Professor Mahesh Sharma of Cambridge College, USA, Describes Dyscalculia Like This

Dyscalculia

Professor Mahesh Sharma of Cambridge College, USA, describes dyscalculia like this:

Dyscalculia is an individual's difficulty in conceptualizing numbers, number relationships, outcomes of numerical operations and estimation - what to expect as an outcome of an operation. Dyscalculia manifests in a person as having difficulty:

 Mastering arithmetic facts by the traditional methods of teaching, particularly the methods involving counting.

 Dealing with exchange of money-handling a bank account, giving and receiving change, and tipping.

 Learning abstract concepts of time and direction / schedules, telling and keeping track of time, and the sequence of past and future events.

 Acquiring spatial orientation/space organisation / direction, easily disoriented (including left/right orientation), trouble reading maps, and grappling with mechanical processes.

 Learning musical concepts, following directions in sports that demand sequencing or rules, and keeping track of scores and players during games such as cards and board games.

 Following sequential directions - sequencing (including reading numbers out of sequence, substitutions, reversals, omissions and doing operations backwards), organizing detailed information, remembering specific facts and formulas for completing their mathematical calculations.

Dyscalculia can be quantitative, which is a difficulty in counting and calculating; or qualitative, which is a difficulty in the conceptualizing of mathematics processes and spatial sense; or mixed, which is the inability to integrate quantity and space.

In order to succeed with Maths, Professor Sharma says that these skills are needed: following sequential directions, spatial orientation/space organization, pattern recognition, visualization, estimation, inductive and deductive thinking. Dyscalculic people struggle to develop those skills.

As with dyslexia, dyscalculia is identified when a person experiences most of the items on the list of indicators all the time. Because there is no national or international agreement as to the definition of dyscalculia, it is not known how many people experience it. Professor Sharma estimates it at 4%, and this figure is supported by Dr Bjorn Adler, a Danish neuropsychologist who takes a particular interest in the subject.

There is a lot of overlap between dyslexia and dyscalculia, because they both involve short-term memory, sequencing and dealing with symbols. But some dyslexic people are very good at Maths, because they can often use three-dimensional thinking to see the structure of a problem in a way which linear thinkers cannot.

Jan Robertson of De Montfort University, UK, proposes a dyscalculia spectrum which looks like this (the things in the boxes are what people have difficulty with):

Mild Minus numbers, fractions, decimals (specially comparing them), algebraic concepts

Moderate Slightly more abstract concepts such as area, volume, weight. Understanding fractions

Serious Everyday tasks involving time and money computations and judgements, including with a calculator

Extreme Ordering and comparing whole numbers under 10. Judging time and direction

She describes three modes of mathematical activity:

Intuitive mode Everyday maths-type activities: concrete, specific, immediate problem- solving, familiar context, instinctive response, rough estimation

Tool-box mode Numerical operations, symbolic representation, learned numerical and algebraic techniques, translation of mathematical language

Abstract mode Creative activity, decision-making, discovery, deduction, reasoning with understood symbols.

Those who identify with ‘extreme’ and ‘serious’ dyscalculia are unable to access any of the three modes. ‘Moderate’ dyscalculia means being ‘stuck’ in intuitive mode, and ‘mild’ dyscalculia means being stuck in toolbox mode. The definition and description of dyscalculia are not easy to agree on, as the two views above demonstrate. There is information about the subject on the Dyscalculia and Dyslexia Interest Group website, with a useful set of web links provided here: http://ddig.lboro.ac.uk/pages/dyscalculia_web_links.html

How can I help a dyscalculic student?

. Try to find out where the student is, conceptually, until you reach their level of understanding. Start the learning process gradually, controlled by their pace, with carefully graded examples . Avoid correcting trivial copying mistakes and calculating errors . Throw away the rule book. Students deserve explanation and justification. It inspires Mathematical thinking . Use calculators - they are a useful tool. It helps to focus all energy on the concept you are trying to put over, not on some complicated and unnecessary calculation procedure . Root new techniques in visual, concrete, intuitive scenarios, wherever you can . Build on student’s strengths. This type of thinker often excels at creative, divergent, right-brain thinking. Give them ‘open’ questions- students are likely to enjoy them and they greatly help with the concept anyway . Look at how non-dyscalculic, mathematically-intuitive thinkers tackle things, and gently encourage thinking in this way, where you can.