Anyone have Dyscalculia? (Number/Math condition)

[Manta_Breh]

I havnt been officially diagnosed by a doctor, but just reading about on it and from my own experiences. I'm very very sure I'm on the far end of the spectrum.

As far as I can remember, my math skills have been absolutely horrible to the point even some basic Math is incredibly hard and the more advanced stuff is just pure nonsense to me. No matter how many times I get taught, it just doesn't make any sense. I've even had multiple tutors to try and teach me and it's still pointless. I can even see some of the tutors get visibly frustrated when I have trouble understanding the most simple and basic concepts lol. My most recent tutor even suggested that I get myself diagnosed because he suspected I had dyscalculia.

It definitely affects my life in the sense that when I go shopping, getting change back or calculating discounts on goods is super hard because I cant mental math and need a calculator to do it. So a lot of the time I just put trust in the cashier to hand me back the correct change and hope I dont get cheated or shortchanged lol. Especially right now, since I'm in college I had Math and Stats class previously, and I literally had no idea what I was doing, and would have failed had it not been an online / open book exam. I want to advance through business in degree etc, but my options are so limited because Business requires so much math and numbers, and especially making it big in business you need a good financial bg.

I mean I can do basic stuff and some concepts, especially the most basic ones I can kind of get it, but you add different variables or it starts to get complicated is when my brain refuses to work. Accounting wasnt too bad because you dont really do any "math" its more about putting numbers where they need to go, so that makes it a bit easier.


It's crazy because my whole life people have just been either telling me to get a good grasp of fundamentals or that I just need to practice more, but I never really knew this condition existed (it's basically dyslexia but with numbers) and I think most people dont know about it as much as they know/hear about Dyslexia .... I dont want to use it as a crutch because I hate limiting myself, but legit it's pretty much impossible for me to grasp mathematical concepts and play with numbers because I just genuinely cant get it.

 

[Einchy]

I wonder if I have this, I've always been absolutely dogshit at math. I mean, like, dogshit might actually be better at it than me. Also, when I read numbers in a book or whatever I often read them wrong. I'll see the number 5 but I'll say 2 or something even thought I understand it's a 5. So it's not an issue if I'm reading it to myself but it is if I have to say it out loud, this makes it so if I have to tell someone a number at work I'm mentally double checking that I'm saying the correct number.

 

[Axiom]

I've suspected I've had this for years, but quickly stopped pursuing the thought once I started feeling like people were looking at me as if I overweight and saying I was 'big boned'. One time I tried to bring it up to a doctor they acted as if I was making it up.

I was always a pretty clever kid and I excelled in history and English, but when it came to math I was absolutely hopeless. I'd look in the back of the book for answers, try to follow the formula step by step and even knowing the right answer, still be unable to get there. I think it's given me a complex to this day. I once got put in the remedial class for math and the 'cool kids' thought I was faking it just to hang out with them.

I've never looked into getting it diagnosed again, mainly through embarrassment and generally just try to get by through pure memorization rather than actually figuring stuff out.

 

[Rosebud]

My math skills are TERRIBLE since always.

But I don't think I have this, it's probably more my Asperger + unprepared school/teachers that had no patience.

 

[deimosmasque]

My partner has it. They are self diagnosed though, we found out while I was helping them with a college math class and realized the answer was right if I flipped some numbers around.

Also for the record there is a Marvel character with dyscalculia.

 

[Curler]

Oh I thought this was called "numeric dyslexia". Not diagnosed, but I for sure have it, and it's been an ongoing issue (and somehow getting worse with age). I used to get long division wrong, and when I checked my work, at some point in the middle I would turn my 6 into a 9 etc. I also have to go slow when entering codes for things, because I've also seen myself get them wrong, for doing a T into a 7 and other silly things.

It sucks :/ I've been awful at math-related stuff, and this made it worse. Sometimes even with phone numbers I will hear one thing, and swap 2 numbers for no reason.

 

[B00T]

Yup, I was diagnosed with this as a kid. Same with my sister. I'm legendarily bad at anything beyond simple math but I often screw that up too.

 

[AlgusUnderdunk]

I'm curious, is it possible to exclusively have dyslexia or dyscalculis without having both? Also curious for anyone who has it, do you find certain number bases (ie, binary or hexadecimal) easier to keep focused?

I teach a few forms of mathematics and I'm curious if there'd be a way to help out a student who has it or at least help recognize it.

 

[Teiresias]

I've suspected for a long time I have some form of dyscalculia. However, mine is pretty much relegated to doing arithmetic in my head, which I am terrible at doing, and that can affect everyday things, for example figuring out coins to add to cash to get back only dollar bills as change. Granted, this isn't such an issue anymore with the world nearly paper-money-less, but still.

Ironically, I don't have issues with higher level mathematics, nor manipulating equations for applied sciences like physics or electrical engineering, and actually enjoy them, so it's really only the manipulation of numbers in my head doing arithmetic that is effected.

 

[Pet]

I googled this and the prevalence is apparently 3-6% estimated? That's much higher than I expected.

I wish I could blame my awful math skills on dyscalculia, but I'm unfortunately just dumb. Sorry OP... at least you have an excuse :)

 

[Nida]

I was diagnosed with it in middle school. I was tested for the gifted program but did incredibly poorly on the math section.

They diagnosed me and basically said, "You have a disability, so you can't be in the gifted program.". Thinking back on it, they didn't even talk to my math teachers about it which is pretty shitty.

It's not something I've ever talked to anyone about since. It will pop up every once in a while when repeating numbers to someone or dialing a phone number.

 

[apocat]

I'm curious, is it possible to exclusively have dyslexia or dyscalculis without having both?

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Yes. They are separate diagnoses in both ICD and DSM. At least in ICD there is a specific, unique code used when both are prevalent at once.

 

[Manta_Breh]

I wonder if I have this, I've always been absolutely dogshit at math. I mean, like, dogshit might actually be better at it than me. Also, when I read numbers in a book or whatever I often read them wrong. I'll see the number 5 but I'll say 2 or something even thought I understand it's a 5. So it's not an issue if I'm reading it to myself but it is if I have to say it out loud, this makes it so if I have to tell someone a number at work I'm mentally double checking that I'm saying the correct number.

Click to shrink...

Oh I thought this was called "numeric dyslexia". Not diagnosed, but I for sure have it, and it's been an ongoing issue (and somehow getting worse with age). I used to get long division wrong, and when I checked my work, at some point in the middle I would turn my 6 into a 9 etc. I also have to go slow when entering codes for things, because I've also seen myself get them wrong, for doing a T into a 7 and other silly things.

It sucks :/ I've been awful at math-related stuff, and this made it worse. Sometimes even with phone numbers I will hear one thing, and swap 2 numbers for no reason.

Click to shrink...

From what I've read it seems to be on a spectrum of sorts so how severe it is seems to vary from person to person.

 

[Stronginthearm]

I googled this and the prevalence is apparently 3-6% estimated? That's much higher than I expected.

I wish I could blame my awful math skills on dyscalculia, but I'm unfortunately just dumb. Sorry OP... at least you have an excuse :)

Click to shrink...

Same. I wish I could do maths, but I can learn stuff in class but by the next maths class, or in a test, I've forgotten it all.

 

[Manta_Breh]

I'm curious, is it possible to exclusively have dyslexia or dyscalculis without having both? Also curious for anyone who has it, do you find certain number bases (ie, binary or hexadecimal) easier to keep focused?

I teach a few forms of mathematics and I'm curious if there'd be a way to help out a student who has it or at least help recognize it.

Click to shrink...

I think one thing you could do is to write out explanations of what you have to do .... My stat tutor did this with me, she made me write out what to do for each step verbally. It did kind of help, but again when it was exam time I tend to blank out / panic or it just doesnt make sense to me because obviously you get the same question but with a different variable or something and it completely messes me up lol. But yeah, try what I suggested, it does help in a sense.

 

[Manta_Breh]

I was diagnosed with it in middle school. I was tested for the gifted program but did incredibly poorly on the math section.

They diagnosed me and basically said, "You have a disability, so you can't be in the gifted program.". Thinking back on it, they didn't even talk to my math teachers about it which is pretty shitty.

It's not something I've ever talked to anyone about since. It will pop up every once in a while when repeating numbers to someone or dialing a phone number.

Click to shrink...

Lol back in junior school, our math teacher made all of those who were weak in math sit in the back of the classroom, while all the "good" students sat in front. So you had some trouble makers in there as well so you can imagine how it would have been like when we were basically the class outcasts and he'd mock us as well sometimes. It was funny at the time, but looking back now I realise it was kinda messed up because he basically ostracized us from the classroom and didnt really try to help, but back then I dont think there was much awareness about this. So basically I just chalked it up to "being bad at math".

My principal even took me in privately and suggested I drop Math for O levels, which was really shitty of him because Math is a compulsory subject for your O levels .... I took Math two times, failed both. So basically I have no pass for my O level math.

 

[Mochi]

Huh..I wonder if I have this. I have always had trouble keeping numbers in order in my head (and similarly with letters and even words or grammatical patterns sometimes). Though it seems to be more of an issue in my head than when working on paper.
Would feel great to know why I'm terrible at math tbh!

 

[Curler]

I'm curious, is it possible to exclusively have dyslexia or dyscalculis without having both? Also curious for anyone who has it, do you find certain number bases (ie, binary or hexadecimal) easier to keep focused?

I teach a few forms of mathematics and I'm curious if there'd be a way to help out a student who has it or at least help recognize it.

Click to shrink...

I used to get docked points in math class for these sort of errors, but the best I can say is "check your work". I'm an awful editor when it comes to my own stuff (yet have no problem checking someone elses' stuff), and math is no exception. I sometimes would draw a blank after showing my own work, as they would "just turn into numbers" for me, so I had a hard time spoting it. If it's clear that 2 numbers were switched, but the work looks ok, this could be it.

....I don't know how I even passed a variety of calc classes, but they were torture for me :/

 

[DrBillRiverman]

When I was diagnosed as Dyspraxic+Dyslexic as a kid I don't think that Dyscalculia was known about really.

I've wondered if I may have elements of it.
I'm actually pretty good a math overall, but I heavily struggle with Mental Arithmetic, I need it all written down to make sense of it.

 

[djinn]

I would not be surprised if I had this. I was nearly an adult before I knew how to tell the time on an analogue clock. I was placed in a special needs class because of maths. I still don't know anything about fractions, decimal places or percentages. I basically do everything with a calculator or by guessing. Despite using math in my workplace, I still double check anything I'm not sure about with another workmate.

 

[Nappuccino]

Huh. I definitely have trouble reading out long numbers. Once they get over three digits I have a tendency to say them in the wrong order, even if I catch myself quickly.

I wonder if I have a mild version of this or if what I have is more related to some kind of focusing issue.

 

[SgtCobra]

Yep, I have it (was diagnosed with it in middle school) and it always hampered my development in the school system, starting from elementary school and still going strong in university. Everything math or numbers related always took me ten times the effort to learn and even then I ended up barely passing. I love it when people are like "just practise some more, you'll get it eventually", nah it doesn't work like that if nothing makes sense to you.

 

[TheQueensOwn]

This thread has helped me understand what my stepson is likely dealing with. Thanks, folks.

 

[Captain Tuttle]

My daughter has it, she has an IEP for it in school

 

[jetpacks was yes]

Yes and I didn't find out about it until college. It was helpful knowing, but it really, really would have been nice knowing earlier. Teachers simply don't know how to help us. They need to be trained how to work with this disability.

 

[lazygecko]

I don't think I have it because I don't fumble the numbers. It's the logic systems people use to make calculations that I've never been able to intuitively understand and led to similar situations with teachers losing patience with me.

 

[Keikaku]

Probably not, I just hate math. Complex formulas look like a bunch gibberish to me but if I really want to learn, I can.

 

[Amalthea]

I am most likely. It's so frustrating how stupid you still feel when you are decent or even great in languages, history, art and general knowlege but suck at math.

 

[bremen]

Yes, or at least in the same area. When you end up correcting the corrections of the corrections you know there's a problem! Can do simple adding and subtractions but things like times tables, fractions and percentages might as well be foreign languages. Have got a bit better since school days but not by much.

 

[myojinsoga]

My issue is with holding stuff in my head ... I seem to have really limited RAM for manipulating things like numbers, and more frequently dates and times. If you tell me we're going to order three things on Tuesday but they don't arrive until next Wednesday which is also when the five things we ordered back in January are going to turn up ... I literally will stop you to go over it step by step.

Knowledge is power though and understanding I'm crap at this means I'm comfortable asking for the resources to cope.

I wonder about what goes on inside. I think I sort of convert numbers into shapes and volumes, visual data, so that I can process it. But I really don't relate that well to the numbers themselves.

 

[NoMoreNoLess]

I'm curious how much of these diagnosis's is self-diagnosing "this is hard and I have yet to understand that you practice hard things to get better"

vs

"I'm fundamentally unable to process numbers"

Math is already a topic that easily fosters a sense of "if others don't get it then I guess I don't either!" Which really obscures when people "can't" or just "won't"

And I say this as someone who hated Math until well after they were out of college.

 

[Corgi]

I've long thought I had it, but never really sought out how to get diagnosed. Can I just go to my regular doctor?

 

[Deleted member 41520]

Lol back in junior school, our math teacher made all of those who were weak in math sit in the back of the classroom, while all the "good" students sat in front

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Christ, surely the opposite makes sense? Put the weaker students at the front so they get more support more easily

 

[Viriditas]

Yup, got an official diagnosis about two years ago.

It was my partner's nieces who noticed it. We used to play Monopoly a lot and they noticed that:

1) It always took me a long time to manage money, and I made frequent mistakes with even small sums.
2) When I rolled the dice, I always had to count each individual dot to figure out how many places to move my piece. I can't just look at the dice and know at a glance that it's a 4, or a 6, or a 9. They thought it was some OCD-type ritual, but no, I really don't know how many dots there are unless I count them one at a time.

 

[shnurgleton]

Being bad at math != dyscalculia

 

[Kumquat]

I havnt been officially diagnosed by a doctor, but just reading about on it and from my own experiences. I'm very very sure I'm on the far end of the spectrum.

As far as I can remember, my math skills have been absolutely horrible to the point even some basic Math is incredibly hard and the more advanced stuff is just pure nonsense to me. No matter how many times I get taught, it just doesn't make any sense. I've even had multiple tutors to try and teach me and it's still pointless. I can even see some of the tutors get visibly frustrated when I have trouble understanding the most simple and basic concepts lol. My most recent tutor even suggested that I get myself diagnosed because he suspected I had dyscalculia.

It definitely affects my life in the sense that when I go shopping, getting change back or calculating discounts on goods is super hard because I cant mental math and need a calculator to do it. So a lot of the time I just put trust in the cashier to hand me back the correct change and hope I dont get cheated or shortchanged lol. Especially right now, since I'm in college I had Math and Stats class previously, and I literally had no idea what I was doing, and would have failed had it not been an online / open book exam. I want to advance through business in degree etc, but my options are so limited because Business requires so much math and numbers, and especially making it big in business you need a good financial bg.

I mean I can do basic stuff and some concepts, especially the most basic ones I can kind of get it, but you add different variables or it starts to get complicated is when my brain refuses to work. Accounting wasnt too bad because you dont really do any "math" its more about putting numbers where they need to go, so that makes it a bit easier.


It's crazy because my whole life people have just been either telling me to get a good grasp of fundamentals or that I just need to practice more, but I never really knew this condition existed (it's basically dyslexia but with numbers) and I think most people dont know about it as much as they know/hear about Dyslexia .... I dont want to use it as a crutch because I hate limiting myself, but legit it's pretty much impossible for me to grasp mathematical concepts and play with numbers because I just genuinely cant get it.

Click to shrink...

I've wondered this about myself for awhile. I managed to drag myself kicking and screaming through grad school level advanced statistics but it was grueling. It's so hard to keep my numbers straight. I have a near photographic memory. I see everything as pictures and videos in my head, but not numbers. Numbers I just can't hang on to. Hope I never have to ID a license plate.

 

[HeartlessNobody2134]

Never heard of this OP and I probably don't have it but I've always been terrible at math.

I'm good with basic math but once I hit Algebra I fell off the map. Adding letters in the mix with all that "What's the square root of X times Y divided by Z subtracted by A and then add B with the C parentheses." Well, you lost me.

No shit, I remember in high school I got a report card with all A's and one D in math.

 

[Jonnax]

I've got low brain ram

Got a master's degree in Engineering, but mental maths is my weakness.

These days my brain just say "nope" to calculations haha.

 

[rou021]

I've been clinically diagnosed with it (along with ADHD). While I had struggled with math for years, I initially chalked it up to having shitty teachers and the poor teaching methods they used. In every other subject at school I usually did well—or at least I was when I was able to concentrate on it. When I went to college though I realized that even when performing basic mathematical operations, I would sometimes struggle. I would make frequent mistakes and take an inordinate amount of time to do any calculation. I eventually got tested for it, confirming my suspicions. Dyscalculia and ADHD really compounded my difficulties. In fact, the only class I ever failed in college was a math class. Retook it with a different (and better) instructor and got a B+ though, so I was still able to get by, but it's always a struggle. I still have to double and triple check my work and I'm very reliant on a calculator—even for simpler stuff.

 

[Curler]

I'm curious how much of these diagnosis's is self-diagnosing "this is hard and I have yet to understand that you practice hard things to get better"

vs

"I'm fundamentally unable to process numbers"

Math is already a topic that easily fosters a sense of "if others don't get it then I guess I don't either!" Which really obscures when people "can't" or just "won't"

And I say this as someone who hated Math until well after they were out of college.

Click to shrink...

Being bad at math != dyscalculia

Click to shrink...

I mean yeah, it doesn't equal that, but you can also be bad with numbers as well (whether related or not). I've been tutored all the way through 6th grade until I finished all my maths in college, and a lot of that was the principles and remembering how to do the equations. But that is COUPLED with the fact that, like I mentioned, even on aspects I know and did correctly, I still did some number flipping in my work for no reason.

But this really goes beyond math. I don't really need an official diagnosis for a professional to say "yeah, you're flipping numbers a lot in your daily life, you got this". Like, I do it with basic stuff like phone numbers, when it's not even math related. I could read the numbers "2121" but say outloud "1212" for just... no reason :/ It's so weird, but it happens more than I would like, and I'm just trying to catch myself (or my SO will try and confirm/correct me) because it just happens whenever numbers are related, even if math is not.


Also semi-related, I've never really had true dyslexia, as I've been a reader since... I have no idea, I have no memory of learning to read, just that I always have been. BUT what does happen is I tend to read the opposite of things. If something says "can" I sometimes see it as "cannot", and vice-versa. I guess this is a form of dyslexia, because I swear I see it, until someone corrects me, and then I have to just apologize that I missread (I even do it on here sometimes :/) Part of the problem there I think is that reading for so long, I tend to just read too fast, not on purpose, either, and my brain wires just see the opposite sometimes, until I re-read it. It's weird :/

 

[Surakian]

I am bad at math (great at word problems which makes since considering I excel at English) but I know I don't have this. I can't do complex math in my head, but that's because teachers moved too fast in school for me to properly pick up math skills like that. I had a year where I was brilliant at Algebra because it clicked, and I am brilliant at Statistics when it comes to social sciences but nothing else xD

I'm glad so many people here are finding out that their own struggles might be due to dyscalculia, though. I feel like as kids they should just test everybody for all of this stuff regardless if there are signs or not. It would eliminate so many years of struggling and stress.

 

[GatsGatsby]

I do have issues at work with entering the wrong check amount with deposits. If I have a check thats 103.39 if I dont quietly read the amount to myself as I'm typing I can easily type in 103.93. Sometimes 3s become 8s also. I thought it was my eye sight because I try to keep my glasses updated at least every 2 years. My prescription has barely changed.

I think I may have dyscalculia and it can become more prominent when my anxiety is high. The workplace is very big on accuracy and there was a time I was messing up a lot. So my anxiety was up because I didnt want to keep getting errors and the dyscalculia was going unchecked. Now since I'm more calm and adjusted if I do have a number switch happen I can normally catch it before finishing the transaction.