Math and Number Difficulties

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Curious about those with math difficulties (on the contrary to those excelling in such subjects).

What things with math/numbers do you have trouble in or can not do, and are you bad with everything math/number related or is there parts you do well with? Are you diagnosed with a learning disorder? Why do you have difficulties in said area?

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I know I was unable to count past 100 and told I had to learn past that but had trouble (the only testing done was up to 100 to see those with math trouble) when I was supposed to be counting past that. When I was learning my multiplication facts I never did learn them all, and I still don't know them all. The same happens with clocks. I can't tell the time sometimes unless it's basic.

I just can't keep the numbers in my head together. This is a lot worse when it's applied to everyday circumstances. And I get very frustrated. What about you?

I'm reasonably proficient when it comes to most exercises involving basic arithmetic. For instance, I don't have any real difficulty with addition, subtraction or multiplication. Division is a little more difficult for me. I can tell time pretty easily, and I'm reasonably decent when it comes to logic, and simple problems involving probability and such. I can do simple algebra involving one variable pretty easily. However, when it comes to more complex algabraic operations, geometric formulas beyond the most basic, and anything at all involving trigonometry, I'm completely lost and confused. I started having real trouble with math in seventh grade, and after that I just barely got by with the help of my Mom. In high school, I dropped math as soon as I could get away with it, and I took as little math as I could get away with over the course f my education beyond high school. I also get very easily frustrated when it comes to math.
So, no, I'm definitely not mathematically oriented. My strengths are definitely not in the area of the mathematical, technical or scientific, though I do enjoy certain aspects of biology. My talents are definitely more geared toward verbal and language skills -- in English, anyway. I'm really not fluent in any other languages, though I can speak and understand some basic Spanish. In my opinion, having advanced skills in math is one of those stereotypes that does not apply to everyone with AS.

when i'm doing any kind of involved math i often lose track of the numbers or the functions. as a kid this meant i was often off by a single number in a math problem. i've always had trouble learning math rules and higher mathematics is beyond me.

i reverse numbers sometimes when i read them. i usually get a headache when i try to do anything but simple math. it's hard for me to add, divide, multiply or divide past a certain point without paper. (most people would be able to do the kind of math i'm talking about in their heads.)

often even with paper i get really nervous and confused and i end up checking my answers half a dozen times and still getting them wrong. i've always had a lot of trouble remembering how to do math problems so studying for my math classes was basically useless. when i count past a certain point i have trouble keeping track of the numbers. sometimes i miss some.

i have dyscaluclia. it's a learning disability like dyslexia but affecting your "number sense." unfortunately i wasn't diagnosed with AS or dyscalculia until recently and i'm all done with school. i should have had some concessions that would have made my schooling easier on me.

I'm not bad at math, per se... I just have a weird way of doing it that left me behind until sixth grade.

I didn't learn my times tables until high school and didn't have them down pat until college. Until then, I had to use a lot of mental tricks; I visualized numbers as shapes, areas, volumes, and stacks to manipulate them mentally because I couldn't memorize what was to me meaningless information. I still have to mentally work with the shapes when I'm doing arithmetic, because my memory for the math facts still isn't perfect. That's part of why primes annoy me. Numbers like twenty-three or thirty-seven are indivisible, and since a number's factors determine its shape, primes are long sticks with little distinction along their length and no good way to divide them up into manageable bits. Three and five are the only exceptions, because these are easy to visualize as groups, and five is half of ten.

Thankfully, the second I hit algebra, things got a lot better. Algebra has very little arithmetic in it, and what there is of it is generally small numbers that are easy to stretch into shape. The rest is all logic, and I'm good at logic. Now that I use a calculator for everything, my math problems are pretty close to gone. I really think that people with true dyscalculia instead of my memorizing-unconnected-info problem are better off using calculators (they're so cheap and easy to get nowadays; why not?) and learning the principles instead of messing around with arithmetic.

Use paper and pencil.

ruveyn

My non verbal working memory sux too. Hard to do math in your head if you can't see stuff in your head. Once I got past the memorization type of math, I did fine on paper. With the exception of Algebra.

I have dyscalculia and I find anything to do with maths difficult. I didn't learn how to tell the time until year 9 and I still struggle with it now sometimes. I also have a really poor sense of time and am constantly running late. I mix up numbers easily, sometimes when writing down phone numbers I write them in the wrong order or write the 6 as a 9. I get disorientated really easily which I think is to do with dyscalculia but it might also be to do with autism? Estimating distances is difficult for me to do as well.

You might be onto something with this connection being an autism thing. I am your total opposite - I have savant-grade hypercalculia, and by the time I was three I understood how all of the area roads connected up and could always keep track of where I was, even though I had never heard of a map and was not (and still am not) able to recognise most landmarks because of visual agnosia.

Separately but germane to this thread, I homeschooled a (very likely AS) child who had immense difficulty with basic arithmatic facts, but could effortlessly understand advanced concepts. So I did what any self-respecting autistic teacher would - continue to teach the advanced concepts, "grading" the work on the demonstration of the understanding and application of the concepts rather than the mechanics.

For me, algebraic/systems of equations are the WORST. Unfortunately, that's what I'm working on currently.