dysTalk Dyscalculia - Dyscalculia - Forum - dysTalk

We've had a couple of enquiries regarding dyscalculia and whether dysTalk is aware of this lesser known condition (dyslexia with numbers). We certainly are aware of it and are in touch with several experts on the subject. Jane Emerson who runs Emerson house (kindly hosting our first lecture) is extremely knowledgeable on dyscalculia and is scheduled to do a lecture covering this in December/January (exact date TBC). Many of you will also have heard of Professor Brian Butterworth and we very much hope to schedule something with him. In the meantime please use this part of the forum to discuss all things related to dyscalculia.

Josh and the dysTalk team

01/10/2008 22:06:41
Josh (Member)

I want to know how to teach commercial maths i.e. percentage, profit and loss and simple interest to grade 7 student.

21/02/2009 05:48:34
lakshmi madhusudan

I don't know about your student, but in my case my dyscalculia is based on a) a difficulty with the value of numbers and b) a short term working memory problem, meaning I can't hold the digits in my head.

However, I found that the key for me to learn mathematics was ALGEBRA. It taught me that my problem is purely calculatory, and that I can actually learn the functions performed by division, multiplication, powers, factorials, etc by seeing their place algebraically.

As a result, I've been able to complete the AAT Accounting qualification with no apparent impairment whatsoever, I've even written articles online about how to construct and utilise bézier curves.

The problems I found are that, because your first experience of numbers in school is based on mental arithmetic, you develop early the concept that you and maths are not friends. This creates a barrier in later life, so that you almost cease to try, even when other more abstract areas of mathematics may be fine for you.

What I found was that algebra is more practical, more procedural, it appeals to logic rather than numeracy.

If you'd like to know any more, my email is el_bogly (at) hotmail (dot) com.

02/03/2009 11:34:20
Chris Denyer

My son is 17 and dyslexic and im sure dyscalculic. He has great difficulty telling the time, would we be best to use 24 hour digital watch instead. He seems to have no idea of time span. Its not through want of trying but he just doesnt seem to be able to do it. thanks

10/03/2009 13:40:43
elizabeth jones

I'm dyscalculic myself, and from my own experience the thing to remember is that most people have no idea of timespan either, they're just better at telling the time. As your son does not conceptualise numbers, but probably works better visualising things, I would suggest that the analogue dial is a much more useful learning aid.

I'd get him to picture the five-minute divisions of the hour as stations on a train line. The name of the Terminus is whatever the short hand is pointing to on the hour. The station at the 1 position is called ''Five Past [the hour]'', and the next one along is called ''Ten Past [the hour]''; and he can see, from counting the marked minutes between each of the numbers, that the imaginary train keeps pace with the motion of time at increments of five minutes. This will be the basic building-block of his time-awareness.

Next I'd get him to watch something on TV that lasts, say, 15 minutes. With practice, he'll be able to ''feel'' the passage of a quarter-hour as the time it takes him to watch that TV show. Likewise, a couple of hours will be the time taken to watch a particular film.

For spans of five minutes or less, let him recall the time it takes to listen to a particular song. I once had a friend who reckoned that if he only had 4 minutes left to live, he could spend it listening to the Nirvana song ''Smells Like Teen Spirit'', because it comes in at a little under 4 minutes, with just enough time for him to select it on his iPod :)

15/06/2009 12:16:18
John Bennett

If any of you want to talk to other dyscalculics, you should check out http://dyscalculiaforum.com - thousands of members from all over the world :)

16/07/2009 20:19:36
Mette

I am 32 years old, and am pretty sure I am Dyscalculic. I have not been tested, mostly becauase I don't know of anyone who tests adults for it. I had a horrible time in school, and growing up with it, although I didn't even know there was a name for my problem until I was an adult. I am glad that children today with Dyscalculia can be identified and helped instead of falling through the cracks like myself. Is there anything I can do as an adult to help deal with my Dyscalculia? Also is there any way of getting tested to pinpoint my strengths and weaknesses within my problem? As well as discover to what extent I may have it?

21/08/2009 16:57:16
Liz Moore

There is a resources called Numicon that helps all pupils to visualise numbers and as John said it may be easier for pupils with Dyscalculia to learn in this way. They also have a whole teaching tip page on telling the time too.

http://www.numicon.com/display_resources/telling-the-time.ht...

27/08/2009 15:35:17
Emma

My 12yr old son has just been confirmed as having dyscalulia. He has been labelled stupid for so many years that his confidence is at an all time low and he is reluctant to learn or try anything new. We have always encouraged him but he finds new situations very difficult and hates drawing attention to himself. Any feedback would be appreciated.

15/04/2010 19:24:02
Christine