Dyscalculia

Definition

Dyscalculia is a specific and persistent difficulty in understanding numbers which can lead to a diverse range of difficulties with mathematics. It will be unexpected in relation to age, level of education and experience and occurs across all ages and abilities.

 

Signs of dyscalculia

A person with dyscalculia/mathematical learning difficulties may:

  • Have difficulty when counting backwards.
  • Have a poor sense of number and estimation.
  • Have difficulty in remembering ‘basic’ facts, despite many hours of practice/rote learning.
  • Have no strategies to compensate for lack of recall, other than to use counting.
  • Have difficulty in understanding place value and the role of zero in the Arabic/Hindu number system.
  • Have no sense of whether any answers that are obtained are right or nearly right.
  • Be slower to perform calculations.
  • Forget mathematical procedures, especially as they become more complex, for example ‘long’ division. Addition is often the default operation. The other operations are usually very poorly executed (or avoided altogether).
  • Avoid tasks that are perceived as difficult and likely to result in a wrong answer.
  • Have weak mental arithmetic skills.
  • Have high levels of mathematics anxiety.

 

Source: https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/dyslexia/neurodiversity-and-co-occurring-differences/dyscalculia-and-maths-difficulties

 

Find out more:
What is Dyscalculia