Is there anyone else who....?

I had to have private tuition for over a year just to get grade C in maths at GCSE. Funny thing, I'm now considered the office mathematician where I work. Insane right? Impossible right?

Wrong

It wasn't that I was bad at maths, it was that the education system was (and IS) bad at autism and helping children with Asperger's Syndrome!

Many people with Asperger's (though not all as mentioned) tend to be technically oriented whilst also relentlessly pragmatic. This includes me. So how then - can we be bad at maths? Surely technical people are all great at maths with no exceptions?

Also Wrong

There are two issues with the education system here.

1.) The education system doesn't try to provide children with real-life examples of mathematical deployment which the children should care about. Don't say: "...you'll need this for your taxes when you get older" *KA-SNORE!* - Do say: "Alright kids, if you want to play World of Warcraft MMO and you don't want to get ripped off when you trade your gold for rare items - here's the low-down..." - Oh snap!

As I've just pointed out, the current way maths is taught sucks major balls for neurotypical children, but people with Asperger's really really need to see the POINT in what they are doing before their brain can commit to learning. For us (Asperger's people, sorry I don't use the term Aspie! lol) this is even even more important - and the education system doesn't care. The education system factually and demonstrably does not cater to a 'pragmatic' mindset (that's us!). It caters to 'academia' (*snore*), grand theories and "learning for the sake of knowledge". Sorry. Pass. Prove it's worth it! If I were looking at this politcally and culturally I'd say that the education system is like Europe whilst people with Asperger's are much more pragmatic (British or American) in mindset.

2.) The education system has foolishly lumped MA (Mental Arithmatic) and Maths together, into one subject. They're not the same subject stop saying that they are OMG!

Mental arithmatic is the art of juggling numbers in your head with a great degree of accuracy. Maths is the ability to follow step by step instructions (or equations) through to their final, deep, correct conclusion.

Technical people (and people with Asperger's) are good at maths but we suck total a** at MA. You might be sitting there saying "but James I suck at MA and Math" well that is due to the way that both are taught together. MA is taught first and finding that hard, you will then lack confidence and thus are fundamentally undermined when learning the rest of maths. This is a factual and known problem with international and national education systems (UK and USA in particular).

Once I got away from mental arithmatic which I had / have no aptitude for, I discovered math in the more accessible forms of web-coding, programming and Excel formulae. I am the freakin' don on Excel formulae. VLookup? Try grid-lookup, n00b. "IF" formulae? Try cascading IF formulae which launch other formula on resolution, or even pivot tables. Excel formulae are demonstrably highly adaptable mathematical equations with pragmatic, actual useful output(s).

Excel really speaks my language and I'm pretty sure if I went back now to re-do my GCSEs my understanding of simultanous equations would be much improved. Probably still wouldn't get Sin, Cos and Tan though. Whatever, f**k Pythagoras in his proverbial hypotenuse. It's not useful information to me, I'm not an architect and I still don't care.

People now come to me in my office to:

• spot obviously wrong figures in accounting data due to my pattern recognition skills from Asperger's
• fix their broke-AF excel formulas. Omg
• ballpark very large figures which mental arithmatic proves insufficient to work with (as MA is so specific, accurate and granular it's not appropriate for all figure ballparking, FYI)
• Code stuff, which (yes) involves many numbers
• Fix IT-related "why won't it just bloody work!" problems, which again involves some degree of math
• Bring numbers back to logic and reason, in order to make them actionable (I'm a data analyst too) - so few people can do this *sigh*

I have become the tecchie' number person. I only scraped by with math at GCSE and never looked at it in college or university. Seems contradictory doesn't it?

Learn math on your own, your way. Education won't help you. That doesn't mean ignore math (it's very important) but find ways to focus on learning long-math (algebra, other places like Excel where math crosses over with 'logic') on your own terms, without MA hassling you.

That's what I did and I now earn significant sums in digital (web development / design + web marketing + being the office Excel genius). You can get there - but it will have to be YOUR WAY

Sarah2 said:

Yes, i have been diagnosed as having Aspergers although was also told that is now  being referred to as high functioning autism! Have a good day. Sarah

Yes, that is correct. The latest mental health manual for diagnosis, DSM-V, eliminated Asperger's as a separate condition and grouped it under Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

Hi Sarah 

I wasn't good at maths at school and didn't enjoy the lessons. I never fully learned the times tables, although I did understand what multiplication was and could work the sums out with a pen and paper. I still can't do mental arithmetic apart from very basic calculations. I hated geometry and wasn't interested in alternative number systems, such as binary, or prime numbers, or pi. The only thing I took to was algebra - it was like a code or puzzle, and seemed logical and systematic.

My logical aptitude and systematic processing has helped me to learn double entry book keeping and how to use Excel, and I have been working in accounting roles for over 20 years now, although I still wouldn't say maths is an interest of mine - I hate soduko and I'm no "number savant"

In terms of creativity, I really wanted to be a novelist or songwriter when I was younger, but I didn't have the creative talent for it. I understood the structure and timing of music and was good at helping others to improve their compositions, but not so good at original ideas - I'm more of a producer than an artist. But an alternative creativity has emerged later in my life, as an ability to find creative solutions to problems which others don't see.

I believe that us Aspies often take years to discover and fully develop our qualities and sometimes they turn out to be not quite what we expected. Keep reading on a wide range of topics, take courses in subjects you are interested in if you can, and engage with others on topics you want to learn more about. 

All the best 

Pixie 

Thanks for that. Just have to have to say my youngest son is watching spongbob squarepants as i type this and my head is going to explode!!! Time to leave the room! Sarah

Yes, i have been diagnosed as having Aspergers although was also told that is now  being referred to as high functioning autism! Have a good day. Sarah

Thankyou Tom, yes that has helped!!  Sarah

Hi sarah.

The thing is, people who are autistic are just as varied as people who are not autistic in their strengths and weaknesses. 

One of the positive things about being autistic is the focus and attention to detail you can bring to a subject you like which gives you an extra advantage over NT's. However, that won't automatically make you good at maths - you still have to have an interest and flair for it, as is the case for other subjects.

Also, contrary to popular belief, autistic people aren't all introverts and sullen. There are introverts, extroverts and ambiverts who are autistic. I suppose because such people have problems handling social situations, they can tend to become withdrawn but that's not necessarily because they don't want to mix with others.

We have to remember that autism is but one side of a person and doesn't define that person in every way. Are all autistic people ugly, for example? Of course not, and the same thing applies to every other part of a person's make-up