WHAT IS

- is a specific learning disability (or difficulty) in mathematics. -Severe difficulty in making arithmetical calculations, as a result of brain disorder. -it goes by many names. Some public schools refer to it as a “mathematics learning disability.” -Doctors sometimes call it a “mathematics disorder.” Many kids and parents call it “math dyslexia.”

DYSCALCULIA

WHO DEFINED DYSCALCULIA?

It was originally defined by the Czechoslovakia researcher, Kosc, as a difficulty in mathematics as a result of impairment to particular parts of the brain involved in mathematical cognition, but without a general difficulty in cognitive function.

WHO DISCOVERED?

Dyscalculia was first discovered in 1919 by Salomon Henschen, a Swedish neurologist. He found that it was possible for a person to have impaired mathematical abilities that did not affect intelligence in general.

HOW COMMON IS DYSCALCULIA?

Kids identified with dyslexia would also meet the criteria for dyscalculia. Both conditions can affect a child’s ability to understand math-related words.

An estimated 6 to 7 percent of elementary school children may have dyscalculia.

56 percent of kids with a reading disorder also have poor math achievement.

43 percent of kids with a math disability have poor reading skills.

CAUSES

Genes and heredity

Brain development

Environment

Brain injury

Brain bases of dyscalculia

Dyscalculic children - less grey matter in IPS (Rotzer et al., 2008) Dyscalculic adults –less grey

matter in IPS(Isaacs, Edmonds & Lucas, 2001)

The Brain and Math

1. Left Angular Gyrus

2. Left Intraparietal

Sulcus

3. Right Intraparietal

Sulcus

Genes and heredity

Brain development

Environment

Brain injury

English Pronunciation

1 yi2 er3 san4 si5 wu6 liu7 qi8 ba9 jiu

10 shi

THREE SUB-TYPES•Quantitative dyscalculia

•Qualitative dyscalculia

•Intermediate dyscalculia

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 . . . .

SIX TYPES•Verbal dyscalculia 3 3 3

•Practognostic dyscalculia.

•Lexical dyscalculia

21 = 12 6 = 95007 as "five hundred seven”

576 as "five seven six"

•Graphical dyscalculia

5731 as “5000700301”

5073 as 573

•Ideognostical dyscalculia

.

•Operational dyscalculia+ - / x

SYMPTOMS

Warning Signs in Preschool or Kindergarten

•Has trouble learning to count

•Has trouble recognizing number symbols

•Struggles to connect a number to amount of things

4

7 to “seven”

Warning Signs in Preschool or Kindergarten

•Has trouble remembering numbers, and skips numbers

•Finds it hard to recognize patterns and sort items by size, shape or color

Warning Signs in Preschool or Kindergarten

•Struggles to apply math concepts to everyday life

•Has trouble measuring things

•Struggles with finding his way around and worries about getting lost

Warning Signs in High School

Warning Signs in High School

•Has hard time grasping information shown on graphs or charts

•Lacks confidence in activities that require estimating speed and distance

English Pronunciation

1 yi2 er3 san4 si5 wu6 liu7 qi8 ba9 jiu

10 shi

SKILLS AFFECTED BY DYSCALCULIA

Social skillsSense of directionPhysical

coordinationMoney

managementTime management

MYTHS ABOUT DYSCALCULIAMyth #1: All children with dyscalculia have the same difficulties with math.

Myth #2: Dyscalculia is another name for math anxiety

Myth #3: Dyscalculia is basically dyslexia for math Myth #4: Dyscalculia isn’t very common.

Myth #5: Kids with dyscalculia can’t learn math

CONDITIONS RELATED

•Dyslexia•ADHD•Math anxiety•Genetic disorders

American actress Mary Tyler Moore

Actor, author and the "nicest guy in Hollywood" Henry Winkler

For me, dyscalculia is like trying to find a station on a short-wave radio: occasionally I'll catch it, but I have to listen and concentrate hard to hear and understand, and then it goes to static again. -Jennifer

INTERVENTIONS

•Supervising work and encouraging your child to talk through the problem-solving process. This can help make sure he’s using the right math rules and formulas.

•Breaking new lessons into smaller parts that easily show how different skills relate to the new concept. Teachers call this process “chunking.”

•Letting your child use graph paper to help keep numbers lined up.

•Using an extra piece of paper to cover up most of what’s on a math test so your child can focus on one problem at a time.

•Playing math-related games designed to help your child have fun and feel more comfortable with math.

•Using concrete examples that connect math to real life, to strengthen your child’s number sense.

•Using visual aids when solving problems, including drawing pictures or moving around physical objects—which teachers refer to as “manipulatives.”

•Assigning manageable amounts of work so your child won’t feel overloaded.

•Reviewing a recently learned skill before moving on to a new one, and explaining how the skills are related.