Are most Autistics good at math?

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I am aware that the subject line of this post is a stereotype, and I swear I'm not trying to make fun of anyone here, it's just that I've always been good at math... Like really good(it helps that complex math is one of my special interests).

I have this distinct memory of my mom, standing there in the kitchen listening(probably board out of her mind) to to the twelve year old me spouting off about plank's constant and quantum wave function colapse.

And from what I've seen from perusing different sites about AS/HFA it seems most of us on the spectrum are good at math.

Is this just a stereotype, or could there be any validity to it?

I suck at math. I am completely rubbish when it comes to math. Some Autistics are really good with art and languages. I am better with languages. I am good at music theory though and that is extremely mathematical in nature. So I guess I could be good at math if it were presented in a way that I could understand or retain it. I also did well in some parts of math like algebra 1 word problems and theories in geometry. I also did very well in my high school physics class. I think for me, the key is that if I can make a mental visual of the concept, then I can learn it, understand it, and retain it. If it is too abstract for me to make a mental visual, I cannot learn or understand it.

Last edited by skibum on 27 Apr 2018, 10:03 am, edited 1 time in total.

I suck at math.

Words are my specialty.

I'm average at math.

Annoying people is my specialty.

I love math. It was always one of my best subjects at school but I never got obsessed with it. I've been out of university for awhile now and I miss having math in my life. Now that I'm getting some brain function back with my newly healed gut I was thinking of reading my boyfriend's computer graphics textbook. I used to be obsessed with wood carving and my nation's traditional art work is quite systematic. Math and art getting it on together.

No.

I don't think so. I think it's only a minority of autistics who have a special talent in math. I was good at math (until calculus), but not to genius level.

I'm pretty good at Math especially with algebra except for certain topics like factoring polynomials. I never had a calculus class so idk what that is like.

I suck at maths to the point where it's laughable.

But I suck at learning foreign languages as well.

I'm good with playing the keyboard but I'm not great. I can't play with both hands and I cannot read music.

I am OK at drawing but not from memory. I'm better if I'm copying from a picture and if I focus well (which I'm not so good at).

I can write stories, although my vocabulary isn't that good, so I tend to need a dictionary or some sort of writing guide to help me think of better ways to explain things in the story. I'm good at spelling, grammar and punctuation though, so that's one thing. I never use spellcheck when posting, if you must know.

Good at "abstract" mathematics - factoring equations, algorithms, geometry etc.

Terrible at arithmetic - using actual numbers to, say, tally up my shopping bill as I walk round the shop, or remembering times tables. I absolutely have to write it down, and even then, I make lots of silly mistakes and have to re-check it several times over.

I figured it was more likely to be a stereotype than anything else. Nonetheless it's interesting to see how thoughs of us on the spectrum have differing skill levels regaurding math.

I can relate. I am still good at arithmetic, but I'm way better at it if I do it in my head, instead of writing it down. I've always hated having to do proofs in school, because I really don't know how I do it. It's more of a subconscious thing, if that makes any sense. If I were to have to write out an algebra equation and solve it like that, I'd be lucky if I got it right the first time.

I had a terrible time with math ever since starting grade 3. Back then I would cry almost every day in class because I couldn't figure out the math problems and my brain would just shut down. I was very embarrassed and ashamed by this, and sometimes when I came home from school my eyes would still be red from crying, and I was afraid of my mother seeing it. She had a real problem with my crying so easily.

I can't do math problems in my head nor on paper. I just use my fingers if I have to work something out. But it's rare that I come across any math problems because I try to avoid it as much as I can.

I am absolutely terrible at remembering numbers too. And even reading numbers.
If a sentence says something like "they managed to raise £65,000" I usually skip reading the number because the numbers seem to dance around the page. But letters don't. Letters are more respectful to me.

I wonder what exactly makes anyone not good at math. You just have to follow rules. I'm used to seeing others as my betters, so, from my hopelessly biased viewpoint, they just seem to think taking math seriously is beneath them.

I'm a writer, writing has always been my passion. Maths, however, I always liked, there are rules, it makes sense, the teacher doesn't have to like you, nothing is subjective. I'm not brilliant at it, but better than 90% of people, it always made sense to me. I think some people think they can't do it because it sounds harder than it is, confidence is key. Most of my English teachers hated me.