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I am curious about the experiences of people who had no formal mathematical training in their youth, but learned mathematics as adults.

I imagine that there are a fair number of people in the US who were homeschooled in such a way that mathematics was almost entirely omitted. There is also the phenomenon of "Sudbury schools", in which students are given complete freedom to choose how they spend their time. Many of these students could experience an education which is completely free of instruction in mathematics.

I am curious about how people with this background adapt to mathematics as adults. How long does it take them to "catch up" to their peers who were trained in the normal system? Are there any long term mathematical disadvantages or advantages in this population?

I would like to be made aware of research studies tackling these kinds of questions. If they do not exist, I am serious about trying to undertake such research.

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    $\begingroup$ Where have you, ahem, researched to try to find prior research? $\endgroup$
    – shoover
    Commented Dec 16, 2020 at 2:38
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    $\begingroup$ I have a few chapters by unschoolers in my book, Playing with Math: Stories from Math Circles, Homeschoolers, and Passionate Teachers. naturalmath.com/playingwithmath (pdf version available online, name your own price.) $\endgroup$
    – Sue VanHattum ♦
    Commented Dec 16, 2020 at 4:08
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    $\begingroup$ @SueVanHattum Very interesting! I read just the one section written by Lavinia Karl. It doesn't seem like a lack of formal mathematics instruction held her back much! This is exactly the kind of thing I would like to study. $\endgroup$
    – Steven Gubkin
    Commented Dec 16, 2020 at 16:57

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