A question about school subjects

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I've been informed of various sources that aspies often excel at math, science etc. I recall seeing a movie where this aspie guy knows all the prime numbers or something like that. The question is - is that true? or just a fallacy? I myself am a pretty big failure at math, probably because I need the "why" to understand "what" and "how". It kinda makes me confused...

I would love to know more, currently I am a newbie to those things so sorry if that's an obvious question.

I think that yes, there are a lot of aspies who excell at science and math, but there may be just as many who don't. I've read about a lot of people on this forum who excel at writing, or are artistic, etc. My guess is that it's not so much that aspies excel at math and science, but it's probably more that aspies have enough "interest" in their chosen subject that they tend to really get into it and do well because it's their chosen "interest" -- not necessarily because they have unusual abilities when compared to NT's.

Doesn't really matter -- one way or another -- because the end result is that if an Aspie likes a subject, they are probably going to do well in that subject.

Thanks for your response and the clarification! seems like every individual is different in his likes and it affects school subjects as well - I think I got it thanks

I think some of the math/science thing comes from the fact that these are very concrete subjects and some Aspies (like myself) do better with concrete things (where there is a clear right/wrong) instead of language arts/social sciences/art where there is interpretation and subjectivity. Especially people who have trouble with Theory of Mind issues which make it hard to see things from s/o else's POV. Or trouble with symbolic, metaphorical language which makes interpreting works of literature difficult.

But everyone has their own thing, really. And I'm into History and Politics but have to work hard at understanding that when people disagree with my interpretation, it may not be a lack of evidence or understanding on their part. They might just have a difference of opinion and that's OK. For me, math is very logical and linear and therefore easier to understand than literature or humanities like Appreciating Art. (I leave off music because that's very math-like when you really get down to the theory.)

I'm an aspie and I'm horrible in most areas of math. I can do basic math and some word problems, but other than that I pretty much struggle with it. In fact, I recently had to drop a pre-algebra class because I was doing so badly in it.

My best subjects have always been within the areas of language arts and social studies.

Math was / is fun but but not my forte.

I was never great at maths. I prefer languages, humanities and social sciences. I'm more a writer than a number-cruncher.

I am very good at maths and it's one of my favourite subjects. I often find numbers a lot more easy to deal with than people becuase numbers are alot more predictable! Not everyone is the same though and some aspies probably hate it. We're all different, I guess.

I think there is some truth to it. Though all people with AS are different of course. At times in the past I showed great aptitude for math but the poor quality of my teachers and the unfair way I was generally treated prevented me from ever excelling. Recently I have started to self-teach myself some of my girlfriends college level math and I find it somewhat interesting.. The way I think, in a visual manner, helps me to understand some of the more abstract concepts; I wish I could explain how, but I have heard many other people here describe a visual thought pattern so perhaps they understand what I mean