Rethinking what it means to be "good at math."

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Mathematics classrooms are often designed around speed, memorization, and narrow definitions of success. When students struggle to meet those expectations, they are often labeled as "bad at math" before considering whether the classroom itself created barriers to access. 

This website explores neurodiversity, mathematics education, and inclusive design through research, reflection, and lived experience. The goal of this website is to rethink what mathematical ability looks like and expand access to meaningful mathematics. 

I believe mathematics classrooms should value:

• thinking over speed, 

• reasoning over memorization, 

• curiosity over compliance,

• and understanding over performance. 

Students do not all process information, communicate, participate, or demonstrate understanding in the same ways. Differences in attention, executive functioning, language processing, sensory processing, and communication are part of human variability, not evidence that a student is incapable of mathematics. 

Rather than asking: 

"How do we fix this student?"

I believe we should ask: 

"What barriers might the environment be creating?"

Small changes in classroom design can significantly impact who feels successful, who participates, and who believes they belong in mathematics. 

Rethinking What it Means to be "Good at Math"

For many students, being “good at math” has very little to do with how deeply they think. It often comes down to speed, memorization, and how quickly they can reproduce procedures.

However, what happens when classroom norms reward the fastest students instead of the most thoughtful ones?

“Students remember when they were trusted before they could prove themselves.”