DYSCALCULIA

Definition

Severe, persistent difficulty performing arithmetical calculations that leads to marked impairment in school, at work, and in everyday life and elevates the risk of comorbid mental disorders.. (International Baccalaureate, 2013; Haberstroh and Schulte-Körne, 2019)

Origin

Dyscalculia is associated with dysfunction in the region around the intraparietal sulcus and potentially also the frontal lobe.

The intraparietal sulcus (IPS) helps children understand the meaning of numbers. It is located at the back of the brain (orange areas), in the parietal lobe (light yellow).(Budgen,2014)

3–7% of all children, adolescents, and adults have dyscalculia, higher prevalence among girls.

Diagnosis

According to the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders) list, there are two main criteria:

Difficulties mastering number sense, number facts or calculation.
Difficulties with mathematical reasoning.

Education professionals and parents are mostly the first ones to notice sympthoms of dyscalculia. Teachers give the initial guidance and parents look for pediatricians' diagnosis and treatment.
Tests to focus on a child’s specific math-related skills and ruling out other possible causes, such as vision or hearing problems, other brain- or mental health-related conditions, among others.
A healthcare provider is the best person to explain what kind of skills tests they recommend.

Relationships with other variabilities

Elevated risk of having dyslexia as well.
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Other mental disorders, both internalizing (anxiety and depression) externalizing (aggression and rule-breaking).

Description

Typical features of dyscalculia

Difficulties in processing numbers and quantities, starting in the preschool years.
Difficulties with basic arithmetic operations and with further mathematical tasks

Important

Finger-counting per se is not a sign of dyscalculia, but rather a normal aid to the memorization of math facts and the learning of efficient calculating strategies.

To go beyond

Among others, these are some challenges

.Understanding and remembering mathematical concepts, rules, formulas, sequences

order of operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division and basic mathematical facts
mental arithmetic
abstract concepts of time and direction
difficulties with long-term memory, both retention and retrieval
recalling schedules
sequences of past or future events
keeping track of time, always being late
substitutions, transpositions, omissions and reversals when writing, reading and recalling numbers
remembering names
matching names to faces
substituting names beginning with same letter
working out change when shopping
money and credit
financial planning
tests and quizzes
whole-picture thinking
understanding mechanical processes...

Teacher's strategies...

Provide a safe, affirming environment to build confidence and self-esteem.
Cooperative, knowledgeable, accessible
schools that welcome parents into the learning

partnership are best placed to support the

students in overcoming challenges and optimize learning experiences.

Be aware of states of stress and have strategies

in place to support and de-stress.

Link mathematics to real life.
Support multi-sensory learning—write it, talk it

through, and explain it back.

Offer pre-teaching to support new learning.
Offer post-practice sessions to consolidate learning.
Offer support and feedback on a regular basis.
Offer practice materials when necessary.
Give immediate feedback so that recording

and decoding mistakes do not interfere with

mathematics learning.

Treatment

Evidence treatment are not yet available for all age groups.
All interventional methods must be scientifically evaluated with respect to their content and the conceptions of support and treatment that they embody (Haberstroh and Schulte-Körne, 2019)

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