The Alliance for Students with Disabilities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
What are typical challenges students with math-related learning disabilities face?
Some common challenges faced by learners with Dyscalculia, a learning disability that affects performance in mathematics, are the following:
- Mistakes such as number additions, substitutions, transpositions, omissions, and reversals in writing, reading, and recalling numbers.
- Difficulty with abstract concepts of time and direction.
- Inability to recall schedules and sequences of past or future events.
- Being chronically early or late.
- Inconsistent results in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
- Inability to visualize; appearing absentminded or lost in thought.
- Difficulty remembering math facts, concepts, rules, formulas, sequences, and procedures.
- Inconsistent mastery of math facts.
- Difficulty with left and right orientation.
- Difficulty following sequential procedures and directions in math steps.
- Slowness in understanding math concepts in word problems.
- Confusing operations signs or performing them in wrong order.
- Difficulty keeping score during games.
- Limited strategic planning ability.
This list is adapted from Dyscalculia.org.
For more information on Dyscalculia, consult Accommodating Math Students with Learning Disabilities.
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