Sample size of one. I have aphantasia and cannot picture images at all. I had a “natural” affinity for math and would often zone out extrapolating mathematical

Sample size of one. I have aphantasia and cannot picture images at all. I had a “natural” affinity for math and would often zone out extrapolating mathematical patterns in my head during school. Like the trick with multiplying 9s where you hold your fingers up. I remember spending days of class time working on a more generic rule to allow me to multiply any number by 9 in my head. This came to a crashing halt for calculus as I was not able to develop a mental model for it at all during high school. Everything that had been easy and interesting before just disappeared when it came to memorizing formulas with no rhyme or reason.