I tried to explain ADHD math to someone and they didn't understand at all

Edit: it appears that this is not exclusive to ADHD.

Posting this meme stemmed from my own efforts to explain my thought process when doing math and how it is similar to other people with ADHD doing math, while being different from every neurotypical person I'd talked to on the same subject.

While I didn't make the meme itself, instead finding it in my saves and wanting to share, I did accidentally spread misinformation that I had only backed up with personal anecdotal evidence.

I'll leave this up just so people can see the explanation below but this appears to not be ADHD related and just due to different people doing math in their heads differently...

hornedfiend ,

I calculate percentage like this. If 100% is the value, then I know what 10% is, then1%, so I do increments of both until I get to the correct value.

It may sound stupid,but it does help me get a % fast enough.

MrShankles ,

Thank you! That's pretty neat. I tried 27% of 65

I added two 10% increments (6.5+6.5)... but instead of adding 0.65 (1%) seven more times, I added a 5% increment (6.5/2 = 3.25) and then 2 increments of 1%

So 6.5+6.5+3.25+0.65+0.65 = 17.55

I still had to use a calculator to add those weird numbers (and also check my work), but it does seem really practical for easier numbers. I usually need percentages for pricing (i.e. discounts/tipping), and the percentages are normally in increments of 5%, so that's pretty useful for figuring out a 15% or 75% of something real quick... or at least get me really close (when talking about something like $X.99)

Regardless, I appreciate the head trick!

Edit: I guess I could've done 30% and then subtracted 1% twice; but it's the same issue (of adding weird numbers) with the same outcome anyway. So thanks again!

griefreeze ,

Another neat trick: X% of Y is equal to Y% of X. That is, in your example, 27% of 65 == 65% of 27. So check and see which combination might provide fewer steps/messy numbers.

13.5 (50% of 27) + 2.7 (10% of 27) + 1.35 (5% of 27) = 17.55

MrShankles ,

Ahh, that's a really good point! I forget about the "X% of Y = Y% of X"

Honestly, I normally just use a calculator quick (move the decimal twice, multiply and all that jazz) for weird percentages or I want a precise answer.

But I like knowing different ways of thinking about it because it can become easier than using a calculator (with practice). And it's fun, cause I'm a bit of a math nerd

Feathercrown ,

Ooh good trick

ryven ,

Interesting, I make sets of 10. When I see 7 and 6, half of the 6 moves over to make 10 + 3. I say "moves over" because it feels like dividing tokens into sets in my head.

GalaxyBrain ,
@GalaxyBrain@hexbear.net avatar

Elementary school had us using tokens for math constantly and it made it way harder for me. Especially cause 'showing our work' meant basically drawing the lil tokens on paper that were either black or white I think black represented a minus and white represented a plus (on paper, they were red and yellow irl). So I ended out doing the equation different and then reverse engineering the method they wanted from me.

Akasazh ,

The meme has nothing to to with ADHD, however your explication of how it happened does.

stepan ,
@stepan@lemmy.cafe avatar

I don't think I have ADHD but I do it exactly this way.

Linnce ,

I definitely don't have ADHD and I do it exactly this way

ShortFuse ,

14 & 6 = 6

IzzyScissor ,

Wait, let me check the math...

6+6=12 and 7 is one more than 6, so 6+7=13

Cool. Checks out.

Classy ,

My brain actually computes it first as 7 + 5 = 12 + 1 = 13.

I add 5s together a lot at my work (14, 19, 24... 63, 68, 73....) hard to explain why, but my brain jumps to 5s very easily for addition because of it.

Maven OP ,
@Maven@lemmy.zip avatar

Similarly, when I'm counting stuff I always do

Group of 3
Group of 3
Group of 4

Okay that's 10

Rinse repeat.

It just works very well for me to count lots of things very quickly and easily. I can easily see what a group of 3 or 4 looks like so the whole process is super fast.

Classy ,

12 is a great number isn't it. I remember one especially boring job I had for a while I would spend large amounts of time counting in base 12 on my fingers (using my thumb to tap the three segments of my four opposing fingers) into the thousands and start over.

Eyck_of_denesle ,

Same but for some reason 7+5 giving 12 is so amusing to me. It's like two ugly people giving birth to an adoring baby. I hate odd numbers btw.

Binette ,

Same! I don't have ADHD, but I do 7 + 3 = 10, then 10 + 3 = 13

For some reason, 7 and 6 aren't addable to me.

bjoern_tantau ,
@bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de avatar

I always tell my children that Maths is finding the best way to cheat at a problem. Don't solve the hard problem. Solve the easy one that's kind of like the hard problem and then find the difference.

And judging by the school material that's how they're supposed to do it. But either the teachers aren't explaining it that way or the kids aren't listening.

AgentGrimstone ,

How I calculate percentages and settle for close enough.

AncientFutureNow ,

get to 10, add what's left.

WolfLink ,

This is a good approach, but for this example I break it up as:

7+6=7+3+3=10+3=13

i_love_FFT ,
@i_love_FFT@lemmy.ml avatar

For me it's:

6 is half a dozen, so 6+6=12, then 7 is 6+1, so 6+7 is 12+1=13

SendMePhotos ,

I did 5 (+2) + 5 (+1) = 10 (+3) = 13

Spitzspot ,
@Spitzspot@lemmings.world avatar

6-3=3, 7+3=10, 10+3=13

Gullible ,

Prostrate yourselves, defective prole masses. I’ve memorized my +/- tables all the way up to 8.

xilliah ,
@xilliah@beehaw.org avatar

You can solve this one with redneck math. You simply flip the numbers in 7+6 upside down, which looks like 4+9, which is clearly 13.

MystikIncarnate ,

For anything times 5, I just take the other number, half it, and then multiply by 10. Voila. Times 5.

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