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Learning Disabilities - Dyscalculia
What is Dyscalculia?
Dyscalculia is a
life-long learning disability involving the inability to deal with
mathematical concepts. There is no single form of this disability and
the effects it can have vary widely from person to person. It's
important to note that just because a student has trouble learning math,
doesn't mean they have a learning disability.
The effects of
dyscalculia will be different and depend on which area of mathematical
ability is affected. The two major areas of weakness responsible
for learning disabilities in maths are visual-spatial problems (when the
brain has trouble processing what the eyes see) and language processing
difficulties (when the brain has trouble processing what the ears hear).
The person with
visual-spatial problems will face different challenges than a person who
has the language processing difficulty. However, with alternate
learning methods, students with dyscalculia can learn to achieve.
Common Signs of
Dyscalculia
There are some common
warning signs that can indicate the presence of dyscalculia.
- A student may have
good reading and writing skills, but are slow to develop basic maths
skills.
- They often have a
good memory for printed words, but experience difficulty reading and
recalling numbers.
- They have trouble
with the concept of time.
- They often have a
poor sense of direction
- Poor long term
memory of maths concepts - they can do something one day, but not the
next.
- Poor mental math
ability.
- Have difficulty
playing strategy games like chess.
- Have difficulty
keeping score with board games.
What are the effects
of Dyscalculia?
Young children with
dyscalculia experience trouble learning to count, recognizing printed
numbers and have a poor memory for numbers. They have trouble with
tasks like sorting, recognizing patterns, comparing and contrasting
concepts such as bigger/smaller, and matching numbers with amounts.
School age children have
difficulties solving basic computations (addition, subtraction etc) and
struggle to retains maths facts such as times tables. They also find
applying maths knowledge to solve problems difficult to do.
Children with the
visual-spatial weakness may understand the math, but have a lot of
trouble organising it on paper. Reading from the board or a
textbook can also be a challenge for these students.
Strategies for managing Dyscalculia
- Have the student try to visualize the maths
problem - in the early years, it's easy to use concrete materials to
demonstrate what a problem looks like.
- The student should take extra notice of any
visual information that may come with a problem - charts, graphs,
pictures
- Reading the problem out loud allows the student
to use their auditory skills, which may be a strength for some.
- Show the student examples and apply real life
examples if appropriate
- Use graph paper for maths problems to keep
numbers in line
- Do not present too many problems on the one
page, otherwise you risk overwhelming the student with too much visual
information
- Spend extra time and effort to memorise math
facts - use music or rhythm to help.
Learn more about
Dyscalculia:
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