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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Autism and Maths

56 replies

UndertheCedartree · 10/02/2020 09:48

Have autistic people or your autistic DC had any problems with Maths?

My DC (12) is getting quite frustrated at the moment and I'm trying to get to the bottom of it.Not sure if it's linked to his autism or not.

OP posts:
Basecamp65 · 10/02/2020 09:53

ASD is often linked to Dyslexia and Dyscalculia - and many other conditions

You might be better off sking in the Special needs section.

elliejjtiny · 10/02/2020 09:58

It's quite common I think as autism is linked to dyslexia, dyscalclia, dysgraphia, learning difficulties etc. My autistic son is quite good at maths because numbers calm him as they are predictable. It's reading he struggles with.

taratill · 10/02/2020 09:59

yes both of my kids have ASD and both have processing problems and issues with verbal reasoning which impact on maths.

It is quite common to have processing issues with ASD, comorbid ADHD/ dyslexia.

With support they can do fine.

Original poster
UndertheCedartree · 10/02/2020 10:04

He's very good at Maths. But he gets frustrated at the way questions are asked or set out.

What can I do to help?

He struggled with reading initially but is a real bookworm now. He has never been able to remember days of the week, his birthday or times tables etc.

@Basecamp65 - thanks I'll do that.

OP posts:
Babdoc · 10/02/2020 10:08

Quite the reverse - my autistic daughter was doing high school maths at primary school, sat her Advanced Highers early, won a prize in the National maths challenge and then took a maths degree at Durham! She now works in maths, doing risk modelling for a major financial institution.
Many autistics love maths for its structure, logic and predictability, which play to their strengths.
Everyone is different, though, and it’s best to work with each child (autistic or not) as an individual, supporting as required.

x2boys · 10/02/2020 10:11

Well.autism is a huge spectrum ,and my child has autism and severe learning disabilities so has problems with all areas of learning

Original poster
UndertheCedartree · 10/02/2020 10:14

@Babdoc - my DS enjoys Maths, too and is working a year ahead. But we've just seem to have hit a rocky patch.

OP posts:
smashstore · 10/02/2020 10:19

Some people have trouble with maths. Some people excel at maths. This is the same for both Autistic people and NT people.

Original poster
UndertheCedartree · 10/02/2020 10:30

@smashstore - I'm aware of that. However, autistic people often have particular difficulties and if you know how to deal with them so much the better.

OP posts:
PetCheetah · 10/02/2020 10:40

If he's working a year ahead and he's got a rocky patch I wonder if it's because it's suddenly not coming so easily to him? My DS (autistic and excellent at Maths) used to expect to know how to do everything instantly and then get frustrated if ihe didn't. He's still a little like that at 14 but not as much as he was.

PetCheetah · 10/02/2020 10:42

Sorry posted too soon.
We did a lot of reassuring that it's normal not to know everything already and that to progress you have to learn new things. It sounds obvious but I don't think it was to him because he's very clever and used to finding things very easy.

smashstore · 10/02/2020 10:44

I'm aware of that. However, autistic people often have particular difficulties and if you know how to deal with them so much the better.

That was my point though. 'Autistic people' are not a group or a set of people that are the same. I think if you have a child that struggles with maths then you have just that, a child that struggles with maths. That child happens to be autistic. The struggle with maths doesn't come from being autistic.

Original poster
UndertheCedartree · 10/02/2020 10:45

@PetCheetah - I was wondering if it was something like that.

OP posts:
BlackeyedSusan · 10/02/2020 10:48

Some questions are written in a way that is ambiguous. Fucking annoying.

unexpectedthird · 10/02/2020 10:50

I have found that, sometimes, my ASD pupils cope really well with numeracy and calculations but struggle more with written questions, problem solving and areas like shape. I'm in upper primary and it's towards the transition to high school that the issues often begin to show themselves.

Finding the area of irregular shapes, for example, has caused quite a few kids issues. They have struggled to visualise the shape broken down into smaller parts. Rotation and symmetry can cause similar issues. Some also really struggle with algebra at first.

My son (also ASD) doesn't have those issues and finds all aspects of maths easier than anything else. He dislikes problem solving though as to him it's not maths.

I think you need to try and unpick which bits of the subject are causing the problem as there are lots of strategies you can give them to help with specific areas. It will be different for each kid but, as a starter, I'd look at the areas that are asking him to visualise something as they seem to be the areas where most problems arise.

BlankTimes · 10/02/2020 10:50

he gets frustrated at the way questions are asked or set out

That's the core of his problem, language interpretation, not the maths itself. Can you see a Speech and Language Therapist who will evaluate his language perception and interpretation and suggest ways he can decode the questions to give the answers they require.

My dd has ASD and interpreting questions to select the answers that were required was very difficult around that age.

Original poster
UndertheCedartree · 10/02/2020 10:52

@smashstore - I disagree as do most others on this thread. Many of DS's 'issues' are linked to his autism. By speaking to other people with autism/parents of DC with autism we have found ways to overcome them. Of course not everything is linked to autism. But his current problems with Maths, could be.

OP posts:
HardAsSnails · 10/02/2020 10:53

it's a thing, OP, he will probably need extra support or learn how to unravel the questions to pull out the calculation, a decent maths teacher does this as a matter of course, and the difference in my autistic ds's performance and confidence when he got decent maths teaching was phenomenal.

OneInEight · 10/02/2020 10:53

I would try and see if the problem is actually the language of the questions rather than the actual maths. Mine (also with an ASC) have good aptitude for maths but often the language of the questions confuses them and there seems to be a lot more terminology in maths these days than when I was at school. At one stage ds1 struggled with multiple part questions (particularly if asked verbally) because he would only be able to process one part of the question. I would also make sure he is totally confident with the basics - if he has gaps there then moving forward is tricky.

HardAsSnails · 10/02/2020 10:53

...extra support to learn...

MsGee · 10/02/2020 10:54

My DD is good at maths but what she struggles with is questions which are set out as a narrative - she then has to 'find' the maths. So although she finds it difficult, it is more about processing than maths. So for her, the struggle with maths is related to communication and definitely about being autistic.

She also finds it hard to translate techniques from one area of maths to another. We got her a specialist tutor which she has had for a couple of years (now in Year 7) which has helped a lot.

okiedokieme · 10/02/2020 10:54

My dd is autistic and a maths genius. Not all autistic people are good maths, equally not all are bad, some are just average.

Original poster
UndertheCedartree · 10/02/2020 10:54

@unexpectedthird - thank you - that is very helpful.
@BlankTimes - thank you for the advice.

OP posts:
MsGee · 10/02/2020 10:55

Just seen that OneInEight has explained it much more clearly :D

moggiemonster · 10/02/2020 10:55

Maths is my son's strong point, he has Aspergers and finds maths very straightforward, not so much intrepreting statistics but that may be more with processing what the questions is actually asking. He is highly dyslexic which is much more of a problem. Word problems were an issue when younger because of trying to intrepret what the calculation he was actually meant to do buried under the waffle.