Dyscalculia

by: Chantal Harris, Francine Roul and Chantal Thriault-Serroul

What is Dyscalculia?
Dyscalculia is characterized by a poor understanding of the number concept and number system.

(Vaidya,2004)

Prevalence of Dyscalculia
[...] 5-8% of school-aged children exhibit some form of a Mathematical Learning Disability. Many of these children have c omor bid disorde rs, i ncludi ng re adi ng d i s a b i l i t i e s a n d a t t e n t i o n - de f i c i t/ hyperactivity disorder.
(Geary, 2004)

Diagnosing Dyscalculia
DSM IV Mathematical Learning Disability -Poor Mathematics DSM V (2013) Dyscalculia

-Struggle bet ween numerical and arithmetic abilities

* Not consistent with the persons age, IQ and education. * Significantly interferes with academic achievement or activities of daily-living that require numerical skills.

Diagnosing Dyscalculia contd.

Standardized achievement tests and IQ tests. Scores lower than the 20th or 25th percentile on a Mathematical achievement test combined with a lowaverage to higher IQ score.

Diagnosing Dyscalculia contd.

Instructional goals, approaches, environment... Must have lower than expected scores throughout academic years. Must impact academic achievement and daily - living.

Diagnosing contd.
Quick Test (UK) Dyscalculia Center Comparative Test (UK) / Assessment and Diagnostics Dyscalculia Screening Test! (UK)

What are the Red Flags?

Inability to subitise Inability to count backwards Slow processing speeds Number magnitudes Lack of confidence Inability to estimate

Red Flags contd.

Tendency to not notice patterns Inability to recognize the link bet ween + and x Weakness in short-term and long-term memory Word problems and problem solving Errors (Arithmetic and Equations) Problem with all aspects of money

Red Flags contd.

Trouble sequencing Marked delay in learning to read a clock to tell the time
! !

Inability to manage time in their daily lives Weakness in visual and spatial orientation Direction confusion (left vs right)

Effective Strategies for the classroom

Best practices: Math strategies instead of finger counting or drilling Model strategies, multiple times Guided practice Provide step by step methods to solve problems Math language or vocabulary

Best practices contd. Visual Aids Provide students with plenty of time Give more attention to how a solution is reached than to what the solution is Let students make their own mistakes Focus on a review before an assessment

Strategies/Inter ventions
Photocopy relevant sections of math textbook Break multi-step problems into small steps Use a line reader Highlight important parts of questions Color column and rows in spreadsheets

Strategies/Inter ventions contd.

Use cards to aid in memorization Teach organizational and time management skills Teach focusing strategies

Goals of Interventions
Shift from concrete to visual representation Accuracy of arithmetic combinations Fluency with arithmetic combinations