What is Dyscalculia

Have you ever come across this word before? I hope you are not confusing it with dyslexia, because dyslexia and dyscalculia are two different things belonging to the same category. Yes, both of them are specific learning disabilities. While dyslexia is related to reading problems, dyscalculia is a learning disability related to mathematics. That is correct. People suffering from dyscalculia experience difficulty in understanding, learning and comprehending mathematical calculations, and are always confused about math symbols.

What is Dyscalculia

To understand more on what does dyscalculia mean, let us have a look at its origin and definition. The word originates from Greek and Latin origin. 'Dys' is a Greek word which means 'badly' and 'Calculia' originates from a Latin word 'calculare' which means 'to count'. Therefore, "dyscalculia is a specific learning disability which affects a person's calculating and concept understanding ability in mathematical area." The synonym for this math learning disability is Numlexia.

Symptoms of Dyscalculia

Dyscalculia can be detected at an early age so that the person can get proper attention and care. Below is a list of symptoms that will help you identify this learning disorder.

• Confusion in mathematical signs like +, -, ×, and ÷.
• Difficulty in simple everyday functions like calculating change and determining time by looking at analog clocks.
• Poor sense of directions, even when using a compass.
• Difficulty to remember or understand mathematical formulas, theorems, sequences, concepts, rules and steps.
• Impaired mental judgment to measure the distance between two objects.
• difficulty and confusion in keeping scores during a game.
• Unable to plan on financial budgeting or checking the balances of checkbook.
• Having difficulty in counting backwards or may end up interchanging numbers, like, write 78 instead of 87.
• Many people suffering from dyscalculia also experience difficulties in using a calculator because of the process of entering values.
• Difficulty with memorizing or understanding times table.
• Unable to do even simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
• Unable to recall the name or face of a person.
• Have a phobia for mathematical calculations or even devices.
• Difficulties in following sequences, not only in mathematics but also in daily activities like, dance steps, organizing things in a sequential order etc.
• Difficulty in differentiating between left and right.

Causes of Dyscalculia

Scientists are still researching on the possible causes of dyscalculia. This is the reason why a medical treatment or cure this condition has not been found out yet. Although scientists and researchers are trying their level best, many more facts and studies are still required to find out the exact cause. Till now, what has been found out is that approximately 5% of the population worldwide may suffer from this learning disorder. As per investigations so far, dyscalculia is related to the supramarginal and angular gyrus lesions, which are situated at the junction in between the parietal lobes and the temporal of the cerebral cortex. Some also associate it with a genetic disorder, however, there is no concrete evidence for the same till now.

What Can be Done?

Sadly, there is no treatment or therapy for dyscalculia, however, like dyslexia, even dyscalculia requires special attention. A logical dyscalculia treatment would be to have a little patience and change in teaching strategy can help the person gain some confidence and improve the learning process. Provide them with all the easy tools which would help them understand and grasp concepts and work with them with lots of patience. Your efforts can definitely help them overcome this learning difficulty.

Now that we know what is dyscalculia and its respective symptoms, let us not neglect a person suffering with the same, but help him or her overcome the difficulty.