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Always wondered since my diagnosis

I learned something. Apparently they no longer teach the meaning of numerals in school.
 
I am bad in Math and terrible in spelling/grammar generally average grades at school when I did not know I had Asperger's. I heard about it but ruled it out when they said they are smart but I was dumb in school.

Only later finding out that it was a stereotype that all Asp's are smart.
 
From what I've studied relating to gender differences with math, boys and girls actually start out the same, but as they get older you start to find differences at the same time as many girls start claiming to be 'not good at math.' This also correlates with adults giving more praise for boys' successes in math and more sympathy for girls' difficulty with math, even when the two groups are having the same number of successes and failures. Unfortunately I don't know what studies that information is based on, though. This would suggest that the difference is based more on culture than biology. It's definitely true that different parts of the brain are more involved in math and language, but I don't know if there are gender differences in those structures. I do know that boys are more likely to have many types of communication disorders, though, so there may be some difference.

However, it does seem like people who have the stereotype that boys are good at math and girls are good at language could apply that stereotype to people on the spectrum. On the other hand, people like that seem more likely to assume that if you don't fit their stereotype of aspie/autism then you must not have it at all. Stereotypes are obnoxious. Even if they are based on something that is true in a general sense, they ignore all possibility of variation. Even if many aspies are good at math, that doesn't mean all aspies are good at math.

Personally, I was terrible at spelling, but I blame a school that seemed to think we would pick it up by osmosis instead of teaching us the rules or telling us when we asked how to spell a word. I still cringe at the memory of "use your best guess spelling". Just tell me the right way and I'll do it the right way forever! I only got decent at it after a few years of spending all my free time reading. I mostly enjoy math and my writing is pretty good, so I guess I have pretty good skills in both areas.
 
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From what I've studied relating to gender differences with math, boys and girls actually start out the same, but as they get older you start to find differences at the same time as many girls start claiming to be 'not good at math.' This also correlates with adults giving more praise for boys' successes in math and more sympathy for girls' difficulty with math, even when the two groups are having the same number of successes and failures. Unfortunately I don't know what studies that information is based on, though. This would suggest that the difference is based more on culture than biology. It's definitely true that different parts of the brain are more involved in math and language, but I don't know if there are gender differences in those structures. I do know that boys are more likely to have many types of communication disorders, though, so there may be some difference.

However, it does seem like people who have the stereotype that boys are good at math and girls are good at language could apply that stereotype to people on the spectrum. On the other hand, people like that seem more likely to assume that if you don't fit their stereotype of aspie/autism then you must not have it at all. Stereotypes are obnoxious. Even if they are based on something that is true in a general sense, they ignore all possibility of variation. Even if many aspies are good at math, that doesn't mean all aspies are good at math.

Personally, I was terrible at spelling, but I blame a school that seemed to think we would pick it up by osmosis instead of teaching us the rules or telling us when we asked how to spell a word. I still cringe at the memory of "use your best guess spelling". Just tell me the right way and I'll do it the right way forever! I only got decent at it after a few years of spending all my free time reading. I mostly enjoy math and my writing is pretty good, so I guess I have pretty good skills in both areas.


Also throw in a few Asians... there's a stereotype about their superior ability at math.
I read somewhere that it was partly down to their number system.

Everyone has a short term memory of a similar time length.

When remembering numbers,doing simple sums, the western system of numbers is more difficult to work with on that basis than some other countries.

ie sums can be kept in short term memory much better giving the appearance of superior ability.
 
Also throw in a few Asians... there's a stereotype about their superior ability at math.
I read somewhere that it was partly down to their number system.

Everyone has a short term memory of a similar time length.

When remembering numbers,doing simple sums, the western system of numbers is more difficult to work with on that basis than some other countries.

ie sums can be kept in short term memory much better giving the appearance of superior ability.
I remember learning about that! And because of that, math is easier for them early on, which gives them more positive feelings towards math and their own math skills, which then leads to better math performance throughout their education. Meanwhile, they are growing up with a cultural expectation that math is something everyone can do, as opposed to America where some people almost seem to brag about how much they hate math.
 
Also throw in a few Asians... there's a stereotype about their superior ability at math.
I read somewhere that it was partly down to their number system.

Everyone has a short term memory of a similar time length.

When remembering numbers,doing simple sums, the western system of numbers is more difficult to work with on that basis than some other countries.

ie sums can be kept in short term memory much better giving the appearance of superior ability.
Oh, and I just remembered a study that took a bunch of young women with Asian ancestry and split them randomly into two groups to take a math test. For one group the researchers reminded them that they were Asian and I think reminded them of stereotypes about Asians and math, and for the other group the researchers reminded them about women and stereotypes about women and math. There was a significant difference in the performance of the two groups, suggesting that stereotypes can affect actual performance.
 
Oh, and I just remembered a study that took a bunch of young women with Asian ancestry and split them randomly into two groups to take a math test. For one group the researchers reminded them that they were Asian and I think reminded them of stereotypes about Asians and math, and for the other group the researchers reminded them about women and stereotypes about women and math. There was a significant difference in the performance of the two groups, suggesting that stereotypes can affect actual performance.

Glad someone else heard of it :)
 
I remember learning about that! And because of that, math is easier for them early on, which gives them more positive feelings towards math and their own math skills, which then leads to better math performance throughout their education. Meanwhile, they are growing up with a cultural expectation that math is something everyone can do, as opposed to America where some people almost seem to brag about how much they hate math.
That's interesting - some Americans do seem to brag about having poor Math skills.
I would say I am mediocre. I did enjoy Algebra, but as it got more difficult I seemed to get lost easier - also smoking pot daily may have played a role in that. LOL I think one of the reasons I got into nursing school so quickly was scoring high on the entrance Math exam. You had to know Math because you had to calculate how many mgs were in this amount of cc's to infuse over this amount of time per mg, and usually the mg was per kg of the patient's weight. Most nurses would just call the pharmacy. But that's pretty basic Algebra. and once you learn the formula, you can get your answers. But at the same time my family would never let me be the one to keep score in games. lol
But I'm still better with spelling and English and when I learned how, loved diagramming sentences and was diagramming every sentence I could, long after we moved onto another subject matter. Loved crossword puzzles and other word games, and even made a few that were published in some of Dell puzzle magazines. I saved a small stack of the magazines with my name listed.
 
I hate math because unlike other subjects you can give a partially or similar answer and get it right with math one wrong add or whatever and the entire problem is marked wrong.
 
In college math courses it is often possible to get partial credit
for a problem, if there is a simple arithmetical error, but you showed
all your work, and it's apparent that you knew how to solve the problem.
 
I was good in math when it was just adding and subtraction when multiplication and division was introduced in 3rd grade I was lost and never did good in math nearly failed many times.

Of course no one thought I had Asperger teachers thought I had a learning disability and I believed them. Of course they blamed the learning disabilities on me not socializing much dreaming in class and doing my own things. Of course except my Grandmother my normal NT parents aunt uncle and cousins all thought the same.
 
Also forgot they thought I was weird that I can remember every local NYC radio station frequently and call letters and at the time all 80 cable TV stations even when they moved around but I could not be good in math or Grammer school general. Of course the could not understand how I got an 100% in photography class in High School either.
 
My entire career focuses on large sheets of numbers and angles. I’m good with math and numbers, but my spelling is weak.
 
I'm awful at maths! Numbers just don't stay where i put them in my head, so i calculate one bit and need to go back to previous component, its buggerd off so i need to either re-calculate, write down or accept i need a calculator/long enough tape measure.
My brain is however exceptional at 'seeing' complex systems. For example, as a plumber, i can visualise water in a complex pipe system, where its going and in event of incorrect 'crossed pipe' situations, where the necessary correction is required, even when no pipework is exposed.
Ill continuously cut pipes the wrong length however (but i can practically cut a length of pipe in half by looking at it....)
 
If, in general men are supposed to be better at Math and women better at spelling, then why doesn't anyone ever consider that about autism? Aspie men great at Math, aspie women great at Spelling. Letter for aspie women are like numbers for aspie men. Why has that not been approached yet? (Or has it and I'm not aware of it?)
I know it doesn't apply to all - but you know what I mean.

It's interesting, because letters and spelling were my great obsession when I was a child. I was good at math too (participated in Math Olympics and so on), but I definitely had a special interest in letters and words and reading. I had (and still have) hyperlexia and the ability to spot typos and spelling errors at a glance. I first corrected my parents' spelling when I was three.

I'd be very interested in how common hyperlexia is among autistic women.
 

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