if your dc has dyscalculia...

[cathmom]

please describe how that "looks" on a daily basis. TIA!

[Misty]

My daughter has mild dyscalculia according to the psychologist who tested her. Basically, she can't remember math facts to save her life, forgets how to do things right after it was taught to her, has a hard time grasping the concepts, etc. She also makes silly mistakes like not noticing if the problem is addition or subtraction. And while doing a whole page of multiplication, she will do a couple of them as addition. Even the most simple word problems make her hyperventilate and almost pass out. This is all despite having a gifted verbal IQ. She is extremely advanced in all other subjects. Math and handwriting are her only weak subjects.

She has Asperger's, mild Tourette's, OCD, mild ADD, Executive Dysfunction, Sensory Integration Dysfunction, fine motor delay, and Synesthesia.

[cathmom]

Thanks, Misty! That sounds exactly like my dd10 and math!

So what does one "do" about this?

[Michelle T]

My daughter has mild dyscalculia according to the psychologist who tested her. Basically, she can't remember math facts to save her life, forgets how to do things right after it was taught to her, has a hard time grasping the concepts, etc. She also makes silly mistakes like not noticing if the problem is addition or subtraction. And while doing a whole page of multiplication, she will do a couple of them as addition. Even the most simple word problems make her hyperventilate and almost pass out. This is all despite having a gifted verbal IQ. She is extremely advanced in all other subjects. Math and handwriting are her only weak subjects.

She has Asperger's, mild Tourette's, OCD, mild ADD, Executive Dysfunction, Sensory Integration Dysfunction, fine motor delay, and Synesthesia.


My DS is 12, with ADD, dyscalculia and dyspraxia. He sounds much like the above description, although he is NOT advanced in any other subjects. Actually, he's behind in everything, but math is the worst. He requires guidance through even simple problems, and no ability to do word problems.

He uses math fact charts for all simple operations. I let him use a calculator for lengthy assignments.

Beyond that, I have no advice. My DS is still on a 3rd grade level in math, and I doubt he will go beyond basic arithmetic.
Michelle T

[prairiegirl]

My daughter has mild dyscalculia according to the psychologist who tested her. Basically, she can't remember math facts to save her life, forgets how to do things right after it was taught to her, has a hard time grasping the concepts, etc. She also makes silly mistakes like not noticing if the problem is addition or subtraction. And while doing a whole page of multiplication, she will do a couple of them as addition. Even the most simple word problems make her hyperventilate and almost pass out. This is all despite having a gifted verbal IQ. She is extremely advanced in all other subjects. Math and handwriting are her only weak subjects.

She has Asperger's, mild Tourette's, OCD, mild ADD, Executive Dysfunction, Sensory Integration Dysfunction, fine motor delay, and Synesthesia.

This describes my dd to a 'T' only this is her only challenge. Spelling, and grammar are difficult subjects for her as well.

What do we do? We review alot. I have seen an improvement in her addition facts as well as multiplication but subtraction is still a thorn in her side. We use RightStart Math which heavily uses manipulatives and that has helped alot, too.

[cillakat]

We were in this boat for awhile.....couldn't remember facts, couldn't remember a concept from one day to the next. word problems? forget it. Fwiw she's got ADHD, basically hates anything requiring any sustained mental effort, is dyslexic and dysgraphic.

Tons of games cemented her addition and subtraction facts (took 18 mos). We used the CD songs from rightstart math (only two songs iirc), followed by the recommended activites to cement the facts that add up to 10 (took forever).....then the "5+" facts so she could start thinking about how to break numbers up.

_Memorize in Minutes: The Times Tables_ cemented her multiplication facts. She 'learned' them in three days. Took many weeks though of walking her through the stories to actually get to an answer.

We try to do as much as possible that's active......Peggy Kaye's game books are great as is _How To Get Your Child Off The Refrigerator and onto Learning_. Love that book. Lots of fun games.

Anyway, the long and the short of it is that as we began remediating her dyslexia and she began to learn to pay attention to each letter.....breaking down words incrementally, then putting them back together to form a whole....there was an interesting effect on her math learning.

She's in 4th grade....we did rightstart C (took 18 mos and lots of tears). Now we just finished singapore 3A in about six weeks (skipped lots of it) and are on 3B. We'll finish that likely in another six weeks. holy cats!! Something changed. It's not a singapore/rightstart issue.....it was something developmental that changed.

Just like dyslexia can be remediated with the right kind of instruction, my current feeling is that dyscalculia can be remediated in a similar way.

think intensive (frequent/daily), incremental, systematic, multisensory instruction.

:)
K

[Willow]

Can't tell left from right (even as an adult...now 19) gets "turned around" and cannot find own way home. learnt maths eventually using a calculator, finds it difficult to do daily maths without one. It doesn't really go away.

My advice from the 'otherside' as the parent of a dyscalcula adult.

1. Concentrate on the basics, but don't expect it to be quick. they may be in their teens before they remember their tables.
2. separate "drill" and Maths.
3. For maths other than drill let them use a tables chart, or even a calculator. it takes too long to do sums otherwise.
4. remember that their inability to remember the simplest of maths facts MAY not affect their understanding of, say, geometry. Don't stop their maths education, let them carry on, using charts or calculators as necessary. Mine found geometry proofs FUN!!! It was such a relief to find a part of maths they could excel at.
5. remember maths is for life. make sure they can balance a checkbook etc, even if they need to use a calculator to do it.

HTH, Willow