Bad at math -- or is it dyscalculia?

Dyscalculia is basically the dyslexia of math. Rather having a difficult time reading words and understanding words and letters, those who have dyscalculia have a hard time reading arthimatic and understanding the basic concept of numbers. This disorder affects about 5-7% of our population which is about the same as dyslexia. It is generally found by low scores on basic math tests. People who have this disorder generally just have a hard time grasping the idea of a number and its relative value. Unlike those with dyslexia those with dyscalculia don't see the numbers or symbols backwards or even get anxiety attacks about it either. May of them just simply think that they don't have the head for math. They generally count with their fingers way past the point where many people use there fingers. They also have a hard time making change or handling money, telling time or even estimating how tall or wide something is. As of right now scienctists believe that this is an inherited disorder. This disability can affect people with a normal intelligence and can be seen this those who also have another developmental disability like ADHD or dyslexia. There are also cases of adults with this disorder who are very good at geometry and using statistical packages and even programming computers. This disorder if not treated can be a lifelong liability. But if treated the people with disorder can learn to count and use math just like anyone else but its important  that they learn the basics first.

When I saw this disorder I thought that it was very interesting. As of right now I help a student in their biology class with writing. Why do you ask? Well this student has dyslexia. Now initially I did the sterotypical thing and thought that they weren't going to be as fast at learning as the other students. Well I was completely wrong. They learned faster than most of the other students and could understand it much better as well. Getting to know this student I have learned many things about the disorder that they were born with. I have asked many questions about what they see when they look at words and how they try and spell things out. I always wondered if numbers and math were just as big of a problem. For people with dyslexia numbers are a piece of cake. Numbers never flip around or move they can simply be read. I thought after that, well there has to be a disorder out there were its the complete opposite as this and thats when I came upon this article and found a name for that disorder. Both of these disorders can be treated to make that person's life much easier, it just simply needs to be seen and diagnosed in order to start the treatment. Someday I hope that I will be able to meet someone with this disorder so that I can say I have met someone with dyscalculia.

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