The word dyscalculia comes from Greek and Latin and means 'counting badly'.
The definition given by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES, 2001) described dyscalculia as:
'A condition that affects the ability to acquire mathematical skills. Dyscalculic learners may have difficulty understanding simple number concepts,
lack an intuitive grasp of numbers and have problems learning number facts and procedures. Even if they produce a correct answer or use a correct method,
they may do so mechanically and without confidence'.
According to the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology:
'Numeracy problems impact more negatively on job prospects than literacy
problems so dyscalculia is very likely to affect people in adulthood.' Postnote July 2004.
Our understanding of dyscalculia is far behind that of dyslexia. There is a screener available, Dyscalculia Screener, from nferNelson. This is currently in its infancy but can be used to screen primary children for indications of dyscalculia. There is, however, no collection of standardized tests available that can be used to say definitively that a pupil is dyscalculic. Rather teachers and specialists still have to work on a principle of 'exclusion'. ie. If a pupil is of average or above average cognitive ability and has no problems with literacy or other general subjects, and all other reasons for failure can be excluded, and yet is unable to understand the maths that their peers are coping with easily, then they might be dyscalculic.
There are, of course, many other reasons that could lead to an inability to cope with maths and these occur due to its cumulative aspect. Each new mathematical principle rests on a firm understanding of the stage before, for instance decimals demand a clear grasp of place value, fractions an understanding of division. Therefore, any lack of understanding of underlying concepts due to absence from school when that concept was first introduced, would lead to an inability to progress. Care must therefore be taken before any diagnosis of dyscalculia is given. The main difference between dyscalculics and pupils who are having difficulty due to other factors, is their lack of any intuitive grasp of number and numerical relationships.
Current Research
Research into the underlying causes of dyscalculia are currently very much in their infancy. Current research by Dr Roi Cohen Kadosh at University College London has discovered that the right parietal lobe of the brain is essential to automatic processing of number. It could then follow from this that dyscalculic pupils have either smaller or less efficient parietal lobes and that dyscalculia, like dyslexia, is caused by a difference in brain function, ie it is a neurological difficulty.
'Virtual Dyscalculia Induced by Parietal-Lobe TMS Impairs Automatic Magnitude Processing', published in the journal of Current Biology 17.04.07
Other research is looking into dyscalculia being a congenital or hereditary disorder, or that it is caused by either working memory of short-term memory disruption or reduction, or that it could be a combination of these factors.
Dyscalculic Symptoms
Dyscalculic symptoms can be observed as specifically mathematical and also as life-skill difficulties, brought on by the lack of mathematical proficiency and the weakness of underlying skills needed for the development of mathematical understanding.
Specifically mathematical symptoms would include:
• Inability to tell which of two numbers was larger
• Frequent difficulties with arithmetic, confusing signs: +,-, x, ÷
• Reliance on 'counting-on' strategies: using fingers rather than more efficient mental arithmetic strategies
• Difficulty with times-tables
• Difficulty with mental arithmetic
• Difficulty mentally estimating the measurement of an object or distance
• Inability to grasp or remember mathematical concepts, rules, formulae and sequences
Generally observed life skill symptoms would include:
• Difficulty in activities requiring sequential processing, from the physical, such as dance steps, to the abstract, reading, writing and
signalling things in the right order
• Difficulty with everyday tasks like checking change and reading analogue clocks
• Inability to comprehend financial planning or budgeting such as estimating the cost of the items on a shopping list or balancing a chequebook
• Difficulty in conceptualizing time and judging the passing of time
• Problems differentiating between left and right
• Having a poor sense of direction
• Difficulty navigating or mentally 'turning' the map to face the current direction rather than the common North = top usage
• Difficulty keeping score during games
The condition may lead to a phobia of mathematics and mathematical devices.