Understanding Your Own Educational Delays

Posted on: 27 May 2021

Most people have heard of dyslexia, a learning disability that makes it very difficult to learn to read. However, many people have not heard of dyscalculia, which is a learning disability similar to dyslexia but involves numbers instead of letters. If your child's math teacher has noticed that your child has difficulty with math and is recommending that your child get evaluated for dyscalculia, here are answers to some of the questions you may have. 

Who Can Diagnose Dyscalculia and How? 

If your child is enrolled in a traditional school, call your child's teacher to have them facilitate an assessment with an educational psychologist in your student's school district. Typically, school districts have one educational psychologist on staff for every 500-700 students, but in some areas, there may be only one for 2,000 or 3,500 students. If you homeschool, you will need to contact your state's Department of Education for information specific to your state. 

It is important to have your child's vision and hearing checked first so those issues can be ruled out as causes. Then with those ruled out, the educational psychologist can begin their assessment, which is done primarily through screening tools and speaking with your child while going over numbers and basic math with them. 

Where Can Your Child Get Help? 

The school will give your child what is called an IEP, which stands for individualized education plan. For dyscalculia, an IEP can involve allowing the student to use calculators during classroom instruction and have the math problems verbally communicated to them and by them during tests and exams in a quiet room. It will also provide a roadmap, so to speak, of various goals and accommodations.

You can also supplement your child's education by hiring a private math tutor. Obtain a copy of your child's IEP from the school so you can give it to your child's math tutor. Be sure to give the tutor the IEP enough information beforehand for them to go over it before meeting with your child. That way, everyone can be on the same page and the tutor will have an understanding of what has been challenges for your child to work on.

How Will Math Be Taught? 

Both the school and the tutor will teach your child math a bit differently, based on how your child tends to naturally learn. Here are several types of teaching methods that may be used.

Multisensory approach. The senses of touch, sight, sound, and movement can be incorporated into lesson plans. For example, your child's math skills may improve if they physically count blocks while moving them from one pile to another. Perhaps hearing the numbers out loud while looking at each block may help them better understand.

Structured and repetitive. For some students with dyscalculia, lesson plans that are structured and repetitive may work best. This type of instruction essentially involves building blocks, with each new lesson building upon previous lessons and only moving forward to new lessons after mastering each block for a strong foundation of comprehension. 

Verbal cues and reasoning. Another option is to verbally express numbers and math problems, both when reading the numbers and when working through the math problems to solve them. Your child's math tutor can use the time during the private lessons to help your child develop their own verbal methodology that they can then use during school hours when they take tests and exams. 

A private math tutor can be a pivotal part of your child's learning experience. When it comes to dyscalculia, determining how a child will learn math is a bit like trial and error. So, you'll want to hire an experienced math tutor for the best results.