In school, I loved maths, i loathed English.
I enjoyed trigonometry, geometry, calculus, statisitics but most of all algebra.
To be frank im surprised at the advent of this thread, for i had always thought that since d/Deaf people are more visual, then mathematics is where our mental strengths lies. I really do find this strange.
But I guess that had alot to do with how the maths is taught. While Mathematics is 'taught in English' it is not conveyed in pure English, but 'borrowed' English in a more or less colloquial manner, that is; speaking in terminology and along in its strict format. "Maths english" is coded in concepts and layered further mental concepts. So I guess since the concepts were handled in mulitude abstract terms, as 'mapped and understood in this elaborated way' it becomes difficult to keep track and comprehending the whys and wherefores the concepts and at same time what steps must be taken to solve the puzzles as given out. In a way it is not surprising that maths can be difficult to grasp. I guess now that one of the possible 'reasons' why many d/Deaf people "here" prefers their mental tasks to be dealing with linguistic or experiential/situation decoding using expressions as guided by the first hand abstract knowledge of how to operate our thinking in English, while in discussing mathematical concepts and riddles, it is 'operating at a 'higher' or another level of abstract/meaning so the 'lack of flow in English spoken in classrooms' may have attributed to this ''failure", Right now, my English abilty is failing to explain what exactly I am trying to convey here. Nevertheless I will carry on post this and hope it come across as OK.
From my own experience being profoundly deaf, I heard fuck-all in classroom lessons right through from primary to secondary school(secondary is high school in NZ) i recall quite vividly that i progressed from building my 'my self-taught mental elaboration' yes alot of which were 'second time show/demonstrations by examples - as in one to one just to repeat what they were saying to the class' but IN actual classes not additional classes. because of this i was forced to learn very fast and often without problems as I somehow make the connections from previous classes to the next and often the 'jump' or connection has invovled a 6 months gaps! I was lucky that I had this very image-driven memory seeing patterns (ie; sometimes seeing how the problems and solutions overlapped or extended or systematically arrange some repetitions in steps until I find the pattern fits (think like how you would approach solving the Rubiks' cube) and had the desire to try out and see if it fits, and usually it wasn't longer than 5 mins then I'd just carry on with the rest of the class while they all HEARD from the teacher.
Going full circle, to the beginning of this post, I am surprised as this, I had always thought every d/Deaf person (who can do maths) thought, and memorised like I did. I always thought deaf people are better at mathematics.
I was mainstreamed throughoutly and it was harsh in terms of my emotional, social needs were not met. Moreso when I meet some d/Deaf (those claimed to be Deaf - not) they further refused to meet my social needs too. Grr strange how when we all think it will be better later, it was never the case. OK this last couple sentences is not entirely relevent to the thread but I still just mention it. All in all, I was competent in maths and computers while my ability in English lacked in a big way during my childhood until the day I left school.