Comments on: What’s in a name? Dysgraphia and Dyscalculia

By: sandra

sandra — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 23:16:34 +0000

I believe that my daughter (9) has dyscalculia. Finding a place for qualified testing and help seems to be impossible here in Brisbane. Whereas lots of support is available for dyslexia, I was told just this week by one of this teachers there that there is no test available for dyslexia to find analyse the specific difficulties of an individual child with dyscalculia as this is supposed to be a very “rare” condition. According to another study I have just read it’s more common than dyslexia. Most websites here in Australia say very little about dyscalculia, leave alone how to help. Mostly things are getting very blurry at this point. However, my daughter has no problems with writing or reading but she doesn’t seem to be able to understand mathematical concepts despite plenty of attempts to explain it to her. I don’t understand exactly where her problem is. She is a very intelligent girl and managed to compensate so far, but things are getting more and more difficult for her because she really doesn’t understand what she is doing. I am worried that she will give up any time soon as they will start to calculate next year with digital numbers and fractures and numbers up to hundred thousand or even a million. My surch for help so far here in QLD was unsuccessful. In Europe are plenty of testing centers and supporting organisations for children with dyscalculia. I would prefer to get help here but I really don’t know where to go to or who to talk to anymore. The teacher I have talked to from the dyslexic organisation just recommended me to pay for flying in a teacher, paying for air fare+ hotel + 3000 AUD for one week of testing and working with my daughter. That is insane!

By: Heather Collins (Create-Ed)

Heather Collins (Create-Ed) — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 01:23:05 +0000

I am tutoring a learner with dyscalculia. He has progressed well by using colours to symbolise numbers. Each number 0-9 has a different colour. So 145 contains a red 1, a green 4, and a blue 5. This follows the rainbow colours plus 3 mixes of colours for 7,8,9. He also uses very fine sandpaper with the appropiate colour for each number. This is a multi sensory approach to learning number and calculation. Using a calculator is a god send but must be modified by painting the appropriate colours on the numbers. After 6 months of colour coded numbers Sam can now recognise all numbers by outline even if they arn’t in colour, and do simple calculations with maths, time and money. I believe he does this because he has a colour and outline for each number in his long term memory and no longer requires visual and tactile prompts. Isn’t the brain a wonderful organ!!

By: Website Directory - Dysgraphia

Website Directory - Dysgraphia — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 00:34:22 +0000

[...] » What's in a name? Dysgraphia and Dyscalculia [...]

By: Fawn

Fawn — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 19:29:07 +0000

My son has ‘fine-motor dysgraphia’ – and hanging a label on him was the only way to get the school to provide and permit him use of a keyboard in classes. It was diagnosed by a neurologist and had to be before the school system would admit that the kid couldn’t write legibly or quickly enough to take down notes and assignments, much less produce written work. The frustration resulted in behavioral problems. He actually doesn’t have a ‘learning disability’ he has a ‘proving that I have learned’ disability. Very frustrating.

By: Kate

Kate — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 22:16:37 +0000

Calculators are not always helpful — If one is dyslexic – dyscalculic, numbers are still numbers; simple equations may be easily typed in, however, the more complex the series of numbers become, the greater the chance for transposition.

By: Helen Mascall

Helen Mascall — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:45:10 +0000

Hi, I think my daughter (aged 9) has dysgraphia. All the classic signs are manifested in her written work, except her ability to write very creatively & with lots of expression – you just can’t read it easily as she has poor handwriting/punctuation & spelling skills. She also has great difficulty with maths, in particular any form of calulation/times tables, telling the time etc and mental maths is a form of torture for her. However, she can do graphs, symmetry etc. She has good co-ordination & dances etc. Do you think we should have her tested for these two ‘conditions’ as a place to start finding her some strategies & solutions or could something else be the cause of her difficulties?

By: Dyslexia: What's in a Name?

Dyslexia: What's in a Name? — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:29:06 +0000

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By: dawn matthews

dawn matthews — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 02:48:17 +0000

Hi,
Now I would have to test him to be sure of anything, and I do now offer Skype tests so that i can onbserve the kid and see how he is doing thing things and kinds of mistakes he makes he makes and what he is good at etc. etc.

but it sounds as though he might have a learning difference called Hyperlexia. this is kind of the opposite to dyslexia, where the kid has no problem recalling,remembering and recognizing the words but does have problems understanding their meanings.

I talk about it a bit more under the heading “the autistic spectrum”. I include a beginning test for it on nonsense words. if he cannot read nonsense words then consider this.

Get back to me after this if you like.
Cheers
Dawn

By: suza

suza — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:07:56 +0000

My gifted son is about to be tested with the TOWL4. His hand writing is often filled with malformed letters, he is not always able to keep words from flying up off the line, but more importantly in spite of the fact that he is in 4th grade and the school has clocked him reading at a 7th grade level, he has trouble with the content of writing. Adjectives escape him as does detail. Answers are very bare bones brief. Paragraphs are often filled with repetitive thoughts, and no ‘back up”. I don’t see this test as giving enough to content, is there anything that you can recommend?- thank you in advance for any information you can provide. sz

By: HEATHER COLLINS

HEATHER COLLINS — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 06:21:24 +0000

Hi Emily Smith
read my previous entry. Email me at collinseh@hotmail.com and i may well be able to help you.
Heather Collins