Dyscalculia In Schools: A Guide To Identifying And Supporting Pupils With ‘Maths Dyslexia’
Dyscalculia can make learning maths at primary school particularly difficult. However, both teachers and parents can support children through various strategies when covering areas such as times tables, number facts, telling time and word problems.
What is dyscalculia?
Dyscalculia is a specific learning difficulty in mathematics that affects around 5% of the population. It is better thought of as difficulty with arithmetic skills and numeracy, rather than in mathematics learning as a whole, as there may be no difficulty with topics such as shape or geometry. Put simply, dyscalculic people have no clear understanding of quantity. They lack number sense, which means that they have a hard time comprehending our number system and how numbers relate to each other.
Although there is much less neuroscience research surrounding the prevalence of dyscalculia, compared to other learning disorders (such as dyslexia), it is legally recognised as a specific learning disability. This means that schools have an obligation to identify learners with dyscalculia and to put in place reasonable adjustments to ensure that these children have the same opportunities as every other child in the class.
Children may be given extra time in tests or exams, or they may have individual or small group learning support. All staff should be aware of the difficulties that dyscalculic learners experience so that they can adjust their teaching to meet the needs of these children.
Indicators of dyscalculia
The indicators, manifestations or symptoms of dyscalculia can be thought of in terms of four different areas of learning:
•Core number
•Reasoning
•Memory
•Visual spatial
👉Core number
This particular sub type of dyscalculia will lead to difficulties with:
√Basic number sense
√Estimating and rounding
√Appreciating numerical quantity
√Working with mathematical symbols
√Place value
√Placing numbers on a number line
👉Reasoning
This particular sub type of dyscalculia will lead to difficulties with:
√Understanding mathematical concepts and relationships
√Generalising and transferring information
√Understanding multiple steps in complex procedures/algorithms
√Problem-solving and decision making
👉Memory
This particular sub type of dyscalculia will lead to difficulties with:
√Remembering and recalling numerical facts
√Understanding and recalling mathematical terminology
√Understanding word problems
√Performing mental calculations accurately
√Keeping track of the steps in problem-solving
👉Visual spatial
This particular sub type of dyscalculia will lead to difficulties with:
√Recognising and understanding symbols
√Interpreting visual representations of mathematical objects
√Interpreting graphs and tables
Does dyscalculia correlate to other learning difficulties?
Dyscalculia rarely occurs in isolation and often co-occurs with other learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia, ADHD and auditory processing.
How to diagnose dyscalculia
Initially, a screener may be administered to look for a ‘risk factor’ of dyscalculia, and this can inform the decision as to whether to carry out a full diagnostic assessment or not. Assessments and dyscalculia diagnosis will be explored further.
Strategies to help with dyscalculia
✓As mentioned in the first paragraph, group or individual learning support can help with dyscalculia, such as the one to one online maths interventions.
✓Use concrete materials, such as Cuisenaire rods, ten frames, two coloured counters and base ten materials.
✓Spend time exploring these and don’t take them away too soon; they will help to develop the child’s understanding.
✓Play games with dice and dominoes so that the child can recognise common dot patterns; this will help with subitising and seeing the relationship between one number and another.
✓Try to encourage the child to use more efficient calculating strategies, such as counting on rather than counting all.
✓Encourage the child to visualise the maths by drawing diagrams and using concrete materials to model the maths.
✓Make the maths practical and as multisensory as possible; try to avoid worksheets.
✓Adopt a little and often approach; repetition and ‘overlearning’ will help.
✓Use mathematical language as much as possible and encourage the child to do the same.
✓Give multiplication tables and number bonds to reduce the stress of having to remember these facts.
Thanks.✍️
Hon. Master John
