Difficulty with Abstract Topics and Math

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WARNING: This is HS Math
I've been fascinated by math, but not direct math, my ability to learn math and why it is so impaired. I've come across, or looked more closely at a concept of abstract vs concrete thinking and through much research and self analysis have found that I am severely unable to think in an abstract sense. My thoughts and feelings, though capable of being in an abstract, cannot be abstractly analyzed or understood within my own head, and as a result I grasp onto real world scenarios to understand information. When doing a math problem for example, I find it difficult to both calculate in my head and on paper, as my mind isn't powerful enough to hold onto the data while I'm doing it because of my inability to see past one thing at a time (This can be seen under any application of math or technical thinking, something like driving for example is difficult because there's multiple things that have to be focused on). Often I find myself wondering if there is a different sort of super-human out there that is capable of understanding math, if I have some sort of mental damage or deficiency, or if I'm just blatantly stupid. Pushing all that aside, I certainly find myself capable of deeper or more complex thoughts, especially emotional ones, and though I am not very introspectively advantaged, I am still capable of many emotions and experiencing them as well.

Before I drive too far from the topic, I just want to get to the title of this post. I find math to be extremely abstract, because it isn't connected with anything in the real world, it's just a set of values, angles, or odd words and terms that are unrecognizable because they aren't based on anything else in the real world. I find comfort in my surroundings, not in a world of hundreds of numbers that only certain people can calculate. I understand that if I live my life hating those who are not as intellectually hindered as I that I will never be able to strengthen myself but I just can't help feeling that this whole situation is slightly unfair, and that the world acts like these people work hard when in reality the whole education system has been based on who is good at what naturally. I've learned this the hard way, such as spending days studying only to fail while some other "faster" thinker is capable of straight As. I am very alien and isolated to the whole education system, I feel like an outsider, and I want out. This deviated far from what I originally asked but if you've read this whole thing I really appreciate it.

I went from an A, about 90%, in Maths in my fourth year (There are six years in total for Scottish high school.) to an F the next year (Roughly 30%). I can follow instructions well but I find problem-solving very difficult. The complexity of the equations and questions, as you said, was too difficult to imagine in a realistic situation. I had similar problems in Chemistry and Physics, going from two B's to two F's. However, I believe my Chemistry teacher contributed to my poor grade because she wasn't cooperative, helpful, or understanding and I found it difficult to work in class. Biology was consistent from a B to a B. My science-based classes changed to social classes and I now have History, Modern Studies, Religious Studies, and Advanced English. I believe I am excelling in these subjects because I find essay writing easier than solving a problem. It follows a basic structure: point, explain, analysis, evaluation. Perhaps a different type of subject would suit you better? Creative: drama, art, and music expect you to imitate and copy (a script, body language, expression; a visual image; notes and sounds). Social, as previously stated, is essay based and (in my opinion) is easy if you understand the structure. All the questions we get for these subjects are always essay-style.

Try to link Maths problems with as many things as you can, ask for help, and practice as much as you can in the meantime and perhaps consider changing subjects if that helps?

Good luck. I hope I helped.

This was helpful and made some sense, thanks.

Greetings. I see you have posted about problems about math here already. From what I am reading, I was wondering if you have dyscalculia, a math learning disability? It can impact your math reasoning, which would be considered word problems and not being able to understand what questions is being asked. I am not 100% familiar with the criteria with dyscalculia, but can provide you with information to figure out if it could be a possibility to look further into. Here is some links to information about dyscalculia:

https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/child-learning-disabilities/dyscalculia/understanding-dyscalculia

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyscalculia

http://www.dyscalculia.org (this site seems hard to navigate)

My favourite link is probably the first one. Some of the symptoms may not relate to you, depending on your age, but you may realize you had some of them as a kid.

You can find more information online by searching on Google or another web searcher "dyscalculia". I'm sure several sites will pop up.

You can figure out if you have this by getting either a psychoeducational assessment or neuropsychological assessment. These are usually done by a psychologist. They test your IQ, because one of the criteria is that you have at least an average IQ, and then they do test to on reading, writing, and math skills. If you tell them you have difficulties in math, they may (or may not) do more math tests. For me, I thought dysgraphia (writing disorder) was a problem for me, but it isn't. I just have a problem with handwriting due to fine motor skills problems. So they can also do differential diagnosis to see if dyscalculia is a problem for you, and not something like reading comprehension as an example. Maybe realizing this will help you understand why you are like the way you are?

HS I assume means high school?

Anyways, for me, I am in high school math, in a course called "Advanced Functions". One thing I can tell you is that this isn't caused by autism, well to me I wouldn't think so, since it isn't in the criteria of autism spectrum disorder, other than the fact of not understanding abstract concepts, but to me, math isn't that abstract (run on sentence, I'm sorry). I am considered intellectually gifted at mathematics. Part of being this good is practice. Other parts are genetics, which you can't control. Maybe do a worksheet of addition/subtraction/multiplication/division per day? Work on basic stuff and then advance? Getting the fundamentals down solid (pat? Whatever the expression is) should help you do more complex problems like trigonometric identities or sinusoidal waves as an example.

Anyways, hope this information helps