But on the other hand, I am horrible at Geometry, and basically struggle with any type of math where I have to write things down instead of doing it in my head. I think the latter has something to do with my motor dysgraphia, but I'm not 100% sure.

This is an interesting study. I'm really not sure whether to say I'm good or bad with math. First I should mention that in addition to AS I have a NonVerbal Learning Disability which means that my ability to understand spatial relations is impaired so the spatial visual aspects of math were always expected to give me trouble. When I was a child (3-5 years old) I was one of those kids that spent hours counting by different numbers and memorized some of the prime numbers and would go around reciting them. I could even (according to my dad) explain what prime numbers were or why certain numbers were prime - divisible by 1 and itself only) when I was 3. Then in school I had a lot of difficulty with math especially when it came time to do things like place value and fractions - around grade 3. I never really tried in math at school because I was really preoccupied with my own things and "off in my own little world"....I never did homework or practiced math skills......but it definitely didn't come naturally and easily for me. I took lower level math in high school and stopped taking it as soon as possible. However I've just finished my .B.A. in Psychology and for it I had to take Statistics... which I loved....... I got 98% as my final grade. It was so logical and made so much sense and I didn't even struggle with the visual/spatial aspects of math involved (graphing, slopes etc.). So to answer your questions to the best of my ability:

1.) What concepts of maths do you struggle with?

Not any concept in particular but anything with a large visual/spatial component.

2.) What usually makes you get the wrong answer i.e. silly mistakes?

In the past- silly mistakes and not understanding concepts because of a lack of effort in learning the material and lack of attention during tests

3.) Do you understand maths but have problems applying?

No

4.) Do you need the logic explained to understand?

I think I do....I think when I finally did well in math in uni it was because Stats is a very logic based branch of mathematics and because I had a prof who did a good job explaining the logic behind the theories we had to learn and apply.

5.) Can you understand how all logic apply in questions?

If I can answer the question ,then yes

6.) What usually throws you off?

I'm not really sure

7.) Your problems with maths in general?

See top of post.

math isnt one skill. Its many.

Am good at arithmatic but had trouble going through the tracking system of normal school math- algebra to geomotry- hit a brick wall somewhere - never got to calculus.

But can do math in my head. I can tell you what proportion of the US population was killed in every war weve fought.

I work with a guy who is trained as an engineer but he relies on me to tell him that "three for eight dollars" means $ 2.67 when we count pet food at giant food for inventory.

was very poor at math in Grade School. Over the years, I have improved, and can easily grasp most simple concepts. However, I have a poor memory for large strings of numbers..
Its like that for me in a lot of things, I either see the Trees instead of the Forest, or I see the forest, but no individual trees!
Must be that executive function thing, I guess.
Here is a current example: I get all the basic geometry concepts, but Algebra was very hard for me (except graphs).
Frankly, I was always better with letters & words than numbers. In that, nothing changes for me..

Sincerely,
Matthew

I am not good at math. I was above average when in school. That is of course not an accomplishment in an anti-intellectual society. Getting top scores in elementary school is not an accomplishment. It just means that I actually cared enough to do my homework. Most kids today are either stupid or suicidal. It is easy to stand out when the competition is so weak.

Answers:

1. Information processing. I guess my brain is too small to solve more complex problems.

2. Information overload.

3. I do not know. It was a long time ago since I did any math. It is not an interest of mine.

4. Yes, I think so.

5. Once a problem has been explained, yes.

6. I just cannot cope with failure.

7. It is too damn difficult.

When I was in school I regarded math as my favorite subject, but I may also have regarded it as such because my Dad is a math teacher. Even when I began college, I enrolled with math as my major. I quickly decided that I did not want to pursue it anymore because I was having some difficulty with calculus (actually a rather poor instructor I later learned). I then switched to psychology, and finally English which was an area I excelled in.

Math has always been extremely easy, but I dropped out of college when I was 16 making up to cal-2. I competed in leagues when I was 11-12 and took 3rd in the State. Something that was odd to me was how most of the questions were completely new to me, and I somehow just kinda figured it out on my own. I had thought I did terrible, so was a bit surprised when I took 3rd helping my school win state

1.) What concepts of maths do you struggle with?
I always disliked graphing problems, although taking derivatives of functions was kind of interesting. It took me a bit to make the jump to algebra as I recall (point-slope formula etc.) although I became good at eventually and went on to Calculus in high school. Didn't take to college level math though.

2.) What usually makes you get the wrong answer i.e. silly mistakes?
It was usually carelessness, a side effect of being able to just "see" answers at earlier levels was a tendency not to show or check work, and at higher levels error-checking and writing out steps is actually useful.

3.) Do you understand maths but have problems applying?
I;m not sure I get the distinction.

4.) Do you need the logic explained to understand?
No, for instance the underlying basis of trigonometric identities made no sense to me whatsoever (Sine^2+Cos^2=1? really?) but I still found them interesting to play around with as arbitrary equations.

5.) Can you understand how all logic apply in questions?
I think so.

6.) What usually throws you off?
In word problems, generally the wording of the questions.

7.) Your problems with maths in general?
See: 1

I am by no means a math genius, but my grades have usually been above average. I was understimulated in primary school, since our egalitarian headmaster decided no one was supposed to be ahead of the rest - so when I came back one week into the term having completed the entire exercise book, I was not allowed to do more until after Christmas. If I hadn't been a victim of that ideology throughout my first years of school, I suspect the current reality would be different, as my enjoyment of learning was pretty much gone after a few years. But I digress. Since I'm neither genius nor bad, I'll answer both sets of questions:

- Could you explain to why and how you understand it?

Visual thinking; I think in objects, patterns and concepts. Mathematical problems present themselves as visual puzzles, and as long as I know the rules (which can be compared to the edges of the pieces), it's just a matter of putting them together the right way. I shuffle the parts around visually instead of how most people seem to follow a "sentence-like" (linear) approach. This is normally a good thing, but it can make my solutions hard to follow even though they're right, and it does at times trick me into making too big jumps, causing "interesting" results, like negative gravity in physics. But despite that, I'd say my thinking pattern gives me an advantage.

- And if its any help, why do you think some people on the spectrum don't understand it?

People are different, even on the spectrum. And the world would be a boring place if it consisted of mathematicians and engineers.

1.) What concepts of maths do you struggle with?

I struggle a bit with applied math. I can be creative within the abstract realm (or what to call it), but going from abstract to concrete isn't always easy. In exams, I tend to do well on the more difficult problems that other people fail to solve, while failing the supposedly easier problems within applied math. I also struggle somewhat with elementary arithmetic; I can solve fairly complex integrals without consulting a cheat sheet, but I rely on my calculator to do easy multiplication.

2.) What usually makes you get the wrong answer i.e. silly mistakes?

As I mentioned, I can sometimes make too big jumps due to seeing the solution visually. That usually happens because I don't notice some detail of the original problem. I can be sloppy sometimes, and those small errors can be difficult to identify when you don't write down every small step.

3.) Do you understand maths but have problems applying?

Yep. I would have significantly more problems if I were to study things like construction engineering, though. Within electronics, which is what I'm studying, I have less (but still present) problems.

4.) Do you need the logic explained to understand?

That depends, really. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.

5.) Can you understand how all logic apply in questions?

Normally, yes.

6.) What usually throws you off?

Too many (real) numbers. I need to work with symbols. That's not a problem in calculus and up (at least not here, I won't speak for the world), but before that, teachers often had at least one of those "solve this problem without a calculator" in tests, which I more than often got wrong.

7.) Your problems with maths in general?

My general problems aren't really with math, but with studying in itself. I most probably have undiagnosed ADD *and* narcolepsy, for which I'm being tested in the hopes of getting medication, which ironically will be the same for both... But healthcare in this country is horribly inefficient, so I'm starting to lose hope that it'll be in order before the fall term. So I have more problems keeping my attention in classes, during exams and while trying to work on my own, than with understanding. Being constantly tired also does not help. This (and my university forgetting to place me in a separate room) affected my calculus exam, and this term I'm postponing linear algebra/differential equations to focus on other classes that I need to continue to my second year. I'll probably start taking fewer classes per year if I don't have my medication come September.

And come to think of it, one problem I have with math (and science) in general, is rigid thinking. My solutions have to be pretty, not just correct. This sometimes causes me to spend ages trying to perfect a solution that would already earn me 100%, instead of going on to the next problem. At one time, the assistant teacher in electrical circuits was convinced a formula I'd come up with for a mandatory lab exercise was wrong, since I'd been working on it until it was "pretty". After looking at it for a while, he realized it was correct, but changed beyond recognition compared to his own result. He pretty much advised me to accept results as they are, since my version didn't give any advantage other than confusing teachers. The professors in those kinds of classes also keep telling me I should be more "sloppy", those small discrepancies I tend to focus on when doing calculations, are nothing compared to the discrepancies from things like inaccuracies in measurements, voltage generators etc. I know this very well, but I still have this compulsion to make it correct down to the nth decimal. The same problem applies if I can't come up with a solution at all; my insistence on getting everything right, can cause me to spend too much time on one problem that i can't solve, leaving me with too little time to complete the rest. That has affected my exam results more than once. Edit: These problems weren't as noticeable when I studied philosophy and religion, since there are no "correct" answers in those subjects. After having switched to engineering, I've had to apply for extended time for exams, since this has become a major problem due to the nature of math and science.

I have Aspergers and ADHD and am good with numbers. I don't know why I am good at Maths I just see through math problems and am good at mental arithmetic. It's no more effort for me than breathing!

Yes, I'm very bad at math.

1.) What concepts of maths do you struggle with?
-Everything

2.) What usually makes you get the wrong answer i.e. silly mistakes?
-Numbers and equations confuse me. I don't understand anything about math.

3.) Do you understand maths but have problems applying?
-No, I've always had troubles with everything, I just can't wrap my head around it.

4.) Do you need the logic explained to understand?
-I literally need somebody to sit with me one on one to understand a concept in math. If I find it too complicated I wont understand it tutor or not. It took me years to finally understand long division. I still use my fingers to count sometimes. I use a calculator for almost everything.

5.) Can you understand how all logic apply in questions?
-Nope

6.) What usually throws you off?
-Everything

7.) Your problems with maths in general?
-Everything, even basic math.

I was always sh***y at maths in school, was probably my worst subject. I managed a D grade at GCSE then gave up on it completely. Guess I more wired for english whch was my favorite subject (well, that and history).

I'm an aspie and MtF TS. My conceptual understanding of mathematics is good enough that in some areas I can see what the frontier research questions should be ... but I'm absolutely awful at wrangling, i.e. all the algebraic manipulation needed for proofs. The result is that I've never been able to do maths quickly enough to get good exam grades.

This is not unknown among even top-notch mathematicians. Henri Poincare was well known for having to ask his research students to find the errors in his algebra. Riemann never obtained formal qualifications.

I used to worry about screwing up the algebra until I heard about Poincare. Now I realise that I am simply a heavily visual thinker - to the point where I can visualise some things in eight-dimensional space. To prove anything I first have to see it visually, then - sometimes very laboriously - translate the mental pictures into algebra.

I work as a software engineer and am one of the very few non-graduates to have led a computer science research team. In my own specialty I have on more than one occasion found that I've been ahead of the supposedly leading academics in some areas of theoretical computer science ... but then, they were able to pass all the right exams at the right time ...

As regards assimilation of mathematics through standard notation I am virtually dyslexic. Strangely also I can play the piano (passably, when I'm in practice) but have never been able to sight-read.