Dyscalculia - Learning Disability

Did you hate math at school? Did you runaway from numbers and your math teacher? Well, if you found comprehending math very difficult, then there is a possibility that you have dsycalculia, learning disability. This is a specific learning disability that involves innate difficulty in learning math and understanding the subject. This learning disability bears semblance to dyslexia and involves confusion regarding recognition of math symbols. Also known as 'math dyslexia', this disability causes children to invert numerals and conduce to several difficulties in performing basic math functions.

What Causes Dyscalculia?
One of the most common causes of math difficulties is the inability to visualize numbers and math calculations. To understand math, a person needs to visualize numbers and symbols and connect them to specific functions. However, this visualization does not happen in such children. People with sequencing problems also find it difficult to remember formulas needed for math calculations. Dyscalculia can also be caused due to some injury caused to the brain or even due to some negative experiences related to math in the past, where the child develops a fear of mathematics.

Symptoms in Children
Some of the common dyscalculia characteristics observed in children with this disability is as follows:

• Difficulty in reading numbers
• Difficulty in learning the meaning of numbers (number sense)
• Difficulty in recalling the numbers in a sequence
• Difficulty in matching numbers
• Slow to learn counting and math skills
• Trouble with tasks like sorting objects by color, shape or size
• Inability to tell time from a non-digital clock
• Difficulty in recognizing groups and patterns
• Difficulty in playing strategy or role-playing video games
• Difficulty in keeping score when playing games

As these kids grow, they encounter even more challenging levels of math at school. They find it extremely difficult to solve basic math calculations like addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. They even find it difficult to memorize multiplication tables. The child may sometimes also understand the math facts, however, may not be able to put them down on paper.

Children with this learning disability find passing in math exams extremely difficult. Parents who are unaware of their child's disability, end up pulling their hair out in frustration in the course of getting their kids to learn basic functions like addition and subtraction. The frustration in parents or teachers can erupt in the form of condemnation. They keep telling the child how stupid they are for not being able to learn simple math. This causes the child to condemn himself or herself for not being able to comprehend simple calculations like his/her peers.

Symptoms in Adults
If the foundational math facts have not been mastered, then children growing up with dyscalculia learning disability will grow to become adults who find more advanced calculations even more difficult. Their math knowledge is very shaky and they find solving equations and complex problem solving very difficult. Some of the difficulties they face are as follows:

• Noting phone numbers incorrectly
• Inability to read music notes
• Forgetting dates and addresses
• Inability to count money
• Difficulty in adding up costs at the grocery store without a calculator
• Difficulty in remembering the passwords and PIN for using an ATM card

Diagnosis and Treatment
The teacher or trained professional will evaluate the child's learning disabilities in math by various techniques to understand how much the child understands about numbers. The dyscalculia checklist helps the observer to understand the level of learning disability. Once the diagnosis of the disability is made, the teacher and parents will try to find different ways to teach the child mathematics. Concrete examples are taken to teach calculations before jumping into the abstract form. Therapy or tutoring is an extremely powerful tool, which helps the child learn slowly at his or her own pace.

Children with dyscalculia learning disability need a lot of emotional support from their parents, siblings and teachers. They can easily enter a state of self pity and condemnation and totally withdraw from the subject. However, having an encouraging environment can help them agree to learn the subject.