I Have a Learning Disability in Math

Sierra T. Reed
Sep 2, 2018 · 3 min read

It’s like dyslexia, but with numbers and calculation.

Because I’m a technical major, I have to take math. Not just any math — the Indiana University composed hell of Finite, a course comprised of linear algebra, statistics, and probability.

Ask any other college student not at IU what Finite is, and their faces will fall into this clueless structure of muscular contortions. Finite is supposed to have specific applications for the social sciences and business, and apparently, the Informatics major.

Thing is, I have no context for Finite. The university doesn’t provide any but for requiring you to take it. I search Finite up on Google and the search results come back with things like “finite sets of numbers”, “discrete datasets”, and some book an IU professor wrote, all hyped up about how great a mashup of a math curriculum Finite would be.

I mean, I can’t even listen to Sal Khan’s soothing voice talk about Finite because nobody knows what the hell it is outside of the university.

But, I digress — the frustration I express above is nothing new when it comes to Math and I.

Our relationship was always tenuous at best. At worst it involved me ripping my schoolbooks in half, curled up in fetal position on the floor. On average, I’d sit at my desk with my pencil poised, ready to attack the numbers and finally make sense of those obscure little symbols.

But no matter how many times I would go over the notes, the numbers, the calculations, it was like trying to force in information through my ear with a sharp object.

Math never made sense, and it always hurt to try.

With every other subject, I knew if I just put in the effort and tried to understand the material, I’d be okay. With Math, despite the time and effort to understand it, I’d end up with a blank slate of a brain that I’d end up banging against an equally blank wall.

I’m taking a class this semester about Applied VR/AR in Unity, and while I was building a 3D sphere in my environment, I realized I finally understood how the X, Y, and Z axis interact and work together.

For each of the 3 axis, there are three different categories: Position, Rotation, and Scale.

Whenever the sphere materialized, it appeared at the top north corner of my environment.

I wanted the sphere on top of a plateau, which was located towards the bottom west of the environment.

(I am aware that for the visual people, this is difficult to understand without actually seeing it happen, so bear with me).

By increasing the X and Z value of the sphere’s position, I was able to move the sphere right where the plateau was — so much so the sphere disappeared. I stared at my screen, confused, until I noticed the Y value was 0. I increased it by 50, 75, 90 — when a dome popped into existence on the plateau.

I entered 140 for the Y value and the sphere hovered divinely a couple feet above the plateau surface.

Working in Unity has increased my understanding of how mathematics function exponentially. I finally have a deep understanding and am able to visualize the functions in three dimensions by manipulating my own objects.

I really wish I could complete all my Math requirements with 3D visualization and manipulation, because the 2 dimensional, flat numbers with enigmatic functions on paper doesn’t work for me.

It’s just the way my brain works, and I refuse to be ashamed of it any longer.

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