Could it be dyscalculia?

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Iv'e heard it can be alongside conditions like Aspergers or autism.

Iv'e always had intense trouble with maths. I'd always be behind, but somehow getting a good enough level in the tests, even though I never understood anything my teacher was telling me.
It got to the point where if I had a maths homework, I would break down and start crying, and throw a tantrum if someone tried to help and I still didn't understand.
(By the way, it's still going on, and I'm 14).
In school, I feel like crying or running out of the room when the teacher sets us work. I feel like I'm genuinely terrified of the very subject. I only understand the very basics of maths. (I did a test online for the level of a nine year old, and I got 'well below average') lol
The only way I can remember something like long division, is if someone shows me VERY, VERY slowly, step by step, showing exactly WHY I need to do a certain thing, and what the eventual outcome will be.
And teacher's never do that.
Does anyone think it might be worth asking my parents/a doctor about dyscalculia as well as Asperger's? Or is anyone in a similar situation?
Thanks

I have the same problem. It's not like I am incapable of doing math, I just can't do it at in school/university/around people. On my own, I can work through directions and understand and do just about anything. It doesn't do much good if I can't pass an exam. I don't know if it's dyscalculia or some other kind of learning disability. Math used to give me a terrible tense feeling when I tried to finish problems at school.
You can try mentioning it and see what they recommend.

Yes. You posted this thread TWICE, but the answer was one or ONCE.

oh, i know.. it was an accident, sorry.

It's very likely a form of dyscalculia, and I happen to have it (as to many people with AS)

Never the less, one of the degrees I hold is in mathematics and the others are science related degrees.

There are two reasons for this.

First, my primary difficulty is with arithmetic, and that is only a small portion of mathematics. Most fields of mathematics involve little in the way of numbers. Most of mathematics is theory, and I'm good at understanding the theoretical concepts.

For example, the concept of taking the square root of a number. Well a number times itself is some other number, and that number is called "the square of..." The square root of that number is the number that was multiplied by itself.

In college, they teach math a lot differently than they do in lower levels of school. In college, they don't skip steps. They write down the order of operations, and they explain every step to you. That is the right way to teach math and that is the way I was able to understand it. For that reason, I was actually good at long division because that's how it was taught to me.

You should insist on having testing for a learning disability. You should also see if you can get into some math classes at your local community college to see if that style of teaching is more compatible with your style of learning. Even if they don't let you enroll in the course, a lot of the instructors will have no problem with you auditing the course or just sitting in on it if you explain to them why you want to. Most of them would be very happy to let you. Math instructors absolutely love when someone who hates math makes an effort to learn it.

I hated math. I just hated it. I was dealing with the same stuff that you're dealing with, in school. I was terrible at math. I'm glad those days are over.

Can you do basic math?

That does sound like dyscalcula. I have it too even though I don't have Aspergers Syndrome. My daughter is autistic and I have dyscalcula so the genes may be related or tied together somehow.

Talk to your parents about getting tested for a math learning disability. The word "dyscalcula" didn't exist when I was your age, it was just "bad at math". But I had fears and misunderstandings of math back then just like you. Tutoring outside school helped. Talk to your parents about that.

On the positive side when you are an adult, nobody will say "that's cheating" if you carry a calculator in your purse and use it in stores or for other basic maths most people do in their head. When you are an adult it will be perfectly acceptable to always carry a calculator.

But for now, talk to your parents about learning disabilites testing and outside tutoring. You say that you onl;y remember the steps for long division if somebody explains very, slowly and explaining every step and teachers never do that. I am (and was) the same way. Your teachers may not explain things that way but it is well worth your parents' money (or the school system's money!) to pay a tutor to do just exactly that.

double double

Last edited by buryuntime on 17 Sep 2010, 8:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

It was a joke.

I'm currently learning basic math. I'm finding that learning WHY things in mathematics occur and going about different ways of doing them helps me. This requires learning things on your own, however.

I score in elementary/middle school level for basic mathematics but I score early highschool level for more advanced mathematics, or "real world" problems. Developing a phobia of math is common in dyscalculia and can be more deliberating than the actual math difficulties. I didn't know my multiplication facts and had difficulty telling the time yet the school took no notice. In younger grades I had trouble counting past 100 but I was just told I needed to "learn it." They zoom by so fast it's easy to be left behind.

You might have it. A lot of further education schools/colleges actually do diagnostics these days. Could you ask to meet an educational psychologist if you are worried? I think I have it. It took me the whole of my school years to learn to do basic addition and subtractions. I am 22 now and about to do (or fail) my GCSE maths. If i can't do the initial test, I might go for a diagnosis. (numbers make me dizzy...)

hey,

I've had dyscalculia since I was a kid and now my kid has it. If you're going through it, I'd suggest taking a look at Dr. Linda Silbert's blog. She's got some great information on it, plus she gives away a dyscalculia toolkit for free.