Dyscalculia

We’re going to go on in our series of articles about specific learning disabilities. Now it’s time to speak about dyscalculia.

That disorder, simply put, include problems with counting. There are more types of dyscalculia while all of them lead to difficulties in mathematics in the final consequence. Some dyscalculic people struggle with basic mathematical concepts, they don’t understand the logic behind addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, they can’t get basic tasks and they usually learn examples by hard. Other people with the same condition, like me, experience hard time doing simple mathematical operations, even such banal like for example 27+5. The next type of the disorder is called lexical dyscalculia. It causes people to have numbers mixed up in their heads. For instance, instead of 82 they can say or write 28, or even 12. It all depends on the severity of the condition. This interchanging of numbers has an origin in the fact that people wrongly connect the name of a number with a number itself, for example the words seven with the number 7. They also often mix up mathematical symbols lie + and -. Other dyscalculics have a problem understanding the concept of numbers itself. Let’s make it clearer on the following example. Person with that type of dyscalculia can’t get or have a big problem to get the fact that 3 cookies in the basket are analogical to 3 apples, that the number of objects is the same. That people don’t understand that it’s possible to apply the number 3 to mere objects, not just to 3 cookies in the basket. There are many problems derived from it. Such disabled people experience troubles with determination of the amount and with comparison which number is bigger that another one. In practice, it manifests like problems with unit conversion and with rounding numbers, as well as other troubles with classic counting.

I myself suffer from the above mentioned lexical dyscalculia. Moreover, I’m not able to add, subtract, multiply and divide even the easiest examples unless I write it down or use a calculator. I also often say 100 instead of 1000 etc. Numbers are mixed up in my brain; I pronounce and write them in a wrong way. My sister and grandpa have dyscalculia as well, according to me. It’s another disorder running in our family.

It doesn’t help me anyhow to be dyscalculic, however I don’t have any big problems with it. Sometimes it’s difficult for me to don't mixed up numbers in a nonsensical way and copy the on the paper properly but when I concentrate a lot, I’m able to manage it.

Is there anybody suffering from dyscalculia? Then, how much severe your symptoms are? Do you think you might have this condition but you’re not sure about that? Is there any question you want to ask? If so, don’t hesitate and write and write to the comment section bellow.

We will become familiar with another specific learning disability, dysmusia. Don’t you know what that weirdly looking word mean? Then stay tunes. We’re here for you!