Dyscalculia: Defined by the National Center for Learning Disabilities

What is dyscalculia?
Dyscalculia is a term referring to a wide range of life-long learning disabilities involving the manipulation of numbers, arithemtic and maths.

There is no single form of maths disability, and difficulties vary from person to person. It affects people differently, both in school and throughout life.

What are the effects of dyscalculia?
Since disabilities involving maths can be so different, the effects they have on a person's development can be just as different e.g. a person who has trouble processing language will face different challenges in maths than a person who has difficulty with visual - spatial relationships.

Another person with trouble remembering facts and keeping a sequence of steps in order, will have yet a different set of maths-related challenges to overcome.

Early childhood
Clearly, building a solid foundation in maths involves many different skills. Young children with learning disabilities can have difficulty with;

• learning the meaning of numbers (number sense),
• trouble with tasks like sorting objects by shape, size or color;
• recognising groups and patterns;
• comparing and contrasting using concepts like smaller/bigger or taller/shorter.

Learning to count, recognising numbers and matching numbers with amounts can also be difficult for these children.

School-age children
As maths learning continues, school-age children with language processing disabilities may have difficulty solving basic number problems using addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

They struggle to remember and retain basic mathematical facts (i.e. times tables), and have trouble figuring out how to apply their knowledge and skills to solve number problems.

Difficulties may also arise because of weakness in visual-spatial skills, where a person may understand the needed mathematical facts, but have difficulty putting them down on paper in an organised way.

Visual-spatial difficulties can also be challenging, when trying to understand what is written on a board or in a textbook.

Teenagers & adults
If basic mathematical facts are not mastered, many teenagers and adults with dyscalculia may have difficulty moving on to more advanced math applications. Language processing disabilities can make it hard for a person to get a grasp of the vocabulary of math. Without the proper vocabulary and a clear understanding of what the words represent, it is difficult to build on math knowledge.

Success in more advanced math procedures requires that a person be able to follow multi-step procedures. For individuals with learning disabilities, it may be hard to visualize patterns, different parts of a math problem or identify critical information needed to solve equations and more complex problems.

What are the warning signs?
Since math disabilities are varied, the signs that a person may have a difficulty in this area can be just as varied. However, having difficulty learning math skills does not necessarily mean a person has a learning disability. All students learn at different paces, and particularly among young people, it takes time and practice for formal math procedures to make practical sense.

If a person has trouble in any of the areas below, additional help may be beneficial.

• 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 organisation 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.

How is dyscalculia identified?
When a teacher or trained professional evaluates a student for learning disabilities in math, the student is interviewed about a full range of math-related skills and behaviours. Pencil and paper math tests are often used, but a real evaluation needs to accomplish more.

An evaluation needs to reveal how a person understands and uses numbers and maths concepts, to solve advanced-level, as well as everyday, problems.

The evaluation compares a person's expected and actual levels of skill and understanding while noting the person's specific strengths and weaknesses. Below are some of the areas that may be addressed:

• Ability with basic math skills like counting, adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing
• Ability to predict appropriate procedures based on understanding patterns - knowing when to add, subtract, multiply, divide or do more advanced computations
• Ability to organize objects in a logical way
• Ability to measure-telling time, using money
• Ability to estimate number quantities
• Ability to self-check work and find alternate ways to solve problems.

Treating dyscalculia
Helping a student identify his/her strengths and weaknesses is the first step to getting help. Following identification, parents, teachers and other educators can work together to establish strategies that will help the student learn math more effectively.

Help outside the classroom lets a student and tutor focus specifically on the difficulties that student is having, taking pressure off moving to new topics too quickly. Repeated reinforcement and specific practice of straightforward ideas can make understanding easier.

Other strategies for inside and outside the classroom include:

• Use graph paper for students who have difficulty organising ideas on paper.
• Work on finding different ways to approach mathematical facts; i.e., instead of just memorising the multiplication tables, explain that 8 x 2 = 16, so if 16 is doubled, 8 x 4 must = 32. Put them in a number triangle.
• Practice estimating as a way to begin solving math problems.
• Introduce new skills beginning with concrete examples and later moving to more abstract applications.
• For language difficulties, explain ideas and problems clearly. Encourage students to talk about their difficulties and ask questions as they work.
• Provide a place to work with few distractions and have pencils, erasers and other tools on hand as needed.
• Help students become aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Understanding how a person learns best is a big step in achieving academic success and confidence.

Dyslexia Defined: Divergence in IQ and Reading ability

This graph shows the divergence between IQ and Reading ability in dyslexics.

It also shows that IQ and reading ability track together in typical readers.

Credit: Sally and Bennett Shaywitz, Yale University, Psychological Science.

For health workers, parents and guardians of children who suffer from Dyslexia it has long been known that these children are highly intelligent, despite there learning disorder. Some would say that they are above average in intelligence.

Accomplished People
Contrary to popular belief, some very famous and accomplished people cannot read well. This arguably, unexpected difficulty in reading, in relation to intelligence, education and professional status is called dyslexia.

Recent psychological research at Yale School of Medicine and University of California Davis, have presented new data that may help to explain why some bright and intelligent people struggle to read.

The Journal of Psychological Science
In January 1, 2010, the study will be published in the journal Psychological Science, and it promises to provide a validated definition of dyslexia. "For the first time, we've found empirical evidence that shows the relationship between IQ and reading over time differs for typical compared to dyslexic readers," said Sally E. Shaywitz, M.D., the Audrey G. Ratner Professor in Learning Development at Yale School of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics, and co-director of the newly formed Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity.

Cognitive v Reading
Using data from the Connecticut Longitudinal Study, an ongoing 12-year study of cognitive and behavioral development in a representative sample of 445 Connecticut schoolchildren, Shaywitz and her team tested each child in reading every year and tested for IQ every other year. They were looking for evidence to show how the dissociation between cognitive ability and reading ability might develop in children.

Tracking
The researchers found that in typical readers, IQ and reading not only track together, but also influence each other over time but in children who suffer from dyslexia, IQ and reading are not linked over time and do not influence one another. Thus confirming that a dyslexic child can be both bright and not read well.

Uncoupling
Like so many others who are working with children who suffer from Dyslexia, Shaywitz said "I've seen so many children who have a high IQ but are struggling to read. Our findings of an uncoupling between IQ and reading, and the influence of this uncoupling on the developmental trajectory of reading, provide confirmational evidence to support the concept that dyslexia is an unexpected difficulty with reading in children who otherwise have the intelligence to learn to read."

Reading Not automatic
Typical readers learn how to associate letters with a specific sound. "All they have to do is look at the letters and it's automatic," Shaywitz explained. "It's like breathing; you don't have to tell your lungs to take in air. In dyslexia, this process remains manual." Each time a dyslexic sees a word, it's as if they've never seen it before. People with dyslexia have to read slowly, re-read, and sometimes use a marker so they don't lose their place.

A Disparity
"A key characteristic of dyslexia is that the unexpected difficulty refers to a disparity within the person rather than, for example, a relative weakness compared to the general population," said co-author Bennett A. Shaywitz, M.D., the Charles and Helen Schwab Professor in Dyslexia and Learning Development and co-director of the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity.

One in Five
Sally Shaywitz estimates that one in five people are dyslexic and points to many accomplished writers, physicians and attorneys with dyslexia who struggle with the condition in their daily lives. This long list of famous and accomplished people includes Carol Greider, the 2009 Nobel laureate in medicine. She hopes to dispel many of the myths surrounding the condition.

High Performing
"High-performing people who suffer from Dyslexia, are very intelligent, often innovative, lateral thinkers and therefore, great problem-solvers," she said. "The neural signature for dyslexia is seen in children and adults. You cannot run away from or outgrow dyslexia, it is with you for life and you need to learn the best way to deal with that."

Words: Spoken and Written
Shaywitz also stresses that the problem is with both basic spoken and written language. People with dyslexia may need time to retrieve words, so they might not speak or read as fluidly as others.

Stress and Anxiety
An increases in levels of stress and anxiety, can make dealing with the effect of dyslexia worse. The time pressure around standardised tests like the SATs and entrance exams for professional schools, so the need for support and accommodations is key in helping those with the disorder realise their potential, she says.

Don't Panic!
If you do have concerns about a child or an adult who is suffering from Dyslexia consult a qualified consultant. Meantime, feel free to leave your comments about this article and don't hesitate to let me know of your success stories and concerns.