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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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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:

motortroll · 10/02/2020 10:55

My nephew (11) really struggled with the way problems are worded eg Jane had 5 apples, she bought 7 more etc etc

He struggles to relate that to a sums day work out if he is supposed to divide, take away etc.

DefConOne · 10/02/2020 10:57

My daughter has ASD and is in year 7. She is amazing at English and Literacy but hates maths with a passion and struggles with it. She has a demand avoidant profile of autism and gets really anxious about maths as she is afraid of getting it wrong. She hates the maths/science geek stereotype of ASD and would much rather be lost in a good book.

HoHoHolly · 10/02/2020 10:58

Is this one of those things where he is taking the question a bit too literally? Is it always "the question' s fault" in his eyes? If so, it could be about black and white thinking, taking things literally, perfectionism and missing the social context / wider picture rather than the maths per se. Some teachers/ books tend to set more explicit and closely worded questions than others. He might be particularly sensitive to having to read between the lines in maths, because that's a subject he excels in and normally it's the one subject where you can feel safe in assuming the question says what it means. Does he have a problem with rounding, or using %s rather than fractions, because it introduces imprecision?

I may be way off beam but if not, I would suggest coaching him on using the wider context - the question might not say express the answer as a fraction, but look for clues. You're doing fractions and the last 9 questions have been fractions so they probably want a fraction. That kind of thing. We approach this as a kind of detective thing. Talk about what people say vs what they mean.

We've also read "the asperkid's book of social rules" which I would recommend. Obviously ignore all this if I've gone off on one and it is just about the mechanics of the maths.

Original poster

UndertheCedartree · 10/02/2020 10:58

@OneInEight - yes, he does find terminology tricky sometimes and will say 'why didn't they just write....'

OP posts:

okiedokieme · 10/02/2020 10:59

We had to work on getting her to interpret what the question was from the text in written form maths - whereas equations she could do 8 years ahead of her peers. Similarly with English, understanding what the feelings of characters were for instance was very hard whereas factual information no problem, she's about to start a masters

StatisticallyChallenged · 10/02/2020 10:59

I'm autistic, and good at maths (I'm an actuary) but although I got good grades I didn't enjoy it much at school - I actually did a different degree then came back to it via work.

For me, the problem was bad teaching. I ran in to a crappy teacher or two who didn't actually understand the maths terribly well themselves; they were able to explain what the answer was, but not often why. So I got very frustrated with not knowing why you used a certain method, or why you'd get a certain result, and if I asked I'd just get "because it is" which drove me crazy.

It could be that they're running in to questions which are actually badly written (plenty of those around) - have you had a look?

TabbyMumz · 10/02/2020 11:00

As some have said on here, some children on asd spectrum struggle with maths, some excel. Just as some nt children struggle with maths and others excel. You cant necessarily blame it on the autism. Apart from if he struggles with language when there is language in the problem, you could possibly say that's linked to it. Try a tutor.

AlunWynsKnee · 10/02/2020 11:02

Dd (ASD) is in the top set in Y8 and is struggling, not with the maths but with the other students who are mucking about in the class and interrupting her learning. She can't understand why they're in the top set when they aren't interested. It's stifling her enjoyment. Could that be an issue?

smashstore · 10/02/2020 11:05

You have conveniently ignored the posters who have Autistic children that don't struggle with maths. It's not a case if autism = maths problem.

You want to be told what you want to hear and nothing else.

Gatehouse77 · 10/02/2020 11:09

One of mine (not SEN) really struggles with extrapolating the maths from a worded problem and always has done - that said she did get a B in A level maths so it hasn't held her back, as such.

In the lower school I was able to help her break down the questions to find the maths but as she progressed we did get a tutor which helped massively.

She would get very frustrated as it wasn't that she didn't know the maths or how to do it but, for her, it was unnecessarily complicated by chucking in language 😜

Original poster

UndertheCedartree · 10/02/2020 11:09

@MsGee - your reply was very helpful.

OP posts:

HoHoHolly · 10/02/2020 11:12

@Smashstore did you miss the bit where she said he's normally very good at maths and working a year ahead? Several posters seem to have missed that in their eagerness to point out either that their own child is a genius, or that not all autistic people are maths geniuses.

Any parent whose child suddenly starts struggling with a subject they've always excelled in should be looking at what could be behind it.

smashstore · 10/02/2020 11:13

did you miss the bit where she said he's normally very good at maths and working a year ahead?

Yes. My apologies.

Original poster

UndertheCedartree · 10/02/2020 11:18

@HoHoHolly - thank you - I think this could be some of the problem.
@StatisticallyChallenged - he is home educated. He uses a computer course for Maths as well as Khan Academy. Some of the questions are a bit amiguous I would say.
@TabbyMumz - I'm not 'blaming' it on the autism. I'm finding out if his problems are common among autistic people and strategies to deal with them. He excels at Maths but has a few particular problems which as I have found on this thread are common among autistic DC.

OP posts:

HoHoHolly · 10/02/2020 11:21

Yes. My apologies.

gotta love the cut and thrust of AIBU.

unexpectedthird · 10/02/2020 11:23

Crikey @smashstore you seem to be on a mission!

Clearly all kids with ASD are totally (and brilliantly) unique. And their autism doesn't define every aspect of them. But, as a teacher and parent of ASD kids I think it would be remiss not to consider whether it is having an impact on their ability. And that leads to looking at how you can help unlock a subject area for them to help them succeed. The same goes for any other barriers a child may bring to learning. In any subject.

I don't think the OP is saying that autism = great at maths. She is simply looking for ways to help her son who is struggling a little. Ignoring the fact that autism may be a factor would be foolish!

Original poster

UndertheCedartree · 10/02/2020 11:23

@smashstore - I never said all autistic children struggle with Maths or even all autistic children struggle with some aspects of Maths.

I'm just looking for some helpful advice which I am getting. I've not ignored anyone who says their DC is good at Maths - I've replied to some. But of course those giving me advice about particular struggles their DC have had that match my DC is most useful.

Not sure why you think derailing my thread is helpful. You seem to have some issue with my question. Would you like to tell me why?

OP posts:

Straycatstrut · 10/02/2020 11:24

I'm ADHD and I struggled massively with anything Maths or number related at school and college. Hated the periodic table stuff. I was diagnosed with Dyscalculia at college and I needed a hell of a lot of support to just scrape a pass in my Key Skills maths. It's really held me back because I'll never get my maths GCSE and they want that for every course nowadays.

My son is ASD and he isn't exceptionally gifted with it but he adores maths and whizzes through all his Y3 maths homework with relish. I couldn't do any of it. He loves checking with Alexa after . He loves computers and coding too.

smashstore · 10/02/2020 11:25

I never said all autistic children struggle with Maths or even all autistic children struggle with some aspects of Maths.

I know.

Not sure why you think derailing my thread is helpful. You seem to have some issue with my question. Would you like to tell me why?

It wasn't intended. I just made the comment about the fact that not all autistic people struggle with maths and it seemed to escalate from there. I am sorry for that as it really wasn't intended to be like that at all.

Straycatstrut · 10/02/2020 11:26

My nephew (11) really struggled with the way problems are worded eg Jane had 5 apples, she bought 7 more etc etc

These are also my sons least favourite type of questions. He loves it when it's just numbers or measurements.

smashstore · 10/02/2020 11:26

Crikey @smashstore you seem to be on a mission!

I realise that. Have apologised. Wasn't intended.

smashstore · 10/02/2020 11:28

gotta love the cut and thrust of AIBU

What do you mean? I don't understand the ?sarcasm?

I was being a dick and apologised.

Original poster

UndertheCedartree · 10/02/2020 11:30

@unexpectedthird - thank you.

OP posts:

StatisticallyChallenged · 10/02/2020 11:31

Is he possibly also hitting a point in what he's learning where he doesn't see the point? I'm not sure what he's studying, but especially if the material isn't well worded some aspects (algebra, calculus, bits of trigonometry) can seem really pointless when they're being taught. I don't like abstract, I'm the person always saying "so what?"

I definitely had points in maths where I needed to get further before I got it, because the earlier content was very much of the "do this" approach but missing the why. Might just be how I learn

unexpectedthird · 10/02/2020 11:32

@UndertheCedartree

I see you say he's home educated, if you find that it is the language he's struggling with then a simple vocab mat might help. Gather together all the words that mean add, subtract, multiply and divide under their relevant headings and show him how to scan the text to see if he can spot any of those words. That will help him work out which type of calculation to perform.

Once he can do that, you can help him extract the figures he needs to use. He almost needs to learn tools to help him block out the extra language.

In other areas of maths it might helpif you can create visual images for him. Use tracing paper to physically rotate shapes round an axis for example. Use materials to show that the letter a represents 5 in an equation etc.

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