For October’s Learning Differences Awareness Month, we’re highlighting a lesser known learning difference affecting many people, Dyslcalculia.
We’re all very aware of dyslexia, but not as many people know about dyscalculia, a learning disorder or disability that affects an individual’s ability to learn and apply basic mathematics or arithmetic concepts. The condition, also known as number blindness, affects at least 6 to 7 percent of the school age population.
This life-long developmental disorder goes beyond the normal challenges most children experience with math homework from time to time. Instead, dyscalculic children find it extremely challenging to process mathematics compared to their age peers.
You’ll find that kids with dyscalculia do well in all other subjects, but they continually achieve very low math scores. They may also be unable to process math-related tasks, such as counting and calculating.
Additionally, many fail to understand different quantities like big and small and can’t comprehend the relationship between numerical digits and words. As a result, kids with dyscalculia find math overwhelming, frustrating, and confusing.
What Causes Dyscalculia?
According to numerous neuro-imaging investigations, dyscalculia is caused by deficient neural connections in the frontal lobe and parietal lobe areas of the brain. These two areas are respectively responsible for working memory and calculating and processing numbers. Dyscalculia tends to run in families. Twin studies show higher concordance rates in identical twins (about 58%) compared to fraternal twins (about 39%).
Dyscalculia may coexist with other conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia. In fact, 30 to 60 percent of people with dyscalculia also have dyslexia, and 10 to 20 percent have ADHD. These conditions often aggravate dyscalculia by making it very difficult to focus on math formulas or solve complex arithmetic problems that require a strong working memory.
Other related co-occuring conditions include:
- Developmental conditions such as fetal alcohol syndrome, low birth weight, or premature birth
- Traumatic learning experiences and math anxiety
- Comorbidity with autism
- Neurological maturation failures, brain injury, or other cognitive impairments
- Psychomotor alterations