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I have to give up my maths course, because I have a learning disability!

Mr Allen

Mr Allen

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
Topic.

We were doing kind of advanced maths yesterday dealing with ratios etc and I couldn't do it, I can do simple maths in my head almost literally with my eyes closed, but put a page of sums in front of me and I get brain freeze and can't do it, I was the same all those years ago at school.

Anyone else had the same?
 
I don't have learning disabilities, but found maths difficult. I can do geometry and do well up to a point, but really struggle with algebra and other areas of higher maths. Despite this, and despite doubts whether I would be able to pass, I managed to get a B at O level by some miracle. I think that actually the exam conditions helped me, and I was able to concentrate much better in the silence of the exam room than in the chaos of the classroom. I still ran out of time before finishing, though.
 
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Mr Allen said:
Topic.

We were doing kind of advanced maths yesterday dealing with ratios etc and I couldn't do it, I can do simple maths in my head almost literally with my eyes closed, but put a page of sums in front of me and I get brain freeze and can't do it, I was the same all those years ago at school.

Anyone else had the same?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was the same when I had to go to college to redo my IT Key Skills alongside another course. On the other course, I could get through all the work with little issue but once it came to doing the exams my brain just stopped - as if it'd had a computer crash.

The way I got around it was I talked to my aide, who arranged for me to take my exams in a separate room. In the room, he would read the exam questions to me aloud and I would answer them - upon which he would write down my answer.
I don't know why this method worked without my brain crashing but it did and I was able to complete all my exams.
Maybe see if this works for you.
 
Sorry to hear that you are struggling.. maybe some of the problem with a page of sums in front of you is that it's overwhelming to have that much information all at once? Would it help if you could cover all the questions except the one you are focusing on and work on them one-by-one?

Can the brain freeze be associated with feelings you had back when you were at school, such as the pressure and stress having to perform? Is there a way to alleviate that stress?
 
Progster said:
I don't have learning disabilities, but found maths difficult. I can do geometry and do well up to a point, but really struggle with algebra and other areas of higher maths. Despite this, and despite doubts whether I would be able to pass, I managed to get a B at O level. I think that actually the exam conditions helped me, and I was able to concentrate much better in the silence of the exam room than in the chaos of the classroom. I still ran out of time before finishing, though.
Click to expand...

That was the thing, when I originally did my exams at school 28 years ago, they appealed to the exam board to get me extra time, and it was granted, but I still failed everything except typing, and I didn't get a very high mark for that.
 
Ratios are just division or multiplication (to begin with) Rich.

Can you do practice examples when you’re not in college?
Just to limber your brain up and remind yourself how to do it?

The more familiar a page of sums looks,
The less likely we freeze up.
 
My biggest problem was history - my mind just will not absorb dates and names. If there's a subject that interests me, I do fine, but if it doesn't - it's useless.
 
If I fail math, it's typically because I used a "wrong" process or got some formality wrong that due to repetition caused me to lose a third of the points.

You can get my parents words of encouragment they alwas gave me - "You're not even trying, you are just too lazy for that"
 
Mr Allen said:
We were doing kind of advanced maths yesterday dealing with ratios etc and I couldn't do it, I can do simple maths in my head almost literally with my eyes closed, but put a page of sums in front of me and I get brain freeze and can't do it, I was the same all those years ago at school.
Click to expand...

What you may be describing isn't so much an outright learning disability, but a possible trait of Aspergers Syndrome/Autism Spectrum Disorder relative to one's lack of "cognitive flexibility". A deficit in executive functioning that is not relative to one's intelligence. Even extremely bright people may have such deficits.

Where in this instance it amounts to an inability or difficulty in applying multiple and different concepts to something at the same time.

Doing a simple formula of adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing numbers can be considered a single transaction compared to having to determine a ratio. Where not only the understanding of the mechanics of math is required, but that you must also factor in one or more formulas with varying complexity.

For some people with Aspergers/ASD this process can be quite daunting. Something that can be manifested in many ways apart from mere mathematical calculations. Not unlike having problems in hearing and processing multiple conversations at once.

And deficits in cognitive flexibility are made worse by what is considered to be "rigid thinking". Where one assesses so many things in a purely conditional fashion such as: Black/White, Yes/No, True/False, Good/Bad. A world where some simply consider most everything only in terms of opposites.

The good news is that there are some ways of addressing the issue in becoming more mentally flexible:

Cognitive Flexibility: Keeping thinking limber and flexible | Organization for Autism Research
 
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I had difficulty with math in high school. I even failed Grade 11 Math. I came back though and passed Grade 12 Math (Which was a step below the Math course I did in Grade 11).
 
I wonder if Mr. Allen could post a specific example of the type of problem he is struggling with so some of our more math oriented members could lead him through the thought processes necessary to complete these type of problem(s)
 
Edward764 said:
I wonder if Mr. Allen could post a specific example of the type of problem he is struggling with so some of our more math oriented members could lead him through the thought processes necessary to complete these type of problem(s)
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I don't believe we'd be able to help. When something comes naturally, it can be very hard to see where someone is struggling. If we do see where someone is struggling, it can also be very hard to know what to do about it, as we may not have struggled ourselves. Even if we overcame this ourselves, we did this so long ago, that we may not remember what helped to understand it.

I believe the best people to help in this situation are either teachers, or people who just recently managed to understand. Both these people are found at the college, as either the course instructors, or the students.

In addition, there is much self help online these days, which didn't exist when he was first taught this at school. Simply googling "ratios" comes up with many websites and videos with the aim of teaching the subject. I would imagine this is the case for every single topic, as now learning is very online.

I don't believe @Mr Allen should give up after one day, because he didn't understand straight away. You can't expect to understand something straight away, especially when it was first taught to you decades ago. If you keep trying, using both the college resources (e.g. the teachers) and online resources (this link), you should be able to make some progress.
 
I once tried Khan Academy, but got stuck on many of the more Algebra problems, didn't understand or could never get the answers right no matter how hard I tried, and ended up having frustration meltdowns. I can manage simple "solve for x" type questions, but not things like simplifying complex equations.
 
Math is hard for anyone unless their brain just works that way. I find abstract thinking like that very difficult to apply to actual examples. I did fine in maths at school, but when it came to the math involved at Computer Science level, the last module they had on it, just about killed me. Theorems in calculus for engineers with integrals, relative errors, etc. - equations that looked like a bunch of letters with squiggly lines all over it, I have NO idea how I got through it. :confused:
Abstract thinking and too many rules/theorems involved just threw me completely. -_-
 
55853 said:
I don't believe we'd be able to help. When something comes naturally, it can be very hard to see where someone is struggling. If we do see where someone is struggling, it can also be very hard to know what to do about it, as we may not have struggled ourselves. Even if we overcame this ourselves, we did this so long ago, that we may not remember what helped to understand it.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I have to agree with this, when I was doing A level maths the school had a bright idea to pair up the highest achieving students with the lowest achieving 'for the benefit of both'. This simply resulted in me being endlessly frustrated that my partner didn't understand things that where obvious to me and my partner being endlessly frustrated with my inability to explain how I was doing the equations in a way they could understand. Unsurprisingly the concept was ditched after just a month or so.

The only advise I have is to practise doing the work at home, in a lower pressure environment.
 
I'm the same way. I always use a calculator when doing my algebra assessments. My parents criticize me for it, though. They say I should be able to do it in my head (mostly my dad), but that is the way that works best for them, but not works best for me.

However, you can keep at it and try again later. Don't let any disabilities get in your way.
 
The great thing about maths at a certain level is we can rely on the formulae to stay the same. Set in stone.
Learn it like a script.
It’s remembering which to use to find an answer.

I’d always believed it to be the relationship of numbers in the sum that changes,
Never the methods of working the sum out.
 
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Mr Allen said:
Topic.

We were doing kind of advanced maths yesterday dealing with ratios etc and I couldn't do it, I can do simple maths in my head almost literally with my eyes closed, but put a page of sums in front of me and I get brain freeze and can't do it, I was the same all those years ago at school.

Anyone else had the same?
Click to expand...
Math and me is like oil and water; they just don't mix. So I can definitely understand where you're coming from. I am having to re-learn working with percentages and it's been almost nightmarish. I am back in learning mode myself so that I can get my insurance adjuster's license. It's okay because you're definitely not alone. It is a good thing that my mother is a gifted math teacher and used to work with kids with autism so she's been helping me through. Ratios and percentages are tangentially related because a percentage is essentially a ratio that is a number over 100.
 
Just out of interest,

Can anyone else ‘see’ the sum in their minds?
Watch what’s happening to the numbers at different stages of the process?
 
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