BDC #26 - Dyscalculia: It doesn't mean they are cloddish

It's been quite a sometime since my last post.. Well, I can't help it. It's SUMMER!!! And I am already in a holiday MODE... But, I still have to keep myself in check, before my real holiday next week. So, I would like you guys to be familiar with something.

I believe you all already quite familiar with dyslexia, but.. Do you know about Dyscalculia? Well, you can guess from the word, calculia. Yes... It's about calculating, numbers, mathematics... Combined with dys-, it's obvious that it's related to some kind of "doing badly". 

Dyscalculia is a popular name of mental disorder with the code DSM-IV 315.1 Mathematics Disorder. It is defined as a difficulty in learning and comprehending arithmetic, fundamentally it is an inability to conceptualize numbers abstractly in comparative quantities. 

Are wondering now, isn't it simply because they are retarded? NO, they are not!! Although, yes, some of those who has dyscaculia have IQs comparatively below average, ACTUALLY the patients are disperse amongst all ranges of IQ. Up to now, there is no globally joined research or survey about dyscalculia, based on separated organization, they predict that dyscalculia effects between 3.6-6.5% of population (link). The ratio of male and female is around 50% each. 

There is no exact reason of dyscalculia itself, but researchers have made some hypothesis regarding the cause, especially a brain disorder on the broadmann area 40 and angular gyrus, at the junction between the temporal and parietal lobes of the cerebral cortex. (I know!! It sounds difficult, but it's nearly impossible to simplify it, when it comes to medical terms.. They LOVE difficult words...) It is hypothesized that this disorder might effect the working memory which is important in maintaining the abstract image of numbers while calculating. OK.... maybe it will be easier if I say, there is some oddity in the RAM while the computer processing the data before permanently saving it into the hard disk, or displaying it as an output on the screen. Thus, it always comes out as an ERROR. 

They are some signs to identify people with dyscalculia as given below

There is no standardized classification of dyscalculia, however, there are some parties proposing the subtypes.

According Ireland, they divided dyscalculia in to:

• Quantitative dyscalculia, is a difficulty in counting and calculating.
• Qualitative dyscalculia, is a result of difficulties in comprehension of instructions or the failure to master the skills required for an operation. When a child has not mastered the memorization of number facts, he cannot benefit from this stored "verbalizable information about numbers" that is used with prior associations to solve problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and square roots.
• Intermediate dyscalculia involves the inability to operate with symbols, or numbers.

On the other hand, Kosc, a neuropsysiologist from Czechoslovakia, tried to describe the dyscalculia into six types:

• Verbal dyscalculia, refers to difficulties in naming the amount of things.
• Practognostic dyscalculia, refers to difficulties in manipulating things mathematically — for example, comparing objects to determine which one is larger.
• Lexical dyscalculia, refers to difficulties in reading mathematical symbols; including operation signs (+, -, :, x, /, etc ) and numerals.
• Graphical dyscalculia, refers to problems in writing mathematical symbols and numerals.(I know it looks similar.. but if you check on dyslexia and dysgraphia, reading and writing need different skills. That's why there is time when you can read but you can't write or/and spell it properly)
• Ideognostical dyscalculia, refers to problems in understanding mathematical concepts and relationships.
• Operational dyscalculia, refers to problems in performing arithmetic operations. 

(I have no comment for the last 2 subtypes, since I don't understand the difference either. =P )

Dyscalculia really effects the patients' selves-esteem, since it really hinders them from daily working nowadays. The numbers of job they could do is more likely cut down by half. Isn't it highly discouraging for them? It isn't like they are (pardon me) idiot.. they simply can't understand those numbers... the numbers are just like floating in their head and make them sick.

However, as parents, friends, teachers, and educators, there are some thing that we can do to help them in studying. 

• first of all, BE PATIENT... if you are not patient enough, just move your ass and let other people do the job
• use graph paper, block, figures, and any other physical tools, to help them imagine it easier
• instead of forcing them to memorized the multiplication tables, explain the difference and the logic of the numbers. Like I said, they are not idiot... they do have logic.
• introduce the mathematics skills from the more concrete examples first. 

My last advice, the world is definitely not ended, if we can't solve the difficult mathematical problems. Let the experts do that. What is more important is to encourage people with dyscalculia to concentrate more on their strengths. As long as they can calculate their change while shopping, it's enough for daily life.