Tell me about Dyscalculia

[Zhaylin]

I've read the Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyscalculia on it, but does anyone else here suffer from this? I was NEVER diagnosed with this in school or by a doctor but diagnosed myself upon learning about it in 1998 or so. It never made sense to me how I could *perfectly* understand math one second and then forget absolutely EVERYTHING about the problem the next second and have to start over from scratch. I frustrated teachers and my mom to no end. When I was 7, a math teacher in Puerto Rico even called me stupid. No matter how hard I try, I simply cannot RETAIN a lot of mathmatical (sp) or technical information. I only had 2 teachers my whole life who helped: One was in grade school. He put math to music and when the equation "rhymed" I remembered it (ex. 6 x 6= 36). THe other teacher was in Middle School (8th grade I think) and she took a LOT of time with me. To this very day, I confuse my left and my right (I have to go through the motions of saying the pledge of Allegiance to remember my right, even though I'm right handed ) And if I try to envision a map in my head I literally become dizzy. I'm also horrible with time and money (though I've gotten better with time.) I still can't read an analog clock though. I've become decent with spending money because I do all the grocery shopping and I am good at rounding numbers up. And don't even try to explain distance to me. I couldn't tell you how many feet are between me and the bathroom. I count everything by steps or cars (I have a large personal bubble and I'm uncomfortable if I'm closer than 3 car's length to another vehicle). What's worse is I'm 34 years old, somewhat intelligent concerning all other matters, but I can't help my kids with even basic math and I don't see myself changing any time soon. What are some things that could help or have helped others with this disorder? And is it inherited? There's no one in my immediate family, that I know of, who have this. But dyslexia is very common. Thanks.

[TweaK]

Remember kids, self-diagnosis is baaaad.... I can understand if people are really bad at maths, but people tend to self-diagnose theirselves with specific disabilities and/or disorders real quick. I'm not saying you don't have dyscalculia, though. Just read your bit about self-diagnosis and I cringed a bit. On-topic, I can't help you. Sorry. I just had to get this off my chest.

[Zhaylin]

LOL, yeah, I generally agree with what you said. But in this case, it is true. Even when I had my stupid psychological/parenting exam my math scores and spatial reasoning were said by the psychologist to be "mildly retarded". When I researched my problems, years ago, that light above my head went off and i felt a surge of relief: "Wow! I'm not stupid after all! This is TOTALLY me!" The only other thing I've diagnosed myself as having is Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed...phase_syndrome And again, because it fits me to a "T". But everything else I leave to the pro's lol When I was in school, Dyslexia was relatively new and I doubt no one at my schools ever heard of Dyscalculia. And while my sons had dyslexia (my 14 year old still battles it), all of them do very well in math- even my daughters! Dyscalculia is more than just being bad at math. It encompasses distance, time, direction etc.

[Odd_Nonposter]

And don't even try to explain distance to me. I couldn't tell you how many feet are between me and the bathroom. I count everything by steps or cars (I have a large personal bubble and I'm uncomfortable if I'm closer than 3 car's length to another vehicle). I have a similar problem with any distances greater than 10 ft. I can tell you that X is farther away from me than Y, but I cannot assign a number to it unless somebody tells me specifically how far away it is. If I try, it's always less accurate than one significant digit. (e.g. if something's 100ft away, I'll say it's 40, etc.) Horizontal distances are easier, but height and depth are just way beyond me. Edit: And don't try to get me to throw or catch anything either.

[Sandform]

Math to music. That is always fun. Remember the Inch worm song? hehe. Spoiler for inch worm song: Anyone here remember the inch worm song? Two and two are four Four and four are eight Eight and eight are sixteen Sixteen and sixteen are thirty-two Two additional verses are then sung in counterpoint with the first: Inchworm, inchworm, Measuring the marigolds, You and your arithmetic, You'll probably go far. Inchworm, inchworm, Measuring the marigolds Seems to me you'd stop and see How beautiful they are. Of course the lyrics had become disfigured by the time they were sung to me as a child. Our song started at one and one is two and went up to 32. Marigolds became "miracles," and seems to me you'd became "if only you could." I don't know what to tell you about math. You could probably seek help from a professional if it is causing you serious problems in life.

[Zhaylin]

That's a cute song lol. I never heard it before though. It's not life altering because I don't NEED to help my kids with math (I just feel retarded) and I don't NEED to work at this point in my life (God help me if I ever do need to) Nonposter, I used to say I had no depth perception but when I started driving I realized that's not exactly true. Though I can't parallel park in tight spots to save my life because I get the angles wrong, I know every vehicle I drive perfectly. I'm proud of my driving skills because I am an excellent driver and I almost always know exactly when to stop or turn. My two troubles are: When two street lights are one in front of the other, and it's night time, I can't tell right away which is first. The other is glare. My hubby's an Ophthalmologist though and he's examined my eyes. There's absolutely nothing wrong with them. I have better than 20/20 vision. I can't play catch worth a hoot though, but when I was a kid (and to a lesser extent now-a-days ) I was part monkey and would jump from limb to limb and actually run across tree branches. I just can't remember measurements. I practically make my brain explode trying to recall there are 12 inches in a foot. And that's as far as I go. How many cups make a pint and how many pints make a quart... or is it the other way around lol Equations are completely lost on me.

[Odd_Nonposter]

I have no problem judging stopping, turning, and even shooting distances; I've driven tractors and shot rifles pretty much all of my life. (The aforementioned throwing/catching skills are irrelevant in that case. I probably just have bad hand-eye coordination.) It's just the fact that I can't assign a number to a distance. I have to have a known constant to judge from. I can tell you about how far away a friend's house is, but that's because of the fact that I know that it's three more intersections from here, and the distance between intersections is about a mile, so the friend's house is three miles away. But if you were to put me in an open field and ask me how far away that fencerow/tree/deer is, I can't tell you. It could be 500ft away, it could be 1000ft away, but I can't tell you. Now, I have no problem with math in general, in fact, I'm in an accelerated Algebra class. I'm also in chemistry, where the calculations are exceedingly boring. But I just can't assign numbers to distances.

[Zhaylin]

That's VERY interesting to me... that you excell at math but have trouble assigning numbers to distance. I wonder what it is in our brains (people in general) that allows/hinders such things or if it's more an argument along the lines of "nature verses nurture" (your born with it or you train it). Hmmmm... I judge distance by driving instead of actual miles. I know it takes me about 7 minutes to drive to Walmart or Wendy's in the oposite direction. It takes me 40 minutes to drive to our "Farm" and about 15 minutes to get to the Library. It takes about 40 minutes to drive to Clarksburg, 2 1/2 hours to Morgantown, 3 hours to Pittsburg, 16 hours to Pensacola and 24 hours to Estes Park Colorado When my kids ask how many miles it is to get somewhere, I use those places as reference because, for the life of me, I can't remember the mileage. If I'm not driving, though, I have no concept of time and usually fall asleep within 20 minutes But why can I remember the time it takes to travel those places but not the miles? It's not logical.

[Amethyst Star]

I believe what made the difference with those two math teachers that you had was that they actually took additional time to help you. You were given the opportunity to practice what you were learning. With your other teachers, I could be wrong but it was probably the case of "I'm sorry you're not keeping up, but we're moving on now." I'm good with math. When I'm in a classroom and a teacher is describing a principal and does a few examples, it clicks and I get it. As soon as that class is over and I'm no longer going through those exercises and using that information, all those little formulas and tricks jumps out of my head. I took a class on probability and statistics in college and I received a solid A, but now I barely remember a thing we covered. I just don't use it in my everday life, so I lost it. It's the same with language. You'd think I'd remember the Russian word for wood, but I'll have to look that up. I don't have the same grasp on it because I haven't used it (but am hoping to correct by actually going to Russia). If there's something you want to memorize, practice it. For little things like conversions (eg. number of inches in a foot; number of pints in a quart), write them down and look at them a few times a day. Practice. Practice. Practice. I do know that some people simply struggle more when it comes to the area of mathematics and symbolic systems. And trust me, you're not the only one who measures distances in miles. The only reason I know approximately how many miles it is from my hometown to Bozeman, Montana is because I looked up directions and it said how long the whole trip would be. Now, if you consider how long it takes to get somewhere and how fast you're driving, you can approximate how many miles it is between two locations. If you're driving at 60 miles per hour for an hour, you've gone 60 miles. If you drive at 75 miles per hour for 30 minutes, without using a calculator, you can guess that you've driven about 38 miles. There's nothing wrong with that. As to whether or not you have dyscalculia, I don't know. As far as psychology goes, I myself wouldn't give someone a specific label, because it's usually not that simple. I wouldn't just look at a rowdy kid and say "He has Attention Defecit Hyperactive Disorder." He may just be a rowdy kid. If you're truly worried, talk to a professional. If not, try not to use a label to explain away difficult circumstances and seek to rise above the trials that have come your way. That can trap you. You can be faced with a circumstance and say, "I can't do that. I have suchandsuch." Instead, always strive to better yourself and don't let yourself stand in the way. I have to remind myself of that (and don't always do the best job), and look for success rather than plan for failure.

[Zhaylin]

Thanks for the tips! My problem is my processing speed. My raw "intelligence" (my potential, I guess) is normal and slightly above normal when it comes to language. But my processing is "slightly retarded". It takes me longer than most people to completely understand things. My 14 year old son has the same problem. His IQ was 100 but his Processing score was only 84 (with 100 being normal) He's receiving an opportunity I never had, though the matter is a little off-topic lol When my kids were placed in Foster Care and then my boys into a Shelter, my 14 year old started getting into a LOT of trouble, so they sent him to a Mental Facility for a 45 day evaluation. Yesterday we learned he will not be moving on to another Foster Home but to another Mental Facility so they can focus on improving some social problems he has as well as bring him up to par with his education. To say he was upset, would be the understatment of the decade. But it really is a great opportunity. Anyhow..... I like some labels. I don't believe in using them as crutches (anyone can rise above their problems if properly motivated etc), but as "closure". I'm relentless when it comes to trying to understand WHY certain things are the way they are. I obsess until I find an answer I'm satisfied with. For example, some questions that still drives me crazy are: "Why does happiness trigger anxiety/panic attacks in me?" and also "Why does Lexapro get rid of PHYSICAL pain cause by PMDD but Celexa doesn't. Why does a medicine geared toward emotional imbalances help with something PHYSICAL anyhow? Unless the pain is only imagined? ....." lol) I NEED to understand why certain things ARE, or it drives me bananas

[Licity]

For example, some questions that still drives me crazy are: "Why does happiness trigger anxiety/panic attacks in me?" and also "Why does Lexapro get rid of PHYSICAL pain cause by PMDD but Celexa doesn't. Why does a medicine geared toward emotional imbalances help with something PHYSICAL anyhow? Unless the pain is only imagined? ....." lol) I NEED to understand why certain things ARE, or it drives me bananas It's a matter of how the drugs work. If I remember correctly, we still aren't totally sure on ALL of the uses for Lexapro, but we know it is useful in treating depression and anxiety. Lexapro could be acting in some way that researchers didn't bother to check. Most drugs have multiple uses like this anyway. For example, hydrogen peroxide is an antiseptic in weak solutions... but stronger mixes of the stuff are used in rocket fuel.

[Zhaylin]

Aye... that's what my doc says. But to my ever-curious mind, it's unnerving Either pain is real or it's all in your head. To which, my pdoc replies: "But all pain is in our heads" Grrrr... he KNOWS what I mean lol So, he upped my dose and we'll see if it helps. BTW, Peroxide is also good at removing mold (I didn't know it was used in rocket fuel though ! )

[Souperman22]

I have an older sister with a pretty bad case of it. It's really something you just have to deal with. :/