Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Sydney NSW
Topic: Dyscalculia
1 Antonia Canaris runs a busy remedial teaching practice in Kingsgrove, NSW, where
she manages a wide range of learning difficulties, including dyslexia, dysgraphia and
dyscalculia. Antonia is an NDIS provider and cares for those with autism. Antonia
presents professional development seminars to a wide range of professionals.
Antonia’s practice has witnessed a steady increase in those presenting with
Dyscalculia, hence her increased awareness.
SECTION 1 – INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
The requirement that all students who wish to pass the Higher School
Certificate in NSW achieve minimum functional standards in literacy and
numeracy from 2020 is increased recognition literacy and numeracy skills
are critical in a modern society (other States and Territories are following).
And of course there has been an increase emphasis on the STEM
disciplines.
Clearly arithmetic and maths skills are essential for the workplace, but for
approximately 2-5% of the population, those with dyscalculia, even simple
arithmetic presents a seemingly unsurmountable hurdle.
And students who struggle with maths and arithmetic have significantly
worse employment prospects even when literacy levels are good (Soares
& others: 2018).
2
There has been an increase emphasis on literacy and numeracy which is
reflected in the introduction of the Phonics Screener in Year 1 (a federal
government initiative). The adoption of MultiLit intervention, developed by
Macquarie University, by many schools acknowledges children who
struggle with reading require intensive support in the early years.
As part of the mathematics curriculum there was a call for special reviews
but they really related to the indigenous population and disadvantaged
young people.
So what hope does the dyscalculic student have if they are not even
recognised?
This paper draws on direct clinical experience obtained over many years
and will in turn refer to some of the research in the field of dyscalculia.
3
This paper will:
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SECTION 2 – BACKGROUND & DEFINITIONS
Background
Ladislav Kosc a Czechoslovakian psychologist (Kosc: 1970), is generally
credited with the first systematic study of difficulties with numbers and
arithmetic, and in turn coined the term ‘Developmental dyscalculia’.
‘ a structural disorder of mathematical abilities which has its origin in a genetic or congenital
disorder of those parts of the brain that are the direct anatomico-physiological substrate of the
maturation of mathematical abilities adequate to age, without a simultaneous disorder of
general mental funcions ( Kosc: 1970, p 192; as cited in Price and Ansari: 2013)).
However, the condition was well recognised under different names well
before 1974, including the terms ‘number blindness’, ‘mathematical
learning difficulties’ and so on.
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Acquired dyscalculia is an impairment in which patients, typically older
patients, have difficulties performing simple arithmetic and maths tasks.
Acquired dyscalculia typically manifests when there is damage to the brain
as in a stroke or a head injury.
Definition
According to the British Dyslexia Association, Dyscalculia is briefly defined
as:
‘…a specific learning difficulty for mathematics or more appropriately, arithmetic’.
6
On the other hand, there are many workarounds and accommodations for
students with dyslexia, because writing is basically a right sophisticated
code for speech and as a consequence students with dyslexia have
access to technology such as text-to-speech apps, a C-Pen or even a
reader or writer in exams.
Prevalence of Dyscalculia
▪ Approximately 3-7% of the population are considered to have
dyscalculia (Soares & others: 2014) These figures are consistent
worldwide
▪ There are no published figures for Australia as far as this author is
aware, but we can assume our percentages mirror the overseas
experience
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needed while learning maths but mathematical reasoning appears to be
processed in its own dedicated region (Dehaene & Amalric: 2016).
8
font than the figure 4 (Cohen & others: 2007). This experiment was an
effective identification of the location in the brain responsible for
mathematical difficulties.
9
Some typical symptoms of developmental dyscalculia are:
▪ From an early age the child has difficulty in estimating small numbers
below 5 and counting upwards from 1 (they typically touch each object
such as a dot and work their way upwards)
▪ The child has difficulty remembering basic arithmetic facts despite
devoting a lot of time practising
▪ The child has not developed any strategies to compensate for gaps in
their memory
▪ There is difficulty in generalising from remembered number facts. While
they may know and have learnt that 2+2 = 4, they are stumped when
they are asked to sum up 2+3 which we would think is obvious
▪ There is an overreliance beyond elementary grades on using fingers or
tally marks to add up
▪ Children have difficulty understanding the role of zero as a place holder
in the number system and have difficulty with numbers from 10 to 20
▪ Children have difficulties estimating whether answers appear
realistically accurate. In other words when you multiply 10 x 7 is the
answer 70 or is the answer 700 or even 7000, or 7,000,000?
▪ They have trouble counting backwards
▪ They have trouble in subtraction
▪ The child takes longer to perform simple arithmetic operations
Screening
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The Phonics Screening Check recommended by the Australian
Government for Year 1 children is an example of such a screening
instrument (Buckingham: 2017).
The National Year 1 Literacy and Numeracy Check Expert Advisory Panel
to the Federal Minister for Education & Training, recommended brief
screening checks for both numeracy and literacy in Year 1. The 10-minute
Phonics Screening Check as administered in the UK to all students in
Year 1 (Walker & others: 2015) was chosen for literacy but the Panel
found no suitable screening tool for foundational mathematical knowledge
(Buckingham: 2017). Gersten confirmed this lack of reliable screening
instruments (Gersten: 2004) as did Butterworth, who explained the need
for his Dyscalculia Screening Test (Butterworth: 2003).
Gersten recommend testing for comparative magnitude, checking for
advanced counting strategies, fluent identification of numbers and
working memory tests using reversed digit span.
Processing speed is commonly measured in cognitive assessments such
as the Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV). Maths
performance appears to be disproportionately affected by slow processing
speed in comparison to other skills such as reading.
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Maths Skills in Preschool Children
Questions could include: “Which car is first’ or ‘Which car is last?’ ‘Which
duck is in the middle?’ ‘Can you give me the fourth card?’ A child of four
should be able to answer such questions.
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▪ Steve Chinn’s More Trouble with Maths (Chinn: 2012) includes
psychometric assessments and observational analysis of student
errors and methods for calculation
▪ The same work also includes screeners for identifying difficulty
connecting words with the corresponding arithmetical operation. For
example, ‘and’ should be placed with the ‘+’ sign
ADHD
ADHD affects how efficiently someone can ‘juggle’ items in their working
memory and recall key facts. ADHD also affects the ability to switch tasks
and to plan. A student with ADHD may not have difficulty with number
sense but will have difficulty in manipulating multistep processes.
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some evidence that the inattentive sub-type of ADHD affects maths
performance more than the hyperactive sub-type (Tosto & others: 2015)
Word problems are particularly difficult for students with attention
difficulties to address because they require someone to shift back and
forth from the part of the brain involved in maths to that involved in
receptive language. Sifting out irrelevant information is also a challenge.
Dyslexia
While research has demonstrated dyslexia and dyscalculia are separate
disorders, comorbidity of around 40% exists, so it is worth bearing this in
mind if screening for dyslexia. Research demonstrates that mathematic
impairment is caused by different brain regions than occur in dyslexia,
however there is some overlap between the two (Patrizio & others: 2007).
Maths anxiety
Maths anxiety has been identified as early as 1954 when the term
Mathemaphobia was coined (Gough:1954). Maths anxiety is a
psychological condition that can cause extreme distress and is specific to
thinking about, or working with, maths. People with maths anxiety are not
just affected in exams but suffer when having to perform mathematical
calculations in everyday life. Maths anxiety is common in students with
dyscalculia because those with dyscalculia are never confident in having
the right answer (Chinn, 2012). Unfortunately, there has been little
attention paid to the social and emotional difficulties that are connected to
maths disability and low achievement in maths (Geary: 2012).
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HOW TO HELP
Multisensory instruction
Go back to basics
Recognise students with dyscalculia need to go back to basics given
maths progression depends on a logical and hierarchical development of
concepts. Difficulties in understanding basic arithmetic relationships
inevitably impacts on later learning.
15
The authors wrote that this interpretation agrees with two major current
theories regarding the causes of dyscalculia: a pure impairment in number
sense and difficulties in linking the numbers with corresponding symbols
which in turn affects the accuracy in which this number sense is
understood. This relationship is compared to the analogous situation with
dyslexia where a deficit in phonological processing is both a fundamental
cause of reading difficulty but also a result of lack of reading.
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perform basic arithmetic. Their mathematical development can be very
uneven. This cohort of students should probably be allowed to use
calculators.
19
Both girls are of average intelligence and speak English at home. These
girls have more correct answers than many whom I have not recorded.
The task was to match words with their corresponding sign. This
assessment should then be followed by individual instruction.
20
Example 2 - Year 6 Girl
Note the words ‘lots of’ is placed under the = sign and ‘makes’ is under
the x sign.
Summary
This brief presentation on dyscalculia has provided some history on the
discovery of dyscalculia as a specific learning disability while pointing out
that there has not been that much research on the subject, certainly not
as much as on dyslexia, and this is reflected in the lack of emphasis in the
state and federal government’s approach on dyscalculia.
This paper identified the sorts of problems those with dyscalculia suffered
from and provided some suggestions about how teachers can help
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remediate by reference to certain programs and teaching material that are
generally available.
This paper proposes that the ‘more of the same in the mainstream
classroom’ strategy does not address the critical and fundamental lack of
mathematical and arithmetical knowledge amongst students with
dyscalculia, that requires specific step by step interventions. Multisensory
instruction and student engagement is the most effective practice for
addressing the effects of dyscalculia.
This paper suggested that while technology is helpful for calculations and
accuracy it does not teach the underlining concepts.
As well as taking care of the academic needs, students of all ages with
dyscalculia require sensitive and supportive assistance to lessen their
anxiety and help them grow in confidence.
Antonia Canaris
Sydney Australia
May 2018
antonia.canaris@neurosensory.com.au
(02) 9150 6630
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