Dyscalculia
There are many different specific types of dycalculia. According to Dr. Ladislav Kosc, the researcher who identified the disorder in 1974, there are six types of dyscalculia. These six different types can occur seperately or together. The six that Dr. Kosc focuses on are listed on the right in the blue textbox.
A child with dyscalculia may have difficulties with:
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any of the areas specified in the blue box to the right.
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the area of figure ground, which refers to the cognitive ability to seperate elements based upon contrast.
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number sense, which is the ability to think about quantity. This includes the relationship between numbers.
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accurately counting objects.
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using math vocabulary.
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logically organizing objects, such as objects of the same shape.
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spatial relations, which specifies how some object is located in space in relation to some reference object.
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visual perception ability, which is simply the ability interpret what one sees.
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time and direction.
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remembering numbers. For example; remembering telephone numbers.
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problem-solving.
Math Anxiety
Children with dyscalculia tend to experience math anxiety. As it is stated, math anxiety is an anxiety that is triggered when an individual is faced with math problems. Certain experiences with math may lead to math anxiety. Experiences that could lead to math anxiety include having bad math teachers, a lack of encouragement, or being placed in the wrong level of math class. It should be noted though that none of these experiences can lead to dyscalculia.
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Lexical dyscalculia- Difficulty reading sumbols and understanding them in sentences
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Graphical dyscalculia- Difficulty writing math symbols
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Verbal dyscalculia- Difficulty talking about mathematical concepts and relationships
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Ideognostic dyscalculia- Difficulty with tasks that require an understanding of mathematical ideas and relationships
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Practognostic dyscalculia- Difficulty translating abstract mathematical knowledge into real-world procedures
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Operational dyscalculia- Difficulty with performing mathematical operations or calculations
Subtypes of dyscalculia
What is Dyscalculia?
Dyscalculia
Dyscalculia [dis-kal-kyoo-lee-uh] is a neurologically based disorder of mathematical abilities. Specific definitions for this disorder vary, and there is no universal set of criteria for diagnosis. One important criterion though is the inability to do timed arithmetic. Someone with dyscalculia will take a much longer time to answer a simple arithmetic problem than someone without dyscalculia. According to Professor Brian Butterworth the inability to enumerate sets is a good diagnostic tool for dyscalculia. The video posted below explains this phenomenon more thoroughly, along with other information on the disorder.