What Is Dyscalculia?

There is often a child in a class that cannot read, spell, speak, or do math as well as they should for their age level. He or she grows up thinking they are stupid, or are going to be unsuccessful in life because they are not “smart” like their classmates. He or she is not stupid, they are usually incredibly smart, and are possibly just dealing with dyslexia. Dyslexia is a type of learning difference that can affect a person’s ability to read, write, speak, and do math. Dyslexia is very common, with one out of every five U.S. school children suffering from dyslexia. Dyslexic children often discover that their parents or a close relative also have some form of learning disability, supporting the idea that dyslexia is hereditary. Dyslexia is

     Dyslexia is a disorder in which someone has difficulty reading, which is not caused from a

Learning disabilities (LD), or in some clinical cases called specific learning disorder, is a neurodevelopmental disorder which the individual is experiencing difficulties in learning and using academic skills (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Person with LD usually shows at least one difficulty in literacy (i.e.: inaccurate or slow and takes effort to read, difficult to understand the meaning of what he/she reads, difficult to spell words, or difficult with written expression) or in numerical reasoning (i.e.: number sense, calculation, or mathematical reasoning). Dyslexia and dyscalculia are the examples of specific cases in LD. The prevalence of school-age children with LD is 5%-15% of the population across different language and cultures with males have higher risk than females (2:1 to 3:1); while the prevalence of adults with LD is approximately 4%. The prognostic factors of LD might because of genetic factors or environmental factors (i.e.: premature, low birth weight, or nicotine exposure during prenatal).

According to Hull Learning Services (2013), dyslexia continues to be a subject of great debate. The word dyslexia is originated from the Greek dys- meaning ‘difficult’ and -lexia meaning to do with language. There are multiple definitions of dyslexia, because the matter in which in manifest in children and adults vary greatly. Definitions of dyslexia often focus on difficulties with the processes of writing, reading, spelling and general organization of everyday tasks. Dyslexia has been defined as the inability to acquire literacy despite normal intelligence. Other definitions have described dyslexia in terms of a list of symptoms. The symptoms often included are laterality problems; reversals in numbers, letters and/or words; reading

Dyslexia is a term regularly bandied about the educational community and is a word that is likely to have been heard by most of the general public. For all its popularity, dyslexia is a term that is shrouded in confusion and ambiguity. This confusion was experienced first hand during SE1 and has been observed as something trainee teachers and teachers alike encounter regularly (PLL, 5/11/11], Appendix 1, pg2).

Dyslexia is the term used to describe a cognitive disability in learning that affects reading, writing and communication despite an average level of intelligence and an equal access to education. (Le Jan et al., 2010). Dyslexia is commonly used as a blanket term that covers many smaller forms of cognitive impairment including surface dyslexia, phonological dyslexia, hyperlexia, letter identification dyslexia and letter position dyslexia. Most dyslexics suffer from multiple forms of these specific dyslexias and cases of pure developmental dyslexia are quite rare. (Castles, Bates, & Coltheart, 2006).

Of the fifty students, 15 students in the grades of 9th through 12th have a noted mathematical disability. This percentage is comparable to other states and territories, according to Louden et al., 2000) Special Learning Needs Programs varies between states and territories but average 10% to 20% of the general population. Math difficulties range from mild to severe. Research attempting to classify these has yet to be validated or widely accepted, so caution is required when considering descriptions of differing degrees of math disability. (Garnett, 2015) One of the major mathematical disabilities in the local high school is dyscalculia. Dyscalculia is a brain-based math disability that can affect different areas of math learning and performance. (Morin, 2014). Morin (2014) further states that scientist do not know for sure how many people are afflicted with dyscalculia because there is not one set of criteria to classify severe math difficulties and their is not a database containing this information. Other mathematics related disabilities are dyslexia (56% also have problems in math), ADHD, math anxiety, and genetic disorders such as fragile x. The United States is not the only county that seems to have a notable problem, Australia also set-up plans to report and monitor their students with disabilities. Australia reports their disabilities between 3 and 5% of the total school population (van Kraayenoord, Elkins, Palmer, & Rickards, 2000). Like the United States, Australian schools are “under a positive obligation to make changes to reasonably accommodate

Watson and Gable (2012) suggests that further studies be designed to help unravel the complexities of mathematics learning disabilities (MLD). Current ways of testing contain flawed measurement, multiply learning disabilities, an a agreement of a definition of MLD. They also suggest that earlier diagnosis in early grade school would help narrow the educational gap. But that earlier intervention would also help. Disadvantage children are more likely to struggle in school. There is a great need for research based on high schools, the main focus of the mathematics literature is based on elementary schools and show that there is still approximately the same educational gap when the student is 18 as their was at 6. Schmidt and Burroughs (2015) said that one of the key factors is the inequality of all students being exposed to the math; therefore have an unequal opportunity to learn the same math as the

The National Centre for Learning Disabilities says that dyslexia is a neurological and often genetic condition, and not the result of poor teaching, instruction or upbringing. Dyslexia is a specific reading disability due to a defect in the brain's processing of graphic symbols according to the MNT Knowledge Centre. It is a learning disability that alters the way the brain processes written material. It is typically characterized by difficulties in word recognition, spelling and decoding. People with dyslexia have problems with reading comprehension.

Dyslexia is a lifelong struggle with constant challenges with reading and speaking. About five to ten percent of the United States population deals with the learning disorder dyslexia (Van den Honert, n.d.). It is a neurological condition that is mainly caused by genetics but there are some rare cases in which it is acquired. Dyslexia interrupts the normal processes of reading and speaking (Van den Honert, n.d.). All of which are used in daily life and this makes life and school so much harder for dyslexics. They must learn to live with the condition for their entire life and there is not really a treatment for it. With the constant struggle and reminder of their

The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10, 2011, as cited by Schuchardt, Bockmann, Bornemann, Maehler, 2013) by the World Health Organization described learning disorders as “poor performance in reading, spelling, and calculating, respectively, that must be significantly lower than expected with regard to age, intelligence, and schooling” (Schuchardt, Bockmann, Bornemann, Maehler, p. 298, 2013). Research has shown that specific learning disabilities are associated with working memory impairments. Working memory is responsible for the processing and short-term storage of information. It is used in many academic capacities including mathematics, reading, writing and content specific subjects such as science and social studies and is essential for higher-level cognitive tasks such as comprehension and reasoning (Schuchardt, Machler, Hasselhorn; 2008). Studies have shown that children with specific learning disabilities might be at a higher rate of comorbidity of different learning disabilities, such as dyslexia or dyscalculia, which may be a factor as to why these students have working memory deficits (Schuchardt, Machler, Hasselhorn; 2008). Children with learning disabilities “have been found to exhibit a reduced memory span for acoustically presented words, numbers, and

There is no doubt that reading and writing are vital in today’s society. Without basic comprehension skills you simply cannot become educated let alone survive. It was a common belief that anyone who wanted to read, or to learn to read, would be able to, right? With Dyslexia, that is not the case. Dyslexia is described as the difficulty to comprehend language through reading and writing, despite a normal level of intelligence. Dyslexia is not only the most common learning disability, but is also highly recognized. There are three proposed distinctions within dyslexia that includes auditory, visual, and attentional. Understanding dyslexia would help the educational community as long as the medical community. Although the scientific community has extensive research on Dyslexia, there are still neurological aspects to consider and to learn about. Dyslexia is a complex disability that has interested physicians for centuries. Students with dyslexia should not be overlooked and deserve equal opportunities in the classroom.

Growing, developing and learning are the facts of life for all children. Each day children are faced with many new concepts and various challenges. Can you imagine how it feels for a child to face not only new challenges life has, but to face these challenges while living with a learning disability? These challenges are met not just when they begin school either. Students suffer from learning disabilities from the moment they begin learning, not when they start school. Learning disabilities are real and they affect millions of people. “One such disability that affects over approximately 15 percent of the total American population is dyslexia” ( Nosek 5).

In the article, “5 causes of dyscalculia”, it talks about the mathematics disorder called dyscalculia. Children with dyscalculia typically freak out over the simplest of math equations and concepts. For students with this condition, it can cause anxiety and low self-esteem, which is a reason for poor performance in school. “According to studies done by Cross-Tsur, Munro and Shalev in 1996, about 6.5% of people are dyscalculic.” (5 causes of Dyscalculia, 2015).

Of the three previously mentioned diseases, Dyslexia impairs a person’s ability to read, write, and spell (NINDS 2003). Although they are of normal intelligence, their reading level is below average. They will usually have “trouble with phonological processing (the manipulation of sounds) and/or rapid visual-verbal responding.” (NINDS 2003). Children with dyslexia complain they cannot read their textbooks, do not have enough time to finish tests, cannot take notes, and are unable to read their own handwriting (GVSU 2000). Dyslexia does not affect every person the same way, and signs of the disorder may not be prevalent until later, when grammar and more in-depth writing skills are introduced. Dyslexia can also create a difficulty in processing vocabulary and thoughts correctly when speaking, and understanding what one says when they are spoken to. Dysgraphia is another neurological disorder that focuses on writing. When a child with this disorder is first introduced to writing, they will make unnecessary spaces between their letters, and some letters will be