Dyscalculia

Dyscalculia
Dyscalculia
Specialty	Psychiatry, neuropsychology

Dyscalculia (not the same thing as acalculia) is defined as a specific neurological-disorder affecting a person's ability to understand and/or manipulate numbers. Dyscalculia can be caused by a visual perceptual deficit. Dyscalculia is often used to refer specifically to the inability to perform operations in math or arithmetic, but is defined by some educational professionals as a more fundamental inability to conceptualize numbers themselves as an abstract concept of comparative quantities. It is a lesser known disability, much like and potentially related to dyslexia and dyspraxia. Dyscalculia occurs in people across the whole IQ range, but means they often have specific problems with mathematics, time, measurement, etc. Dyscalculia (in its more general definition) is not rare. Many of those with dyslexia or dyspraxia have dyscalculia as well. There is also some evidence to suggest that this type of SpLD is partially hereditary.

The word dyscalculia comes from Greek and Latin which means: "counting badly". The prefix "dys" comes from Greek and means "badly". "Calculie" comes from the Latin "calculare", which means "to count". That word "calculare" again comes from "calculus", which means "pebble" or "little rock" on the blackboard. Dyscalculia is a maths impairment which often goes together with a number of other restrictions, such as spatial insight, reading time, bad memory, orthography problems, lack of insight. There are indications that it is a congenitally hereditary impairment, with a neurological context. Dyscalculia concerns both children and adults:

Dyscalculia can be detected at a young age and measures can be taken to ease the problems faced by the younger students. The main problem is understanding the way mathematics is taught to children. In the same way that Dyslexia can be dealt with by a slightly different approach to teaching so can dyscalculia. Dyscalculia is the lesser known of these types of learning difficulties and so is often not picked up. A child can be left very frustrated with a learning difficulty such as this as in some cases they incredibly good at langauges and subjects related with their only frustrations lying with maths. The numbers can become jumbled in their head or the concepts confused.

Potential symptoms

Frequent difficulties with numbers, confusing the signs: +, -, / and x, reversing or transposing numbers etc.
Problems differentiating between left and right as well as compass directions.
Inability to say which of two numbers is the larger.
Reliance on 'counting-on' strategies, often using fingers, rather than any more efficient mental arithmetic strategies.
Difficulty with times-tables, mental arithmetic, measurements, etc.
Good in subjects like science and geometry until a higher level requiring calculations is needed.
Difficulty with conceptualising time and judging the passing of time.
Difficulty with everyday tasks like checking change and reading analogue clocks.
Inability to comprehend financial planning or budgeting, sometimes even at a basic level, for example estimating the cost of the items in a shopping basket.
Inability to grasp and remember maths concepts, rules, formulae, sequences.
Difficulty keeping score during games.
Difficulty in activities requiring sequential processing, from the physical (such as dance steps) to the abstract (reading, writing and signalling things in the right order). Failing even with a calculator due to difficulties in the process of feeding in variables.
The condition may lead in extreme cases to a phobia of mathematics and mathematical devices (i.e. numbers).

Potential causes

Scientists have not quite figured out the causes of dyscalculia. They have been investigating in several domains.

Neurological: Dyscalculia has been associated with lesions to the supramarginal and angular gyri at the junction between the temporal and parietal lobes of the cerebral cortex^[1]^[2].
Deficits in Working Memory: Adams and Hitch^[3] argue that working memory is a major factor in mental addition. From this base, Geary^[4] conducted a study that suggested there was a working memory deficit for those who suffered with dyscalculia. However, working memory problems are confounded with general learning difficulties, thus Geary's findings may not be specific to dyscalculia but rather may reflect a greater learning deficit.

Studies of mathematically gifted students has shown increased EEG activity in the right hemisphere during mathematical processsing. There is some evidence of right hemisphere deficits in dyscalculia. Other causes can be:

1) Intelligence: This must be tested so that you can exclude if it possibly concerns very low IQ (<70). However, people with normal or even high IQ can also have dyscalculia.

2) learning problems. - The way of thinking. How does one understand the basic concepts? - The basic concepts cannot be automated. The basic skills of adding up, deductions, multiplies and dividing - one (also) has dyslexia: does reading in itself already cause a problem? - Does one recognise the number symbols? - Does one understand the signs, such as +, -, =?

3) Education. - Is it a good teaching method? - Instruction problems: Does the teacher need to give more explanation?

4) the short period memory. If this memory is disturbed or reduced, it is difficult to remember calculations and reach a good result.

5) congenitally or hereditary disorders. There are indications of this, but it is not yet concrete.

6) combination of these factors.

Dealing with students having dyscalculia

First of all: show understanding and attention for the child.
Do not scold or pity the student.
Give the child an extra compliment if it has solved a sum well. Not the quantity of sums is important, but the way the child has solved them.
Give them extra time for numerical problems.
Make sure that the student has actually understood the problem.
Attempt to determine whether the learning style of the student is primarily visual, auditory or kinaesthetic.
Encourage students to "visualize" the quantities involved in mathematics problems.
Be aware that students may use non-standard methods to solve problems. If their method is helpful, encourage it.
Development of the required skills: spatial orientation and spatial insight, pattern recognision, visualising. This can be developed by games such as Mastermind, Rummikub, puzzles, Lego, etc.
Development of key terms such as: value of numbers, figure sequences, fractions by playing cardgames, etc.
Calculate according to one certain method. Follow only one solution strategy, no creative calculating.
Where appropriate have the student read problems out loud and listen carefully.
Provide plenty of examples and try to relate problems to real-life situations.
Provide uncluttered worksheets, introduce structure
Learn them the use of a calculator if counting doesn’t really succeed.
Offer the child more easy, less complex sums, with little explanation.
First make the sum yourself, then together and, eventually, let them do it by themselves.
Dyscalculic students will probably need to spend considerable extra time memorizing mathematical facts. Repetition is greatly important. Rhythm or music may help the process.
Severely dyscalculic students, particularly if they are also dyslexic, may in fact have too poor a memory to memorise by rote at all. In this case, they should first concentrate on strengthening the basic numerical bonds and then use of calculation strategies.

Where appropriate, seek the advice of the SENCO or Ed. Psych.

Dyscalculia and the university student

When dealing with a student with dyscalculia it is best to evaluate their academic strengths and use that to their advantage. Dyscalculia can create great difficulty for university students in choosing majors. It is best advised for the student to talk with the disabled student services counselors. Majors in engineering,the natural and medical sciences require an excellent grasp of advanced mathematics whereas programs in the social sciences depending on the specific area of study within social sciences generally require minimal math with the exception of statistics. In the United States, policies regarding the management of dyscalculia and other learning disabilities varies greatly from university to university. Some universities allow students who have been formally diagnosed with dyscalculia to substitute other courses for the math requirements whereas other schools require the student to complete the course but offer additional tutoring.

External links

Nature Article
Guardian Article
Mathematics and Dyslexia
LD Online
DyscalculiaForum.com - International support forum
Dyscalculia or acalculia
Dyscalculia.org Symptoms of dyscalcula

References

^ Levy LM, Reis IL, Grafman J. Metabolic abnormalities detected by 1H-MRS in dyscalculia and dysgraphia. Neurology. 1999;53(3):639—41. PMID 10449137
^ Mayer E, Martory MD, Pegna AJ, Landis T, Delavelle J, Annoni JM. Free Full Text A pure case of Gerstmann syndrome with a subangular lesion. Brain. 1999;122(6):1107—20. PMID 10356063
^ Adams JW, Hitch GJ. Working memory and children's mental addition. J Exp Child Psychol. 1997;67(1),21—38. PMID 9344485
^ Geary DC. Mathematical disabilities: cognition, neuropsychological and genetic components. Psychol Bull. 1993;114(2) 345—62. PMID 8416036