The 6 types of Dyscalculia (and indicators to detect them)

Every day we make use of mathematics in daily activities, it is essential to maintain our personal finances and for many of our daily tasks. Making the purchase in the supermarket, dividing the bill between friends in a bar or to know what amounts to use to make a cake; numbers are present in our day to day.

There are people who suffer from dyscalculia. It could be said that it is similar to dyslexia, but instead of referring to language, it has to do with mathematics and calculation. Basically, when we talk about dyscalculia, we refer to a whole variety of problems related to the difficulty of learning mathematics.

It is important to differentiate what dyscalculia really is, a learning disorder, from what is the mere difficulty in learning and managing math and calculation skills. In this article we will expand on what dyscalculia is and how many different ways it can present itself, learning to identify each one of them.

We recommend you read: "The 4 differences between dyslexia and dyslalia"

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What is dyscalculia?

As we have commented, dyscalculia is part of learning disorders, specifically defined as difficulty in learning mathematics. It is a neurological condition that affects the neural connections that process numerical language. As a result, affected individuals have difficulty understanding mathematics and related tasks.

Normally, this condition is identified during childhood, with mathematics being a very important educational block during the school years. Boys and girls with dyscalculia are confused with numbers and signs and have difficulties carrying out mental calculations or geometric abstractions. It is estimated that this disorder occurs in 4.5% of boys and girls enrolled in school, with a similar distribution between boys and girls.

It is difficult to diagnose it because mathematics education is usually difficult for many boys and girls and the teaching staff may think that dyscalculia is a simple difficulty or a lack of desire to learn. Therefore, it is important to know in what ways dyscalculia can present itself and what can be done to help boys and girls who suffer from it to overcome these difficulties or to learn to live with they.

types of dyscalculia

There has been talk of six different types of dyscalculia:

1. verbal dyscalculia

Verbal dyscalculia refers to the difficulty handling numbers and understanding numerical concepts associated with the names of numbers, the units of measurement in quantities and the understanding of terms and symbols mathematicians. Basically, it is closely related to the comprehension of numerical and mathematical concepts that are presented orally. Examples of verbal dyscalculia can be:

problems naming quantities: the problem is not determined by the identification of elements or in the work with sets related to quantities, but in the verbalization of those values, in the ability to name and specify how many elements can be found in a set, for example example.
Number naming problems: In cases of verbal dyscalculia it will be difficult to identify the numbers and be able to express them. An example of this would be looking at a number 7 but saying the word two to refer to it.

2. Practognostic dyscalculia

Practognostic dyscalculia has an important relationship with fine motor skills and the manipulation of objects. For this reason, it becomes difficult to compare between quantities and sizes, for example. People affected by this type of dyscalculia will have difficulties enumerating, comparing and manipulating objects mathematically.

In these cases, reference is not made to the difficulty in recognizing and naming numbers, as in verbal dyscalculia, but to difficulties related to counting or the ability to identify how many components are inside the same object, for example example.

3. lexical dyscalculia

Lexical dyscalculia refers to the difficulty reading numbers and mathematical symbols, without affecting numerical or mathematical comprehension when talking about different concepts.. In these cases, the difficulties with numbers appear only when it is appropriate to read them, despite having adequate cognitive and academic skills in other areas. It is the most common type of dyscalculia. Some examples of this dyscalculia can be:

Difficulty in recognition and confusion between mathematical signs.
Problems remembering and using mathematical symbols and their meanings.
Difficulties understanding and following written instructions that involve mathematical concepts.
Confusions between words and similar mathematical terms.
Difficulties in reading and comprehension of texts with mathematical vocabulary, mathematical problems or mathematical theory texts.

4. graphic dyscalculia

Graphic dyscalculia is difficulty writing numbers and mathematical symbols.. Boys and girls with graphic dyscalculia can understand mathematical concepts, but they are not able to write them, in addition to generating problems writing symbols as well. By having these difficulties or errors related to numerical writing, boys and girls affected due to this type of dyscalculia, they can write numbers wrong or copy them directly from another text. Some examples of this can be presented as follows:

Disorder in the writing of some numbers, inverting digits or figures.
Problems in the alignment and spatial coherence in the writing of numbers, resulting in numbers that are out of order or with incorrect proportions.
Difficulties in visually distinguishing between different digits.
Tendency to omit or add digits when writing numbers, leading to miscalculations or numerical representations.
Difficulties in correctly copying books from other sources.

5. Ideognostic dyscalculia

Ideognostic dyscalculia, also known as visuo-spatial dyscalculia, affects the ability to understand and handle visual and special mathematical concepts.. People with this type of dyscalculia have difficulties visualizing and mentally manipulating shapes, sizes, distances, and relationships associated with mathematical concepts. This can be presented in different ways, for example:

Difficulties in understanding geometric concepts; shapes, figures, angles, symmetry, coordinates...
Problems in understanding spatial operations, such as rotation or reflection of figures.
Difficulties in visualizing and understanding the place value of numbers in numeral systems (units, tens, hundreds...).
Problems estimating or comparing sizes and distances, making it difficult to solve problems involving measurements or proportions.

6. operational dyscalculia

Operational dyscalculia, also called procedural or calculation dyscalculia, affects the ability to calculate mathematically and follow numerical procedures. These people can have a hard time understanding and using the different steps and algorithms needed to carry out mathematical operations. Among its different ways of presenting itself, we find:

Difficulty doing basic operations such as addition, challenge, multiplication, and division, both mentally and in writing.
Problems remembering and applying calculation steps and procedures.
Calculation errors, omission or exchange of numbers, which produces incorrect operations.
Difficulty understanding and applying advanced math concepts such as fractions, percentages, or square roots.
Problems in solving mathematical problems in a sequential and logical way.

Indicators to detect it

As we have previously commented, it is important to distinguish those boys and girls who have difficulties with calculations and numbers from those who have dyscalculia as such. For these cases, it is very important to develop a diagnosis of the problem in time to be able to take the pertinent educational measures.

In addition, dyscalculia must also be differentiated from acalculia. Acalculia is a disorder related to the ability to calculate that is not determined by learning difficulties or educational development, but by a brain lesion.It can occur even during adulthood. To conclude this article, we are going to review the most common symptoms of dyscalculia, to facilitate its detection and differentiate it from other difficulties or problems:

1. Difficulties in writing numbers

When learning to write numbers, children with dyscalculia experience problems carrying out a correct writing of the same, doing it backwards or with disconnected strokes, without being able to represent the numbers properly.

2. Many difficulties in sequential series or numerical classifications

The sequential series or numerical classifications are ordered sequences of numbers with a link between them; numbers arranged according to a pattern or rule of formation. For example, the most basic sequential series is to count the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4... in a successive and ordered way, which follows an increasing pattern. Boys and girls with dyscalculia experience many difficulties in understanding these series and associating them with a common pattern..

3. reasoning problems

Reasoning problems in people with dyscalculia have an effect mainly on the solving mathematical problems that require an understanding of numbers, quantities or calculations concrete.

4. Difficulties with numbers in general

These difficulties refer to very varied problems from each to the identification and understanding of numbers:

Difficulties to identify them that generate doubts or errors when naming or writing them.
Confusions between similar graphisms (for example, 3 and 8; 4 and 7…).
Confusions between mathematical signs (confusing addition for subtraction or vice versa, for example), which can generate inversion, rotation or transposition errors when writing or naming them.
Problems in the interpretation of numerical sentences.
Difficulties in operational thoughts, mental calculation, order, quantities...
Difficulties in spatiotemporal coordination.
Problems understanding concepts such as position or size.
Great difficulty remembering or memorizing rules, formulas, or mathematical sequences such as multiplication tables.