Having a learning disability makes it easy for children to fall behind other students in school. To make matters worse, it’s hard for teachers to catch these disabilities with so many kids in their classrooms. Dyscalculia is one of these disabilities. However, what is dyscalculia, and how can you tell if your child has it?
Specifically What Is Dyscalculia?
Before you can seek help for dyscalculia, you need to understand it better. Let’s start with the basics. Dyscalculia is a learning disability in mathematics. In short, it makes it difficult for individuals to process number-related concepts.
For example, children with this disability might not understand how to use or read symbols to solve basic math problems. Believe it or not, this is a common disability among children. However, people often miss it until their children start to fail their math courses.
While dyscalculia is more common in children, adults can have it too. In most cases, though, adults with this disability have had it since they were children. They’re simply an example of how people can miss this disability.
What Are Some Symptoms of Dyscalculia?
How can parents tell whether their children have a hard time with math or suffer from dyscalculia? While it’s not always easy to pick out the signs, parents and teachers alike can look for certain symptoms. Some of these include:
- Using their fingers to solve problems long after their peers have stopped
- Trouble making sense of money
- Can’t use an analog clock
- Trouble recognizing number patterns
- Hard time linking symbols and numbers to directions and amounts
Treatment for Dyscalculia
Dyscalculia might be a learning disability, but it doesn’t mean that kids can’t get help for it. Once parents recognize the signs of dyscalculia, they can look for professional help. One thing is for sure, though, children with dyscalculia will need expert guidance.
A dyscalculia treatment program starts with trained professionals filling in the gaps for children. It’s important that the experts work on correcting misconceptions that the children might have. They can provide the one-on-one time that they need to learn math correctly.
What is dyscalculia? It’s a problem that can grow into something more if parents don’t deal with it when their children are young. It can cause problems with the rest of their education and even prevent them from getting into some colleges. In some cases, disabilities like this keep children from wanting to further their education.
Other Problems
Keep in mind that kids with dyscalculia typically suffer from other disabilities too, including dyslexia. In fact, experts say that between 43 and 65 percent of children with math disabilities also have reading disabilities.
Let Us Help Your Child With a Learning Disability
Does your child have a learning disability or require mental health treatment? If so, consider enrolling him or her in Venture Academy. We provide a number of unique programs that help children with mental and learning disabilities. Some of our programs include:
- Residential treatment
- Substance abuse treatment
- Anger management
- Behaviour counselling
Don’t let your child fall behind in school because of a learning disability. Learn more about what is dyscalculia. Find out what we can do to help when you call us at 866.762.2211.
