How Does Dyscalculia Impact Everyday Life?
In this video you’ll learn about the everyday impact dyscalculic has on people of all ages. You can watch the video clip here or read the transcript below.
Video Transcript
What are those areas that dyscalculics struggle with, not just in the math classroom?
Dyscalculics of all ages will struggle with estimating numbers or quantities. So seeing an amount and knowing how many there are. My daughter, if you ask her how many chicken nuggets she would like, she can't tell you seven, eight, nine. She has to see, and come and look at the quantity and pour out about how many. She doesn't have a number attached to that quantity.
Dyscalculics will also struggle with telling time especially on an analog clock. It's very difficult. Maybe they still don't know how to use an analog clock or it's taken them a long time, and they really hate it. It stresses them out to use time on an analog clock.
Dyscalculics also struggle with time calculations, so not only reading a clock, but then making time calculations. So if I have to be somewhere in 20 minutes and right now it's three o'clock, figuring out what will that time be in 20 minutes? It gets very confusing also because there's so many different sets and groups of time. So we have 60 minutes in an hour. We have 60 seconds in a minute. But then we have 24 hours in a day. It gets very confusing and muddled for a dyscalculic.
Dyscalculics also struggle with measurements. This can be measurements in the kitchen, using fractions, measuring quantities. This could be building something and having to use a ruler or a measuring tape.
Dyscalculics also will struggle with directional confusion, so Left-Right, North-South. Very confusing.
They also struggle with money. Money is so related to quantities and numbers, that's basically all it is. And so understanding how much money they've spent, or how much money they have left, or what would be a usual amount for something to cost. It's a very stressful thing both for our students, but also adults.
And finally dyscalculics will often have anxiety over anything related to numbers. And if you think about how many times you come across numbers, and quantities, calculations, in your day, you will see why they feel so anxious most of the time. Both from having to cover up their difference, and also just anxiety over not knowing how to do something that it seems like everybody else knows how to do.
These are a few areas where dyscalculia impacts everyday life.