Dyscalculia and Counting Backwards

One afternoon I asked my younger daughter how she learned to count backwards by ones or twos in school. I was curious if she had any tips that could help her older sister who was struggling with counting backwards (a difficult task for dyscalculics). My younger daughter told me she never really learned how to count backwards, she just knew how.

Later I relayed to my older dyscalculic daughter that I had not learned any helpful tips from her sister because she was never taught to count backwards, she just knew how to do it. She responded with a question, “You mean she memorized the order of the numbers backwards?”

“No,” I replied, “I mean she just knows, she can see in her mind how to count backwards from any number.”

“What?!" Her face was incredulous. "How could anyone just know? That’s crazy!”

We then laughed together because it was ironic that she could not even imagine being able to do count backwards with ease. She was baffled by someone’s ability to do this, while most people would be baffled by her inability to do this.

Our family calls these everyday experiences, “dyscalculic moments.” I hope that by sharing some of ours they will either normalize your own experience with dyscalculia, or they will provide you a glimpse into everyday life as a dyscalculic.

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