Dyscalculia: Math homework shouldn't be a family drama

Dyscalculia
Math shouldn't be a family drama

There are a few topics in the world that make you want to get really loud. And just so that everyone can hear it. Dyscalculia is such an issue. While dyslexia is at least known to most people and has at least reached the minds of most people that reading and spelling weakness cannot be explained by a lack of diligence or a lack of intelligence, very few have heard of dyscalculia. We all probably know a few people who struggle with it every day. Because dyscalculia affects three to seven people in a hundred.

Dyscalculia says nothing about intelligence

First things first: Dyscalculia says nothing about intelligence. On the contrary: Among those affected there is a noticeably high number of people with giftedness and above-average IQ. Dyscalculia is simply an impairment of arithmetic thinking. Just as other people have difficulty remembering names, cannot find their way again or only come up with a quick answer the next day, people with dyscalculia have a limited understanding of mathematical relationships, quantities and arithmetic logic. A sub-area that in a consumer and finance-oriented society is only more noticeable than a poor sense of direction or a miserable memory for names.

Children with dyscalculia often have long ordeals

Before dyscalculia is diagnosed, children often go through a long path of suffering. Like Lina. Within the first year of school, the confident, bright girl turned into a very calm and anxious child. The parents were at a loss, the teachers strained, the friends irritated. At the latest with her math homework, Lina's "lack of concentration" cost her parents and Lina the last nerve. Until at some point the relieving suspicion arose: Maybe – the math teacher ventured a cautious comment – Lina had dyscalculia. After a few tests it was clear she was right. It was not a question of will that Lina failed at the simplest of tasks. The way other children learn to count and do arithmetic, Lina would never be able to develop an understanding of quantities and relationships. People with dyscalculia need a different way of learning.

Diagnosing dyscalculia is not a drama

You don't need to gloss over the impairment. Living with dyscalculia can be complicated at times. Fortunately, there are now a lot of specialists who know exactly how to learn arithmetic anyway. Depending on the characteristics, it is possible to pack a good tool case, at least for everyday requirements, so that counting the money at the checkout does not become a horror idea. Even at school, the diagnosis does not necessarily have to lead to a bad report. As in the case of dyslexia, there may be no grading in mathematics for educational reasons. The prerequisite for this is a professional diagnosis. In the case of partial restrictions, there are also school types in which the assessment is not made in the grading system, as in many comprehensive schools. In general, comprehensive schools for children with dyscalculia or dyslexia are a good thing. Because there they can work at different levels depending on the subject.

Let's talk about it openly

When schools and doctors are well informed, it makes everything a little easier for those affected. But that's not really enough. Basically everyone should know that this form of impairment exists and that it says absolutely nothing about a person's other abilities. Wouldn't it be great if people at the cash register could say, "Please count down 53 cents for a moment. I have dyscalculia." Just like little people ask big ones whether they can just hand them the tube from the top shelf? Maybe that will be the case one day. Because the fact that four to seven out of a hundred people are ashamed of something that many of the others do not even know somehow does not fit the fact that we are actually damn well informed. About Meghan's eyeliner, Michelle Obama's hairdresser and the weather in Timbugdu. So we shout it all the louder: Dyscalculia has nothing to do with stupidity, nothing with laziness and nothing to do with unwillingness. Arithmetic is just one of many things that some people can learn well the conventional way and others cannot. And people like Lina shouldn't have to be ashamed of that.