Raise your hand if you have heard of “dyscalculia.” Not too many of you? Well, I hadn’t heard of it either until 1993-94. It was at that time when my husband, after many years of struggling with math classes in both high school and college, went to an independent evaluator and was subsequently diagnosed with dyscalculia.
Not only did this help him understand why he was having so much trouble with this area of his education; it also explained some of the difficulties he had with other tasks, such as reading music and playing certain sports. We found a very enlightening and comprehensive list of symptoms at Dyscalculia.org, which I would encourage you to read through. I always say that if I had that list before we got married, the first year probably would have gone a lot more smoothly!
According to the National Council for Learning Disabilities (NCLD), the term dyscalculia actually refers to “a wide range of life-long learning disabilities involving math” and therefore can vary in how they affect different people. Here is a list of warning signs that may indicate additional help is needed in this area:
- Good at speaking, reading, and writing, but slow to develop counting and math problem-solving skills
- Good memory for printed words, but difficulty reading numbers, or recalling numbers in sequence
- Good with general math concepts, but frustrated when specific computation and organization skills need to be used
- Trouble with the concept of time-chronically late, difficulty remembering schedules, trouble with approximating how long something will take
- Poor sense of direction, easily disoriented and easily confused by changes in routine
- Poor long term memory of concepts-can do math functions one day, but is unable to repeat them the next day
- Poor mental math ability-trouble estimating grocery costs or counting days until vacation
- Difficulty playing strategy games like chess, bridge or role-playing video games
- Difficulty keeping score when playing board and card games
You can visit the NCLD website for more information about identifying and treating dyscalculia and other learning disabilities, such as dyspraxia (motor skills), dyslexia (reading) and dysgraphia (writing). Another great resource I have found is the Learning Disabilities Association of America.
So what happened with my husband’s situation? Well, the evaluator wrote a letter informing the college of their findings as well as the fact that learning disabilities are covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Armed with this information, my husband became the first person in the history of his school to be excused from the algebra requirement. He took geology instead.
Photo courtesy of Robert Scarth
Trish can be found writing here at 5MFSN every Friday in addition to hosting Try This Tuesday. You can also find Trish at her blog, Another Piece of the Puzzle.