Seeing numbers backwards and copying them wrong?

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Sounds like dyslexia or dyscalculia - could also be Irlen Syndrome

www.irlen.com
DANDA

This is something that has been frustrating me for many years now and I've never known what it is. At first I thought it was dyslexia, but I only invert my numbers, like Brittany said with 154, 451 or 514...I do that. NobodyzDream, I can also be looking at a number and write something completely different. I don't think it's just stress or anxiety over test taking. It can happen on a normal day with no pressure at all. On days like that what's wrong? Is it laziness, lack of focus?

I only today found dyscalculia while researching dyslexia again. What brought it up was a term paper I have to write on learning disorders. I'm going to college, and I'm feeling all of that old frustration again when I see everyone around me whiz through the same things that I struggle with, and then they try to make me feel either stupid, lazy, or as if I'm exaggerating a problem to get attention. I guess part of the problem is, when I was growing up it was very taboo to have a learning disorder. No one spoke of it, and tried to hide it if something would surface. I think parents felt it was their fault. Like it made them a bad parent, or that "their" child could never be "disabled". I think it's worse to make a child suffer their entire life by not getting the help they need or understanding how to fix the problem, just because a parent is...what? embarrassed? How can you improve on something if you ignore its existence?

I'm sorry that my post has gotten long, and I did not mean to go off on a rant. However, I am glad I found this forum. It is not fun having to deal with something like this and not understand it. But this is also the first time I've found someone else talking about dealing with the same thing.

I transpose numbers and then don't even see that I did. This is not a good trait in an accountant. Yes, it's a form of dyslexia.

I'm in school for Business and Administration, and I work in retail. Yeah, I have to deal with numbers every day. I'm actually being interviewed for a new job as a Freight Coordinator. I'm great with organization and visuals...the numbers though will be difficult.

Having an accounting job, how do you deal with it?

Frequent reality checks. That and knowing that if there's a difference of 9 or a factor of 9 (9, 27, 39 etc) then there's a transposition somewhere. Oh..and not being an accountant anymore.

Sadly art doesn't make me money. And no money equals bills unpaid

That's my solution, not yours. I understand very well. When I'm up to it I will find an occupation that isn't as stressful as accounting. I was being tongue in cheek but didn't make it clear.

Oh, no no..it's alright. I understand we all have different solutions. I just have not found mine yet. I do honestly wish I could quit working such a public job and focus on drawing. I have never really fit in with coworkers and customers, and I dislike being made an example of what NOT to do. I just have nothing to replace it with at this moment. So in my job, I try to keep in the back room with the product or working when the store is closed.
I didn't take it personally, like you were telling me that's what I should do...I suppose that was just my way of being in agreement with you.

by the way, where is everyone getting their numbers? Where are you testing to get your Aspie/NT score?

I have the same problem - when I copy numbers, I invert digits in numbers and letters in similar words that are close to each other - and I am also a Business major :) One thing that helped me a lot in dealing with Excel number databases is conditional formatting and VLOOKUP.... With these, you can make problems like extra digits or spelling mistakes very easy to spot. My first boss told me that no matter how attentive you are, you should always let the machine do the copying or extracting for you. One day I am going to learn VBA :P

I wonder how this can be considered dyslexia or dyscalculia, though. I have always been very good at both maths and reading. I just copy or memorize numbers wrong, since young age.

I have never been diagnosed with either dyslexia or dyscalculia, and I'm not saying I have either. These were just my assumptions of finding something SIMILAR from symptoms that I have, to gain a better understanding of myself. All I know (which is not much) is from researching on Google and talking with others that have similar symptoms. One person commented on here about reading numbers slowly, by covering it up and uncovering it one number at a time. This is something I use at work when I have to read numbers over our headset.
I used to read all the time as a child. Now I find it very difficult to focus on a book or subject in school. I don't have a problem with reading the words wrong, that is usually just my numbers. What causes that? I'm not sure.. I just know it happens.

I can really relate to what a lot of you are saying, to sum up my issues...

I mix up my numbers, lets say I see a number 1531, I would easily mistake it for 1351.

...Infact at one point at work someone brought this to my attention and after 10 minutes of looking and eventually looking at each number one by one I was shocked that they both looked the same.

I also have issues learning formulas, I'll sit for a prolonged period until I eventually learn a maths formula, then, the next day, I totally forget how to do it.

I had these issues through out school but it was never picked up - I actually only discorvered it at college where a college lecturer brought it to my attention, I dismissed it, then while at work (I worked in retail) all these errors reared their head...

...I went to the doctors but they instantly dismissed it, they said if there was an issue, it would have been picked up at school...

I have no idea what I can do about this.

(I only have a depression and anxiety dx)

I get my numbers mixed up too. But it has nothing to do with being anxious, because I go into tests confident that I've studied enough.

Yes, doctors can often times overlook things that are an issue because they feel it should have been brought up or diagnosed at an earlier time. With many of us though, that was never an option. Its hard to get a diagnoses for an adult.

And I do agree that it has nothing to do with anxiety.

My wife and Father In Law have similar issues - transposing numbers & letters, mixing up left & right, etc. It's dyslexia.

Yeah, I have no doubt that it's not anxiety. I could be completely relaxed and it would still happen. I'm really worried about bringing it up at the doctors again, but I'm also even more concerned about ignoring it and having serious issues in work.