Those on the spectrum not good at math and science....

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I thought about posting this under work and finding a job, but I want as many responses as I can get.

Can autistics have successful careers WITHOUT being good at math and science? Is anyone here an example of someone like that? It just seems that whenever you hear about an autistic getting and keeping a well-paying job, it's always as an engineer or a computer programmer or something that requires a strong math and science background. Do autistics ever find success in other fields?

This is what discourages me as I never had an aptitude for those sorts of jobs. I was diagnosed with non-verbal learning disability as a child. Later on, when I was career tested, they said engineer was the worst possible career for me. I struggled with math (particularly geometry) in high school. On the other hand, I excelled in reading and writing. That's why I choose a liberal arts education in college. Now, I feel like I'm being punished for it. It seems that if you're autistic and you have those savant-like abilities in math and science, you'll do okay. Otherwise, you're going to have a very difficult life.

I think the autism community has a responsibility to both recognize and inform others that not all autistics can do long division in their head and write computer programs in their sleep.

Your NOT alone OP. I'm dyelexic & I did really bad with math & science unless it was practical to everyday use. I'm not great with computers either which Aspis are supposed to be great at. I wish Aspies without those skills got more attention. When I mention Aspergers on other sites; lots of people start thinking I have skills like Bill Gates & I'm kind of embarrassed to tell em I'm worse with that than the average NT. Some people aren't really interested in being my friend after that especially on dating sites

That might depend on the interpretation of what it means to be successful. I worked for a company for 16 years, and I was fairly content. I never progressed upwards within the company, but I know that I am not the type of person that would excel at management. Mostly my job consisted of checking information, and, because I was good at that, other issues that one could say were related to AS were overlooked because of my ability to do the job well. My confounded abilities in calculus or programming were never an issue.

I think that if you have skills which are in demand, then employers will overlook negative aspects of an employee, or potential employee.

I am currently unemployed. I do not like my situation, and I am sorry if you are in that situation too.

Good post. I always did "ok" in math and science when it was pre-algebra type and earth science type stuff in junior high...then in high school I failed Biology and Geometry freshman year while getting As and Bs in English/Spanish/History. It continued like this (without the Fs) throughout high school...As, Bs, Cs in liberal arts, Cs, Ds, in math and science.

When I got my associates, I took nutrition and "the science of music" for science classes and trig and college algebra and did ok in all of those classes...but as you can see weren't exactly advanced classes.

Now I don't seem to have any job skills. When I hear about autistic people with jobs...it's computer/math/science type of savant job 9 times out of 10.

And I doubt if I ever will have a 40 hour type job. I suppose I could do secretary type work (I type fast) but I'm a guy.

I have this issue too. I don't understand science very well and I can only do everyday math. Also, I am not very interested in animals (other than cats, and the sounds that different types of dogs make) so I don't think I would be very good at working with animals. I am wondering about the types of jobs are good for autistic people who aren't great at math or science.

Also, they say that working from home is good for autistic people. I don't want to work from home. I don't like the idea of having NO social interaction whatsoever at work. I would only work from home if the job sounded really good and the only option for the job would be to work from home. If there was a job that sound quite good, where you didn't work from home that I could take and there was a job that sounded just a little bit better that required the person to work from home, I would choose the job that didn't involve working from home.

I have been thinking about working to support autistic people with greater difficulties than I suffer. I am not trying to be altruistic, it is more to do with being able to relate better to them than the general populace, so I hope I might enjoy it.

I am pretty horrible at math...I am quite good at reading and writing though and at the moment am in college focusing on psychology andsociology courses because that is what is intresting at the moment...not sure what I would do with a degree in either of those but yeah I am not sure what else to take.

I have dyscalculia, witch is like dyslexia but with numbers. With words and writing I do really well. But with numers it's a totally different story. I freak out every time I se numbers or have to deal with them, like calculating how much change to recieve at the store, copying phone numbers or split a bill in half at a restaurant. I always get things involving numbers wrong. I have always sucked at math in school and have just barely passed my math exams and tests since 3rd grade, trough high school and collage with a D or E.

In writing, biology and nature and science I have always gotten top grades. I even got A+ on an oral exam earlier this spring witch made me really proud of my self. But biology is definitely one of my favourite topics both in and outside school so I know quite a bit about it.

I was surprised to find I was better at math than my teachers gave me credit for. A lot of it had to do with being a "nobody" and lacking the social skills necessary to understand and get along with other people, especially teachers. I "get" science, also not something my teachers spent much time with me on though I respected my science teachers much more than my math teachers.

I tend rather to look at the world in terms of communicating with it at face value, not over-analyzing it. As such I've developed better written language skills. I lack much ability for poetry, but I excel in music. The trend these days is to go on and on about how music is math, but I just don't hear it that way. Sure, I understand harmonic relationships, melodic intervals, overtone series, 12-tone composition and calculating a tone-row matrix, etc. But mathematics fails to explain what music MEANS subjectively. So I tend to favor evaluating music composition and performance in terms of it's communicative effectiveness rather than "geometric" structure and form (though I won't deny that quasi-mathematical models are useful for explaining musical effects. Fourier analysis is especially useful in electronic music and helps explain why certain sonorities happen with different combinations of notes and even acoustic timbres).

Math and Science were my two weakest subjects in school.

I am NT, but I was never good in math or science either, and I am doing OK. My Aspie husband is a computer programmer and he is pretty good at math, but he had a lot of troubles with math when he was at school. He just did not get it. Until one day he did. Our Aspie daughter wants to become a scientist. She loves science. She hated math until we told her if she really wanted to become a scientist she better start liking math. She changed her attitude (she wants to ve a scientist THAT bad) and math is now one of her favorite subjects. And she is intelligent with a high IQ, but she is not a savant. She just needed desire to learn and good teachers.

I was above the average at school. I think I did not have significant problems with any subject.

Even so, I've got not superpowers.

I found my vocation several years before I realized my lack of socialization skills.

I've worked at electronics world most of my life. I am good enough an is a subject I like. But for money reasons, I've tried a few times to be salesman, and I am a mass (even in the electronic world).

The answer still being: Look for that you like and look for that you are good.

Good at science, but I don't try with math. I could be good at it, but I merely lack interest in the subject. Some aspects are interesting, but as a whole it is something I am not fond of.

Horrible at maths and science, heh. However, I get A's in everything else, and with tuition I'm still taking two sciences at A Level, even after having failed maths at GCSE. I'm predicted to do well, I don't see it as dampening my chances at being successful. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses!

I'm good at math and science, but I'm no genius.

Well, I can't say I have a successful job. I'm seventeen and I clean bathrooms for minimum wage.

I think anyone can have a good job at whatever they're good at. I got 51% in grade 12 consumer (general) math and 56% in grade 12 general sciences. I have always felt out of place with other people on the spectrum because I'm not good at those things. I am good at English, History and Law. I got 114% in AP English, 98% in History and 92% in grade 12 Family Law.

The career I'm pursuing is sexuality therapy though. Heh.