As long as I can remember myself I have always been good in solving mathematical problems.  I “credit” my advanced problem solving skills to my dyslexia, as I have a very good visual grasp of problems and their solutions.

I remember my school math classes when the math teacher started teaching a new topic. I was always one of the first ones to understand and solve the new problems. However, from that point onward I would begin to get bored, and instead of listening to the teacher‘s description regarding what was the structured algorithm to solve the problem, I would get bored and start day dreaming…

For every new problem that was presented; I set off to solve the problem and develop my own algorithm. I did not learn or deduce any formal methodology to my intuitive problem solving capabilities.  More so, sometimes even though I solved a problem correctly, the teacher would take off points for not providing a structured explanation of my work. I remember quite a few arguments with teachers explaining to them that what was important was the fact that I got the answer correct; that it did not matter the method that I used to solve the problem.

However, as time went by, and the problems got more complicated, I found myself falling behind. My classmates, though not so bright problem solvers, had learned the structured methodology and techniques to solve specific problems. I however continued to develop new algorithms for each new problem, sometimes solving the complicated problems correctly and sometimes not. Since I did a very poor job of documenting the steps of the solution, I usually got full credit deduction for a wrong answer. I did not provide the teacher the appropriate description that proved that though my algorithm of solving the problem was correct; the incorrect answer was due to an insignificant calculation error.

Today, as an adult dyslexic and parent I understand that having good problem solving skills is not enough.  It is important that you learn structured methodologies to solve problems. This may not be the natural course of action for some, but adopting structured and disciplined learning processes becomes critical as you advance in your studies and academic challenges.