What is dyscalculia?
Dyscalculia is a learning disorder that affects a person’s ability to understand number-based information and math. People who have dyscalculia struggle with numbers and math because their brains don’t process math-related concepts like the brains of people without this disorder. However, their struggles don’t mean they’re less intelligent or less capable than people who don’t have dyscalculia.
The symptoms of this disorder usually appear in childhood, especially when children learn how to do basic math. However, many adults have dyscalculia and don’t know it. People who have dyscalculia often face mental health issues when they have to do math, such as anxiety, depression and other difficult feelings.
There’s also a form of dyscalculia that appears later in life. This form, acquired dyscalculia, can happen at any age. This usually happens for other reasons like a medical condition (see more about this under the Causes and Symptoms section below).
Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Policy
What is the difference between dyslexia and dyscalculia?
Dyslexia and dyscalculia are both learning disorders, but they have key differences. In the most general terms, these two break down as follows:
- Dyscalculia: This learning disorder affects a person’s ability to do math.
- Dyslexia: This learning disorder affects a person’s ability to read.
While they’re different, the two conditions fall under the same diagnosis, “Specific learning disorder,” in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). It’s also possible for people to have both dyscalculia and dyslexia.
Who does dyscalculia affect?
Dyscalculia can happen to anyone, but it’s common for it first to draw attention when children are in their first few years of elementary school (between ages 6 and 9).
How common is dyscalculia?
Dyscalculia is uncommon but widespread. Experts estimate it affects between 3% and 7% of people worldwide.
How does dyscalculia affect my brain?
People who have dyscalculia are neurodivergent. Neurodiversity is a term that describes how no two people have the same brain, and everyone’s brain forms and develops in a completely unique way. For people with dyscalculia, that means their brain works differently from the brain of someone who doesn’t have disorders or conditions that affect how their brain works.
Solving a math problem like “2+2=?” might seem simple, but it takes several different skills — and the areas of the brain that manage them — working together to do it. Some of those include:
- Visual processing: Your eyes see the entirety of the math problem and send the components back to your brain for processing.
- Short-term memory: You use your short-term memory to hold onto the specifics of the math problem as you work on it. For example, the number amounts, the symbols and the order in which they appear.
- Language: You use this part of your brain to translate the symbols in the math problem into what those symbols mean. That’s how you know what the plus sign, equal sign and question mark mean in this context.
- Long-term memory: You access this kind of memory to remember the process of how to solve a math problem. In this case, your brain identifies that this is an addition problem based on the plus sign and the equals sign.
- Understanding of quantities and amounts: Your brain translates the symbol “2” into the understanding that it represents a specific amount or quantity. Children usually learn this principle by giving them examples like fruits or animals.
- Calculation: This process unites all of the above, helping you solve that 2+2=4.
For a neurotypical person, the above processes all work as expected. Depending on how severe their case is, people with dyscalculia may struggle with certain parts of the process.
FAQs
Dyscalculia is a learning disorder that affects a person's ability to understand number-based information and math. People who have dyscalculia struggle with numbers and math because their brains don't process math-related concepts like the brains of people without this disorder.
What is the main cause of dyscalculia? ›
Here are two possible causes of dyscalculia: Genes and heredity: Dyscalculia tends to run in families. Research shows that genetics may also play a part in problems with math. Brain development: Brain imaging studies have shown some differences between people with and without dyscalculia.
What are the symptoms of dyscalculia? ›
What to look for
- Have difficulty recognizing numbers.
- Be delayed in learning to count.
- Struggle to connect numerical symbols (5) with their corresponding words (five)
- Have difficulty recognizing patterns and placing things in order.
- Lose track when counting.
- Need to use visual aids — like fingers — to help count.
There are a number of accommodations they might get through an IEP or a 504 plan. Extended time and use of a calculator on tests are just two examples. Kids might also be allowed to use manipulatives like blocks. There are also many assistive technology (AT) tools for math that kids can use at school and at home.
What part of the brain causes dyscalculia? ›
Dyscalculia presents itself as a neuronal dysfunction in the intraparietal sulcus of the brain. This dysfunction develops a pattern of cognitive deterioration that usually manifests itself with skills deficits such as: Focus (concentration): Skill related to the pattern of cognitive deterioration linked to dislexia.
What do people with dyscalculia struggle with? ›
Dyscalculia is a specific and persistent difficulty in understanding numbers which can lead to a diverse range of difficulties with mathematics. It will be unexpected in relation to age, level of education and experience and occurs across all ages and abilities.
Can dyscalculia be caused by trauma? ›
A Specific Learning Disorder in Math is not caused by environmental factors like poor teaching, bad instructional materials, emotional trauma, or social forces that justify poor math achievement (girls are bad at math, I'm not a math brain). Causes of Dyscalculia.
What does dyscalculia look like in adults? ›
The most characteristic trait is experiencing difficulties when dealing with numbers, including counting and doing arithmetic. Other early signs of dyscalculia are a reliance on counting with fingers when peers have ceased the practice (this is due to difficulty learning math facts) and trouble estimating numbers.
Is dyscalculia a form of ADHD? ›
People sometimes call it math dyslexia, but this can be confusing because dyscalculia is a different condition. It can be associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) -- up to 60% of people who have ADHD also have a learning disorder.
Does Bill Gates have dyscalculia? ›
For example using objects to see quantities and how they change provides a concrete way of understanding how certain maths concepts work. Some famous and successful dyscalculics include: Bill Gates, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Cher and Hans Christian Anderson.
Someone can feel persistently anxious at the thought of doing math but not have dyscalculia; on the other hand, for some individuals with diagnosable dyscalculia, anxiety may worsen the difficulties they experience.
What is the best intervention for dyscalculia? ›
Research shows that the best way to support students with dyscalculia is to present interventions that focus on math learning gaps and that use “multisensory teaching methods, building a child's confidence, high teacher expectations, and parental support” (PenCRU, 2018).
What kind of doctor do you see for dyscalculia? ›
Educational psychologists are typically best equipped to assess a child for developmental dyscalculia, however no single diagnostic protocol exists.
Do people with dyscalculia have bad memory? ›
Most, if not all, people who suffer from dyscalculia have problems with their working memory, although working memory problems are not necessarily an indicator of dyscalculia.
What are the three types of dyscalculia? ›
Verbal dyscalculia: the child has difficulty counting, memorizing and calculating. Dyscalculia in reading and writing Arabic numerals : the child has difficulty with the numerals themselves, both in writing and in reading. Number sense dyscalculia: the child does not understand the concept of number.
How do people with dyscalculia think? ›
About dyscalculia
Dyscalculia makes it hard to make sense of numbers and concepts like bigger and smaller. For example, people may have trouble telling if a group of five apples is bigger than a group of three apples. This involves a set of skills called number sense. Experts say it's like color blindness.
What famous person has dyscalculia? ›
Cher. 40% of people with dyslexia also have dyscalculia. Sixties icon Cher, often branded the Goddess of Pop, is in that 40%. In her autobiography, whilst reflecting on her school days, she wrote, “…for me, maths was like trying to understand Sanskrit”.
Why am I so bad at math but good at everything else? ›
Dyscalculia. Some people – around 7% of us – find maths difficult because of a developmental disorder called dyscalculia. Dyscalculia is specifically a mathematical learning disability: you might be very intelligent and have access to good all-round teaching, but still struggle to learn maths.
