Published on 12, July, 2020
I've not been diagnosed with it or anything but I know I have it. I am and always have been TERRIBLE when it comes to maths. I never managed to learn the times tables apart from 1, 2, 5, 9 and 10.
I am always having to do additions on my hands, even simple things like 7+5.. I really struggle and have it count it out in my head and use my fingers. For bigger sums I have to use a piece of paper and really think about it or I wont be able to do it. I often use my calculator on my phone to do sums. Especially when shopping on a budget. I'll select my item and add it on my calculator to make sure I'm not going over my spending limit.
It also takes me a very long time to tell the time on an analogue clock. I'll have to sit there and count up to where the hand is. Similarly on a digital clock it has to be on the 12h setting. I get confused otherwise looking at like 17:36 and having to figure out what 17 is.
Honestly it can be really embarrassing when I can't do simple maths.
I seem to have a very specific form. I have almost zero abilities in mental arithmetic, I could be given anything in the way of money as change and be none the wiser if it was correct or not. In contrast, if given a pen and paper my maths ability is quite reasonable, if not outstanding for an ex-scientist.
On reflection I think my problem is related to my visual memory. If I think of something, say an object, I get an impression of it, its essential form is there, but it is not especially detailed, or specific details come and go in focus. More like an Impressionist painting than a photograph. This makes visualising multiple numerals quite difficult, they move around and dissolve, therefore I cannot manipulate them to do additions or subtractions.