Dyscalculia: causes, symptoms and therapy

Dyscalculia: what is it?

Dyscalculia is a disorder that occurs when learning to calculate. Affected children need a particularly long time to solve mathematical tasks and have little understanding of numbers. For example, they would add five and six to three and not be surprised. In contrast to arithmetic weaknesses, which can also be triggered by emotional problems, a change of school or teacher, dyscalculia is probably a congenital partial performance disorder of the brain. This means that in a limited area – processing of numbers – problems arise. In other areas that have nothing to do with arithmetic, people with dyscalculia have normal to above-average ability. A characteristic of dyscalculia can be, for example, if your child only does significantly worse than their classmates in mathematics, but does well in other subjects. The disorder can therefore not be explained by a lack of intelligence or poor teaching.

Causes of Dyscalculia

The exact causes have not yet been clarified. Since the arithmetic disorder occurs in children from all social classes, it is assumed that the child’s social environment is not a trigger for dyscalculia. It is thought to be an inherited disorder in the brain where certain areas are not wired properly, such as those responsible for processing language, spatial thinking, visualizing numbers, etc.

According to estimates, dyscalculia occurs in four to ten percent of school children in Germany, but is not always recognized and treated. Girls tend to be more affected. If dyscalculia remains undetected and not treated, it can lead to massive subsequent problems. The ongoing failures can cause emotional and psychological problems:

• Low self esteem
• School and exam anxiety
• Social isolation, contact difficulties, outsider position
• aggressiveness
• Psychosomatic complaints (stomach ache, nausea, headaches) that cannot be traced back to any physical cause
• sleep disorders
• wetting

Symptoms of Dyscalculia

Not every child who is bad at arithmetic is necessarily affected. Many children initially have difficulty understanding numbers and quantities when learning arithmetic. And every child can sometimes show one or the other sign of dyscalculia. As long as these symptoms are not observed more frequently, there is no reason to worry. This is because the difficulties usually diminish over time, while in children with dyscalculia they remain unchanged. Children with this disorder often make completely unsystematic mistakes. Here you can read about possible indications that your child suffers from dyscalculia:

• Your child has difficulty counting (using fingers as an aid).
• Your child will need a long time to calculate (here, too, they will use their fingers to count).
• It confuses similar sounding numbers.
• It reverses numbers, e.g. 35 becomes 53.
• It makes an above-average number of calculation errors.
• Your child does not even recognize obvious arithmetic errors (different results for the same task).
• It does not understand basic arithmetic operations (addition, multiplication, etc.).
• It takes a lot of effort to learn the multiplication table.
• It has trouble converting word problems into calculations.
• It is very difficult for him to go over tens or hundreds.
• Your child has difficulties with times, measurements and weights.
• Estimating quantities causes your child problems. For example, it doesn’t know that it has ten fingers.
• It finds it difficult to comprehend geometric figures and three-dimensional structures, eg it refuses to play with Lego or paint.

therapy for dyscalculia

First of all, of course, it must be ruled out that your child’s problems are simply due to poor teaching or a physical cause, such as impaired vision or hearing. Therefore, if you suspect that your child has dyscalculia, you should first speak to their teachers. They are often the first to notice the problem anyway. Afterwards, an examination by the school psychologist or a specialist should be carried out in order to make a reliable diagnosis. Here you talk about the development of your child and their problem in mathematics. An intelligence test and an arithmetic test provide information on whether your child suffers from dyscalculia.

Once the diagnosis of dyscalculia has been made, the learning disorder can best be treated with an individually tailored, holistic therapy. This usually consists of a combination of learning and psychotherapy, in which both the school and the emotional problems of your child are tackled. Your child should not only learn to improve their performance in math, but also to see themselves more positively and to have more confidence in themselves. If the disorder is recognized early and treated professionally, most of the problems can be compensated.

The therapy of dyscalculia is usually taken over by private institutes that have specialized in the arithmetic disorder. Normally, the parents have to bear the costs for this treatment themselves, because the health insurance companies do not pay for the therapy of dyscalculia. In rare cases, when there are severe psychological problems as a result of the arithmetic disorder, parents can submit an application to the youth welfare office to have the costs covered.

What can you do about dyscalculia?

If your child has dyscalculia, they will most likely always have some difficulty with math. Targeted school support can, however, achieve good progress in treatment in addition to therapy. Therefore, you should make sure that you are included in the process during therapy. You should also maintain contact with your child’s teachers so that you can discuss help and demand understanding for your child.

Doing homework is a special effort for your child with dyscalculia. Try to show patience so that the situation doesn’t turn into an argument. If you can’t help on your own, you should consider whether someone outside could take care of your child’s homework.

Above all, it is important that you show your child with dyscalculia love and acceptance and support them. When practicing, you should adapt to the pace of your child and recognize even small learning progress. Praise and motivate your child wherever possible. Because of the poor arithmetic skills caused by dyscalculia, your child should have a sense of achievement in other areas, for example in leisure activities or in subjects that he enjoys. Therefore, in addition to practicing math, there should also be time for things that your child enjoys. They will certainly notice that their classmates are doing much better in the subject and they may even be teased. For this reason, you should talk to your child about dyscalculia and always have an open ear for their needs and concerns.