Kenneth Porter

I was frustrated in Spanish classes in junior high and high school. I was blazing along learning the vocabulary and grammar rules and it felt very easy to me. But the class bogged down a couple of chapters in with the teacher assisting the slowest kids, so I spent all my time doing my science and math homework. I tried the Duolingo app and ran into the same problem. Endless repetition of introductory material and very slow advancement.  My memory works best through writing. Writing stuff down somehow locks it into the core. Not through visualization or listening but through the mechanical motions of my hands. 

That would make an interesting study. I'm an atheist and quite skeptical but I don't see how aphantasia would cause it. 

I don't see either equations or text, but I'm good at both spelling and math theory. OTOH, I fumble basic arithmetic when summing numbers at the grocery store. For spelling, I can't "see" the correct spelling of a word, but I know when it's wrong, so I often "paint" a misspelled word with the mouse, right-click, and Google it to find what the correct spelling is. I think this is similar to how aphants have no problem recognizing faces, but can't recall them. Our matching system works but we can't "play back" our memories into our viewing system.