Many people have learning difficulties, but some of them suffer from dyscalculia. Dyscalculia is a specific learning disorder that causes difficulties in mathematics. It occurs because there is a deterioration in some parts of the brain that are involved in mathematical cognition, but there is no general difficulty in cognitive function.
Different origins or names are also known but that means the same thing as a math disorder, math disability, etc. But in reality, the proper and correct term to talk about and deal with this problems in learning mathematics is dyscalculia.
The terms discussed in the previous paragraph have in common with dyscalculia (because after all they are synonymous), the following:
- There are difficulties in mathematics
- There is some degree of specificity
- It can be caused by brain dysfunction
Dyscalculia is discovered in development, usually in school ethics, and two types are known: Developmental dyscalculia and acquired dyscalculia. The first occurs from childhood and the second can occur in adults as a result of a brain injury or having suffered a stroke (the area of the brain is affected).
Is it common for it to occur?
It is no less than 6% of the population that suffers from this learning disorder. It is a very similar percentage to dyslexia, only dyscalculia is not as well known as dyslexia and it does not have as many resources and acceptance, so when it occurs in a class, Teachers have a harder time coping with the challenges faced by their students with dyscalculia.
It is a learning problem in mathematics that can affect both boys and girls in the same way, so gender has nothing to do with its incidence.
Does not affect cognition
Dyscalculia or mathematical learning disorder has nothing to do with the person's cognition, this means that it has nothing to do with intelligence. A person with dyscalculia can have normal intelligence, although they may have difficulties in learning related to mathematics, although they have normalized learning in any other area.
What happens is that although their learning in the rest of the areas is normal, mathematics is more complicated to understand, although it is not impossible if in their learning they take into account the disorder suffered by the student and adapt the content to their learning capacity. It will only have a slower pace and you may need the activities to be divided into several parts to be able to understand everything better, but the fundamental thing is that with sufficient strategies and resources, there would be no problem to achieve a good mathematical learning.
Developmental dyscalculia
With developmental dyscalculia it can be something that affects the affected person throughout life. Children in elementary school with dyscalculia have delayed learning in school and may develop anxiety or aversion to any mathematical learning. When they reach secondary school they may have bigger problems to pass the course since the knowledge is more complicated, although it can also be extended to other subjects such as science.
Adolescents realize that they do not want anything to do with mathematics in their life because of their aversion to it. Many adolescents do not know they have dyscalculia, they simply believe that mathematics is not their thing. Their options for a future job begin to be reduced and they may even have certain difficulties in properly managing their bank accounts, so much so that they even, they may need help budgeting at home and keeping track of accounts.
It can improve
There are those who think that because it is "something" in the brain, it cannot be changed, but this is not true. The brain is adaptable and learns whenever it is worked with, especially in childhood. There are programs to increase the function of areas of the brain that are involved in reading, and the same is possible with dyscalculia.
When developmental dyscalculia occurs, it is necessary that the content be worked on and adapted from school so that the student does not feel aversion and above all, so that he knows that he is capable of achieving things as long as his rhythm is respected and adequate resources are obtained.