Types of Learning Disabilities: What is Dyscalculia?

When it comes to the different types of learning disabilities, everyone seems to know the common ones, such as dyslexia or the learning challenges that come with attention disorders, such as ADD. However, there are many other types of learning disabilities out there that some parents have never heard of. Learning about these disabilities can make you a better advocate for your child and their educational environment. Learning that your child has a learning disability can help ease some of the stress from the situation. As a parent, you can better understand how to help you child and encourage them in their strengths and weaknesses.

Signs of Dyscalculia

While dyslexia is the common known learning disability when it comes to reading, dyscalculia is the learning disability that revolves around arithmetic and numbers. Dyscalculia.org says, "Dyscalculia often only affects the decoding and encoding, memory and processing of numbers. Researchers and authors commonly use the term “math dyslexia” to describe dyscalculia as being “like dyslexia but in math."

Dyscalculia is said to affect certain areas of the brain, making mathematics, number memorization, and other tasks with numbers hard to remember and store. Dyscalculia can occur with other learning disabilities too.

Children with dyscalculia struggle with the organization of numbers, telling time, number operation signs, such as minus and addition, and remembering math facts, such as the multiplication table.

How to Help Your Child Succeed With Dyscalculia

While dyscalculia may keep your child from enjoying and fully understanding all math concepts, there are ways to help them succeed in the classroom. Graph paper can be used to help organize numbers and keep work form getting too sloppy. This tip will help your child not to feel overwhelmed by the numbers or get them easily mixed up.

Another helpful tip is to have your child color coordinate their math work. For example, if they are doing subtraction, have them use a red pencil. The color red can help them remember that they are to subtract the numbers. It is best to talk with your child's teacher for further help and assistance. Sometimes the help of a tutor will give your child more assistance in the their lessons.

Furthermore, online videos and interactive math websites can also help your child succeed in math. Since dyscalculia affects the "math" part of the brain, finding ways for your child to learn math concepts using other parts of the brain is essential. There are many creative math games and projects that utilize both sides of the brain, making the project more graspable for children with dyscalculia.

There are many types of learning disabilities that are not as commonly known that can be affecting your child. Having one of these types of learning disabilities does not mean your child is unintelligent, but instead, it means they need extra help and need to take a different approach to the subject.

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