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Spazzergasm
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02 Dec 2009, 6:13 pm

I dont even put effort into it. I dont know how to explain this....the effort is so exhausting. If i ever try and do my homework, i squirm uncomfortably, lose my concentration a lot, and it's almost physically uncomfortable to focus. i feel no desire to accomplish something that brings me no joy.
what should i do? it's also very hard for me to grasp. i'm always getting distracted in class, or dont get what the teacher is saying, or he moves to fast. and i'm too akward to ask for help out loud.
i'm depressed, too.
am i being simply lazy? or is my struggle legit?



Descartes
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02 Dec 2009, 9:19 pm

I struggled with high school math too. I barely managed to pass Algebra. I don't think it's that you're lazy. You simply don't have the initiative to do something that you have no interest in. It was the same way for me too. However, if you are required to pass your math class, I would suggest you try a little harder. Go to tutoring. Discuss with your teacher what you can do to help you pass. That's about all the advice I have right now. Hope I helped a little. :)



aleclair
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02 Dec 2009, 11:11 pm

I'd bet you that you had a horrible math teacher back in elementary or middle school, and you just were never able to conceptually grasp math because nobody allowed you to step back and see the "big picture". It sucks that you have to study math as an undergrad if you indeed want the big picture: it's typically the promises of what you don't learn in high school that lure math majors into the trap.

If I were you, I'd actively look for an alternative explanation of mathematical concepts. How else can you explain the concept in a way that the teacher or the textbook doesn't? What I remember of high school math is because I found or came up with a better explanation than we had in class.



Goren
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03 Dec 2009, 7:44 am

I absolutely HATED maths in school, and I hated and barely passed it in the first few years in my first university. It is only now, when I am 27, did I actually begin to understand its beauty and grace. I still have a lot to catch up, but now I at least have the motivation I lacked before.

I used to blame the Russian system of education, that convinced me that maths is when you blindly learn formulas by heart and then solve hundreds and hundreds of typical problems and equations just applying the formulas, without thinking what you're doing. Any original approach, any creative thinking was discouraged - then again, the teachers in my school were not very bright themselves, and obviously they preferred to receive banal, standardized answers to the tests they can compare with textbooks than some original solution they'll have to think about.

Now I am understanding, that the same, if not worse, things go on in many different countries, and thus many talented and creative young people are discouraged from maths. It takes a long time - or a very good teacher - to recapture the motivation to learn maths.



jc6chan
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03 Dec 2009, 11:51 am

Spazzergasm wrote:
and i'm too akward to ask for help out loud.


you mean your questions are too obvious and other students will see that you're very stupid?



Spazzergasm
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03 Dec 2009, 1:33 pm

jc6chan wrote:
Spazzergasm wrote:
and i'm too akward to ask for help out loud.


you mean your questions are too obvious and other students will see that you're very stupid?


yeah. and i hate talkign out loud, i have Social anxiety. but really its the former. and like, i greatly dislike our teacher, i dont like communicating with him or having him look at me...


GRRR, i hate how no one has an answer! like people are saying here, about the whole picture. no one answers my question. no one knows, they just memorise it.



Lonermutant
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03 Dec 2009, 2:31 pm

Forget going to college, you're not meant to learn math. You're right in not seeking help.



bdhkhsfgk
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03 Dec 2009, 2:40 pm

I'm not good at math either, got sucky grades in my entire school-period.



AnotherOne
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03 Dec 2009, 2:48 pm

try to recognize a pattern in a problem. for example
2 equations with 2 unknowns

1. start with first eq
2. organize it so just one unknown is on one side
3. substitute the unknown in the other equation

this is obviously the simple math example but most of the problems can be dissected in a similar way.



Goren
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04 Dec 2009, 8:07 am

Spazzergasm wrote:
GRRR, i hate how no one has an answer! like people are saying here, about the whole picture. no one answers my question. no one knows, they just memorise it.

You know what, maybe you can ask some questions here on the forum, if you don't understand something? Many aspies are very good at maths, and it should be easier to exchange information because we all think more similarly between each other than to normies.



Lonermutant
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04 Dec 2009, 8:13 am

Goren wrote:
Spazzergasm wrote:
GRRR, i hate how no one has an answer! like people are saying here, about the whole picture. no one answers my question. no one knows, they just memorise it.

You know what, maybe you can ask some questions here on the forum, if you don't understand something? Many aspies are very good at maths, and it should be easier to exchange information because we all think more similarly between each other than to normies.



"Although most students with AS/HFA have average mathematical ability and test slightly worse in mathematics than in general intelligence"
http://aut.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/11/6/547

So no, you're wrong, most Aspies suck at math.



Goren
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04 Dec 2009, 8:51 am

Quote:
Findings indicate that: (1) the majority of
individuals with AS/HFA have average mathematical ability; (2) the
majority of individuals with AS/HFA have a significant but clinically
modest math weakness; (3) some individuals with AS/HFA have mathematical
giftedness.

I think Captain Obvious should sue those scholars for plagiarism.

Also, you know what? You are not helping.



Lonermutant
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04 Dec 2009, 8:58 am

Goren wrote:
Quote:
Findings indicate that: (1) the majority of
individuals with AS/HFA have average mathematical ability; (2) the
majority of individuals with AS/HFA have a significant but clinically
modest math weakness; (3) some individuals with AS/HFA have mathematical
giftedness.

I think Captain Obvious should sue those scholars for plagiarism.

Also, you know what? You are not helping.


The MAJORITY of us suck at math!!



Goren
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04 Dec 2009, 9:08 am

Did you read the paper? I've already finished it, BTW. Not "majority", but "significant part of" and not in maths, but in arithmetic subtest of FSIQ test as compared to average score in this test. At very best it means that some of us suck in arithmetic. But, then again, many great mathematicians do stupid arithmetic mistakes, especially if they work in areas other than arithmetic and number theory. As my maths lecturer used to say, there're two types of mathematicians - ones that can count and ones that count. And if you look on mathematical society of the world, great number of HFA/AS between mathematicians is an obvious reality.



Lonermutant
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04 Dec 2009, 9:34 am

Goren wrote:
Did you read the paper? I've already finished it, BTW. Not "majority", but "significant part of" and not in maths, but in arithmetic subtest of FSIQ test as compared to average score in this test. At very best it means that some of us suck in arithmetic. But, then again, many great mathematicians do stupid arithmetic mistakes, especially if they work in areas other than arithmetic and number theory. As my maths lecturer used to say, there're two types of mathematicians - ones that can count and ones that count. And if you look on mathematical society of the world, great number of HFA/AS between mathematicians is an obvious reality.



No the majority of us drop out of junior high because we can't do math.



bdhkhsfgk
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04 Dec 2009, 9:47 am

Lonermutant wrote:
Goren wrote:
Did you read the paper? I've already finished it, BTW. Not "majority", but "significant part of" and not in maths, but in arithmetic subtest of FSIQ test as compared to average score in this test. At very best it means that some of us suck in arithmetic. But, then again, many great mathematicians do stupid arithmetic mistakes, especially if they work in areas other than arithmetic and number theory. As my maths lecturer used to say, there're two types of mathematicians - ones that can count and ones that count. And if you look on mathematical society of the world, great number of HFA/AS between mathematicians is an obvious reality.



the majority of us drop out of junior high because we can't do math.


I agree about this, math would be the sole reason for me to fail junior or in my case high school, I think if you're an an aspie, you're either a pro at math, or you suck at it, maybe somewhere around 5 or 10% if I should guess are the few aspies that are good at it.