I went to attend my daughter’s result day gathering at her school. Sitting there waiting for my turn I overheard more than twice some parents fretting over the result and asking for an explanation from teachers regarding the dreaded subject “MATHS”. Most of them seemed troubled about why their kid is not doing good in maths when he is good at all other subjects. Teachers seemed equally bothered and amidst all this chaos the poor student stood like a prisoner waiting for final decision.
As a healthcare professional, I had an idea this could be due to a certain learning disability besides lack of interest. This particular issue is termed as “Dyscalculia”. It is a condition related to the brain which makes it hard to master basic arithmetic. As much as 7% students of elementary school suffer from this. This is just like other learning disorders such as Dyslexia- a reading disorder but much less understood. Your child’s doctor may call it “math disorder” or mathematics learning disability”. It is also associated with ADHD as 70% of people suffering from ADHD also suffer from learning disabilities.
If you think poor grades in maths are due to dyscalculia look for these symptoms:
- They use to count on fingers when their age mates can do without it.
- Difficulty in subitizing- a skill to recognize a group of three and five as you roll a dice.
- Lose track while counting.
- Difficulty in estimation.
- Word problems seem like a never ending struggle.
- Inability to relate numbers (1) to related words (one).
- They do not master basic operations easily like addition, subtraction, and multiplication like their age mates.
- Panic and anxiety upon dealing with maths work.
- They have troubles with fractions.
- Poor basic understanding of numbers.
- They are poor with reading clocks, telling time, counting money and use of graphs.
Besides this, any number or counting based activity even outside the school may frustrate such kids.
Treatment Options for Dyscalculia:
Learning specialists, educationists and doctors offer following to help and treat children with dyscalculia.
- Use of customized teaching plans for such kids taking into consideration their needs and difficulties they have.
Introduction of games based on maths and counting.
- For parents and teachers, they recommend encouraging such students to practice a lot more than others to achieve good grades.
Next time you find a child with specifically poor grades in maths try to help them. They might be suffering in silence. Use of right technique and proper understanding can save them slot of frustration and stress.
