Dyscalculia – An Insight
Understanding SLD
By Revathi Sivasankar
Special needs educator for children with difficulty in mathematics
Dyscalculia (difficulty with calculation) is a Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) with impairment in Mathematics. It is associated with significant difficulty in understanding numbers and mathematical concepts. It is seldom identified at an early age. A person with dyscalculia may consequently become frustrated and develop a dislike for numbers.
Sample this work done by dyscalculics to get an idea of the difficulty they face in understanding numbers:
- 572 – 396 = 224 subtraction is done in both directions
- 647 + 285 = 81212 numbers are added without carry over
One has to clearly understand that Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) is not intellectual impairment. People with SLD have significant difficulty in one or more areas while coping well or even excelling in other areas of academics, sporting or artistic achievements.
Specific Learning Disorders occur arbitrarily and are not caused by the school the child attends or the instruction that is provided. Evidence suggests that there may be an associated genetic component.
Predictions of potential Mathematical difficulties: The affected individual:
- Is unable to ascertain which 2-digit number is larger and is unable to grasp the concept of place value (Number facts).
- Is not able to add simple single-digit numbers mentally.
- There are limitations with working memory capacity. Hence the person is slower in completing maths tasks.
- Lacks effective counting strategies and continues to use fingers and other manipulatives. It is interesting to note the variety of strategies the child comes up with:
- One child found their fingers were not enough to count so stood up to use their toes.
- Another child was continually tapping their pencil in the notebook. Turned out they were busy counting, unaware of the noise they were making.
- Some place their hands under their desk so no one will notice they are using their fingers.
Advice for parents
Despite attending school regularly and getting adequate instructions some children are unable to reach the same level as their peers.
- Do not blame the child.
- When the child begins to experience difficulty, identification and support are necessary.
- Targeted intervention involving remediation, accommodation, appropriate support and ongoing encouragement will help the child develop the skills to calculate effectively and efficiently.
- Get the child tested by the experts in the field. Sooner the testing, lesser will be the anxiety and stress for the child and the parents.
What is assessed?
Testing sheds light on issues with working memory. Specific tests assess:
- Computation skills
- Mathematical fluency
- Mental computation
- Quantitative reasoning
Once the test results are assessed appropriate remedial measures are recommended.
Remedial measures
Remediation, appropriate support and encouragement help the child develop the skills necessary to cope with the curriculum. Since these children require extra time, schools help in giving extra time during the examinations. Various examination boards also give accommodations during board examinations. Some accommodations include:
- Extra time of one hour for a three-hour paper
- Use of calculator
- Appointing an amanuensis or a reader either to read the paper or to write the paper as per the need of the student.
Awareness, special educators and accommodations provided in schools and in the boards of education have had a positive impact. We hope the day is not far when no child will face ridicule and frustration and all children will enjoy working with numbers.