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Health & Fitness

Dyscalculia: Understanding Why No One is 'Just Bad at Math'

Dyscalculia (or "trouble with math") is a common learning difference resulting from certain cognitive skill weaknesses. Find out more about dyscalculia and what you can do about it!

Researchers have discovered that the brain is capable of change and improvement at any age. This means no one needs to settle for being “just bad at math.” The truth is that anyone can have dyscalculia, a fancy word for “trouble with numbers.” Math struggles have almost nothing to do with genetics, gender, age or study habits. And plenty of intelligent people struggle with math while excelling in other subjects. In fact, many people with dyscalculia have normal or accelerated language acquisition.

Causes and Symptoms

So if your genes, gender or geometry teacher aren’t to blame, what is? Most people with dyscalculia have poor visual processing and memory skills. These weak cognitive skills may manifest as specific symptoms that are not as prevalent in same-age peers. They might include:

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• Reversing or transposing numbers (e.g., 89 becomes 98)

• Confusion over math symbols (e.g., subtracting instead of adding)

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• Difficulty with mental math

• Trouble telling time and direction

• Problems grasping and remembering concepts

• Trouble with sequencing

• Longer-than-normal homework sessions

While homework struggles and poor performance on standardized and classroom math tests are often the first indications of dyscalculia, the most accurate identification of any learning difference is found through cognitive skills testing. With an accurate measurement of specific brain skills – such as computation skills, working memory, processing speed, numerical fluency, sequencing and planning – a custom cognitive skills training program can be designed to strengthen those skills.

How to Treat Dyscalculia

If your child has fallen behind in subject matter due to a lengthy absence from school (e.g. from an illness, injury or family move), tutoring can provide a short-term fix to help them catch up on the material. But if your child has fallen behind in math due to weak cognitive skills, re-teaching may temporarily increase their grades, but the difficulty will remain and the student will continue to need remediation. Instead, look for a program to develop the broad set of underlying cognitive skills that are required to efficiently and effectively learn mathematical concepts, solve problems, and perform mathematical calculations faster and easier. 

No one is naturally “just bad at math.” In fact, just the opposite is true. The plasticity of our brains allows us to structurally enhance the circuits in our brain in order to functionally enhance our ability to make “natural sense” out of numbers. Give your kids the opportunity to excel in math by strengthening the underlying brain skills to make math easy, fast and – dare we say – fun!

*Cindy Pierson is the director at LearningRx Alpharetta-Johns Creek, a brain training center that works with individuals to improve their learning ability through cognitive brain training. She is a mother of three and joined LearningRx after brain training addressed learning struggles of her own children. LearningRx offers cognitive skills testing and intense one-on-one brain training that is proven to increase IQ, improve academic achievement and boost self-esteem.  LearningRx has three locations in Atlanta.  For more information about these and other learning topics, contact LearningRx Alpharetta-Johns Creek at 770-475-3276 or LearningRx Atlanta-Buckhead at 404-252-7246, or visit www.learningrx.com.

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