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My spelling sucks. It always has. It has gotten worse since I started relying on spell checkers and the like. My written grammar too has got worse. I get were/where wrong all the time. I also screw up their/there and my apostrophes with unsurprising regularity. I know this. My brain is not wired for it. I sometimes see when things are wrong but often I don't even trigger the flags in my head that should realise these things are wrong (where/were a good example). This is not helped by the fact I type really fast and move past a sentence before my brain has a chance to pick up that things are wrong visually. My spoken english is very good. My written english is not.

However my mathematics and arithmetic (which is not the same as mathematics) are very good. I can multiply two random numbers together fairly quickly. I know pi to about 8 digits. I know what pi is. I can work out calculus in my head. I can solve problems without knowing the theorem I need. My practical physics and applied mechanics are very strong too. I can see how things work, how the fit together. My brain is wired this way.

Socially I have the wrong skill. Poor spelling or written grammar is looked down upon. Poor maths is not. In fact strong mathematical abilities are mocked (geek/nerd/etc). I understand the ability to communicate is essential. I understand the fact that my spelling and written grammar are not the greatest is not a good thing. I resent the fact that it's perceived to be laziness or my fault or choice as the reason. My brain simply isn't wired to pick up the visual triggers that tell me it's wrong. Even when they do I am not sure what's right as the visual writing for this, is lacking. But I can look at a thousand lines of computer code and perceive holistically how it fits together.

We used to joke at university that "I is engineer" should be our motto. As the majority of our class had poor spelling, written grammar and ineligible handwriting. Yet collectively we could design a catapult to throw a beer can 48 meters (yes we did actually do this) in an afternoon. But since the first year of schooling, the ability to spell has always socially been presented as more important than the ability to levitate a frying pan (yes we did that too).

Half the world can't add up the cost of the three cappuccinos, a latte and an espresso together when doing the coffee run. So forgive me if I can't spell cupachino.

[post script] There were over 25 spelling errors in this post that the spell checker picked up on and I corrected.