Teachers Join Forces to Understand Dyscalculia, a Math-Related Learning Disorder – NewsBreak

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Children with dyscalculia, she said, also often have difficulty with time management and reading maps.

Further complicating matters, there is no consensus on how many types of dyscalculia there are: some experts say four, others more. And even when a child is diagnosed with the disorder, that doesn’t guarantee they will qualify for services.

The New York State education department notes , for example, that a clinical diagnosis of dyslexia, dysgraphia (a learning disability related to writing), or dyscalculia do not automatically qualify a student for special education programs and services — but that they are conditions that could qualify a student as having a learning disability.

Some families have tremendous difficulty in accessing the help their children need. Maryland-based attorney Nicole Joseph has represented some 800 students and their families in their fight for educational access in the past 20 years. Most suffer some combination of dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia, she said.

Part of the problem for children who struggle from math-related learning disabilities, Joseph said, is that teachers aren’t properly trained enough to help them — nor do they have sufficient time for the repetition and individual attention required.

While the science of reading has clarified the need for phonics-based instruction for all — and that this is particularly critical for children who, like Joseph’s son, have dyslexia — there is less clarity around mathematics .

Joseph said, too, that schools often fail to properly diagnose learning disabilities in well-behaved children, those who she called “bright, struggling and masking.” Part of her job is to help parents get a diagnosis — often through private psychologists — and to get schools to recognize their disability.

Despite these ongoing challenges, Pagliaro-Newman is hopeful about teachers’ growing understanding of the disorder.

“Because discussions of dyslexia, autism, and other neurodivergence have become more commonplace, I find that parents and educators are now turning their attention to math,” she said.

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Increased awareness and the development of better strategies might help some children avoid later pitfalls. While they will struggle with the disorder for life — like dyslexia, dyscalculia doesn’t go away — some can still achieve great heights in the subject with workarounds, teachers in the Overthink Tank group told The 74.

“I am very excited about the conversations that are being had in the education community about how best to support these learners — as well as the questions being asked regarding much-needed research and funding,” Pagliaro-Newman said.