Learning Disability - Dyscalculia

Dyscalculia is a lesser known but a specific learning. Language acquisition like reading, writing, speech and
disability associated with difficulties in Mathematics.poetic ability is normal or accelerated. Good in areas
These difficulties normally vary from individual toof creative arts, geometry and science. Good in logic
individual. Reading problems associated with Dyslexiabad with formulas.
correspond to mathematical problems associated with. Difficulty in keeping track of time, therefore, most
Dyscalculia. Individuals who suffer from Dyscalculia areoften end up being late for appointments, problems
of normal intelligence.with direction that is left from right and north, south,
In Dyscalculia, Dys in Greek means "badly" andwest and east even if compass is available.
Calculia in Latin means "to count" which adds up to. Recollection of names and faces is poor.
"counting badly".. Lose things easily and seem to be absent minded.
Recent studies show that Dyscalculia is geneticallySome causes of Dyscalculia are:
linked and not as originally thought to occur only in. To be good in mathematics one has to have the
individuals who had arithmetic disabilities owing toability to be able to visualize numbers and general
specific regions of the brain being damaged. Today,maths situations. Weakness in Visual Processing is the
some educational specialists label individuals with anymost common cause of difficulty in mathematics.
sort of mathematical difficulty as having Dyscalculia,Students with this learning disorder often mix up
as this learning disability cannot be assessed reliablynumbers mentally because they lack what it takes to
and has no clear-cut criteria.visualize numbers and therefore end up in making
Some symptoms of Dyscalculia are:"stupid mistakes".
. Confusion between the multiplication, addition,. Sometimes owing to lack of self-confidence,
subtraction and division signs. Difficulty in doingprevious negative experiences etc they develop a
mathematical calculations mentally like figuring changefear for mathematics therefore leading to Dyscalculia.
due back. Unable to balance checkbooks. . Difficulty in. Inability to remember formulas and facts for
aligning numbers into their proper columns and alsomathematical calculations are often as a result of
may have spatial problems. . Difficulty in reading thehaving difficulty in organization of detailed information
time from analogue clocks.or difficulty in sequencing.
. Difficulty in following activities, which haveOther causes are:
sequences such as dance steps, events of the past,. Studies have also indicated that some hereditary or
rules of games, difficult in keeping scores during acongenital disorders may also be a cause but it is not
game. Loosing track of whose turn it is during gamesknown for certain yet.
like cards or even board games.. Calculations made difficult owing to reduction or
. If there are two numbers, they find it difficult todisturbed short-term memory.
say which is larger of the two and also they tend to. It can be due to either of these two factors or a
confuse numbers that look similar, for instance, 8 andcombination of these two factors.
3, 9 and 7.