We use mathematics daily, since they are fundamental for the daily economy (going to the supermarket, paying or giving the change correctly ...), interpreting the time (calendar, schedule ...), orient yourself in space (remember directions, door number ...), they are even necessary for cooking according to the quantities set by a recipe, in addition to many other situations everyday. Thus, dyscalculia affects the daily lives of people who suffer from it and, therefore, it is very important to treat it.
It is important to differentiate between people who find math difficult and people who suffer from dyscalculia, Above all, taking into account that the subject of mathematics tends to have a large number of failures in relation to other subjects. If you want to know more about dyscalculia, keep reading this Psychology-Online article: what is dyscalculia: symptoms, causes and treatment.
What is dyscalculia? Dyscalculia is a developmental disorder characterized by a alteration in the ability to calculate
The symptoms of dyscalculia refer to skills that require good temporal and spatial coordination, which are closely related to the acquisition and management of mathematical operations. There are several symptoms of dyscalculia:
- Difficulty recognizing the meaning of numbers.
- Difficulties in grouping objects in certain quantities.
- Difficulty recognizing and comparing groups using size concepts.
- Difficulties learning to count, recognize and match numbers with certain quantities.
- Increase in child errors as school learning progresses.
- Difficulties in solving basic mathematical problems, which involve addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
- Difficulty in calculating different mathematical operations.
- Difficulties to remember the multiplication tables, the units of measurement, among others.
- Rotation, inversion of numbers.
- Difficulty writing numbers.
- Difficulties in the interpretation of the quantities.
- Difficulty in understanding arithmetic and, consequently, difficulties in operations that require this understanding.
- They do not write the numbers correctly.
- Difficulties when performing numerical series.
These are the symptoms that allow detect dyscalculia.
Types of dyscalculia
We can distinguish three different types of dyscalculia that we explain below:
- Dyscalculia anarrhythmia: This type of dyscalculia is characterized by the presence of difficulties in adding, subtracting and multiplying.
- Attentional-sequential dyscalculia: it is characterized by having difficulties in learning and in memorizing the multiplication tables.
- Spatial dyscalculia: People who suffer from this type of dyscalculia show difficulties in handling arithmetic problems that present multiple columns.
The origin of dyscalculia is considered multifactorial, therefore, there are different factors that could be causing dyscalculia:
- Biological causes determined by the genetic inheritance of the person as neurological malformations. These malformations manifest in the person in the form of difficulties to perform mathematical operations, classify numbers and place them in sequences.
- Brain damage in case of acquired dyscalculia. Acquired dyscalculia is due to a brain injury, that is, it can be suffered by people after a brain injury and that before that injury they did not present any or almost none of the symptoms of the dyscalculia. Suffering a brain injury does not imply suffering an acquired dyscalculia, but rather it occurs when the injury affects a certain area of the brain. Although it also occurs in people who are in the natural process of learning mathematics, in this case, it would be evolutionary dyscalculia.
- Environmental causes, as the type of education and stimulation.
Dyscalculia is a non-curable disorder, but it is treatable. On the other hand, when it comes to difficulties considered normal with mathematics, there is a solution to solve the problem.
It is interesting to try to prevent this disorder from the childhood stages, therefore, it would be convenient to build a solid base in the acquisition and development of the learning of calculation learning strategies. It is important to correct the mistakes that students make in terms of mathematical vocabulary in order to be able to consolidate an adequate vocabulary that allows building mathematical knowledge later.
Since everyday life is affected by dyscalculia, it is important work on everything that is affected during people's day-to-day life. In this case, it would be about memorizing the days of the week, the months of the year, the seasons, the multiplication tables, the address of your home and of relatives and close friends, among others.
For the treatment to be effective, it is recommended to guide patients in numerical learning during primary education, since it is the stage in which the treatment is most effective. Patients should be introduced to exercises to work the number system, numbers of large figures, calculation strategies, among others. To work on each of these aspects there are different activities of a playful nature, with the intention of making the treatment more pleasant, such as throwing dice at random in order to decipher the number of points they have and write down the number in mathematical vocabulary (four points are seen on the dice, so the patient must write the number 4).
It is also necessary to consider possible consequences. For example, having a learning disorder can affect a child's self-esteem. Here we propose activities to strengthen self-esteem in children.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to What is dyscalculia: symptoms, causes and treatment, we recommend that you enter our category of Learning disorders.
