Hopefully awareness in this day of age, several people are familiar with dyslexia correct? Well far less people of the world knows of dyslexia's counterpart dyscalclia. Dyscalclia is the mathematical disabilities.

The disorder is just as prevalent in the population as dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder around 5% of the population. However; the underlying brain dysfunction causing dyscalculia is still a mystery. This does not mean mathematical learning disorders aren't real or something that miss diagnose like ADD. The reason why few studies are done about this real disorder, is that medical science are having a hard time pinpointing where disorder resigns in the brain. Dr Roi Cohen Kadosh, of the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience believes after forming testes of trans cranial magnetic stimulation, the evidence that dyscalculia is caused by malformations in the right parietal lobe of the brain could be they area of physical abnormalities present in dyscalculics.

For now, more studies needs to be done to be certain.

Because of the lack of attention in either scientific studies or lack of awareness, this disorder continues to be ignore. Hell even my spell checker believes I misspell dyscalculia. Please discuss why you believe such a disorder is either real, why it's hard to find the problem, or just share your concerns about dyscalclia whether you have it or not.

In case you were wondering...............I do not have dyscalculia.
Posting some links about awareness and of course symptoms for those who are interested.

Symptoms

Dyscalculia forum

Those who participate in this thread, thank you. It's nice to read upon people who share this disorder. Let's continue to spread awareness.

Also this thread is not made for the sole purpose of a support group. My intentions to be informative and hope to encourage some form of debated.

Ya know, I question quite a few of the psychological disorders that are being thrown around nowadays. This one is a new one for me, but honestly it smells of b.s. Some people just suck at math or are slow learners, doesn't mean we need to throw a name on it and call it a mental disorder.

By the way, I exhibit many of the symptoms for this "disorder" (before anyone attempts to play the "you don't have these issues so how could you know?" card)

That's an interesting perspective.
I'm am very very good at math.But its not my favorite subject.
The reason I put this up is because I just wanted to know if anyone else knew about it,actually I think a lot of it is b.s too,but I wouldn't know because I have no problems in math,nor do I know anyone who does.

Originally Posted by ElendarSilvermoon

Ya know, I question quite a few of the psychological disorders that are being thrown around nowadays. This one is a new one for me, but honestly it smells of b.s. Some people just suck at math or are slow learners, doesn't mean we need to throw a name on it and call it a mental disorder.

By the way, I exhibit many of the symptoms for this "disorder" (before anyone attempts to play the "you don't have these issues so how could you know?" card)

Would you say that dyslexia "smells of bs"?

I've actually looked into this before. The symptoms seem to describe me pretty well. I'd consider myself good at math, but I tend to switch numbers around. Sometimes I'll reach into a box of crayons or something, looking straight at the red one, and pull out a different color. Meaning my brain mixes some things up. I'm not sure whether I'd call it Dyscalculia though. It might just fit better to say I'm uncoordinated and prone to overlooking things.

Originally Posted by Kris

Would you say that dyslexia "smells of bs"?

For most of the people that have been diagnosed with it? Yes. Most of them are simply slow readers (or don't want to try). I think the medical field likes to over-diagnose people simply to make more money. Mental issues don't truly become disorders until they severely impact your daily life to the extent where you can't hold down a steady job or keep at least average grades in school (for more of a reason than just simple dismay with the school system, as is my case). I have not met one person diagnosed with dyslexia who could not excel in school or their job, and my fiancee is worse with numbers than I am and she still holds down a job in the insurance industry of all things.

Honestly, the symptoms of these two disorders describe much of the American population from my observation, which is why I'm against the terms being thrown around so much.

I go back to my original statement: Some people simply aren't mentally wired to excel at reading and/or arithmetic. No need to make things more complicated by labeling and medically diagnosing it.

I think with the fact that human brains are for the most part shrouded areas for us, in terms of their function and role in the mental and physical state etc, i'm not surprised that such discoveries are being made as people come to realize the vastness of our cognitive capabilities.
I think it's harsh to assume that some things such as dyslexia can exist while discrediting others that come to the forefront. That said, a lot of the time i can see why people get annoyed with it, as there's a fine line between natural ineptitude and genuine cognitive malfunction. I find myself asking, is there even a difference? These days, when confronted with new terms and conditions such as this one, i keep an open mind, and am generally accepting of them.

Originally Posted by ElendarSilvermoon

For most of the people that have been diagnosed with it? Yes. Most of them are simply slow readers (or don't want to try). I think the medical field likes to over-diagnose people simply to make more money. Mental issues don't truly become disorders until they severely impact your daily life to the extent where you can't hold down a steady job or keep at least average grades in school (for more of a reason than just simple dismay with the school system, as is my case). I have not met one person diagnosed with dyslexia who could not excel in school or their job, and my fiancee is worse with numbers than I am and she still holds down a job in the insurance industry of all things.

Honestly, the symptoms of these two disorders describe much of the American population from my observation, which is why I'm against the terms being thrown around so much.

I go back to my original statement: Some people simply aren't mentally wired to excel at reading and/or arithmetic. No need to make things more complicated by labeling and medically diagnosing it.

How would over-diagnosing dyslexia make someone more money? Do you understand how it's treated? :| They don't give them medicine or counseling, but they have to go to special classes which will help them read and write correctly; this costs more money for the school systems, doctors don't get paid for it, so I don't understand how you think that diagnosing people with learning disabilities for money.

That's fantastic for your fiancee. Because she can do so well, it's obvious that she cannot do that. However, like you said, everyone is wired differently, and that includes that people read and see things differently. For some, no matter how hard they can try in something like math or the humanities, they will not be able to succeed without special help because they cannot read something like others.

I've actually been diagnosed with dyscalculia. After years of devoting my time only to maths, watching my other grades plummet because I didn't put in the necessary work in those fields, and not succeeding in maths either, I was extremely relieved to find out that it was actually completely normal. (: I don't think it reeks of bs at all. I have friends with dyslexia, and they struggle so hard. No one's going to tell me that that's a figment of some shrink's all too vivid imagination. I'm alright, because I can comprehend numbers to a certain extent, even though I mix them up constantly. My fiancee is a math wiz, so he does the calculatin' in our family.

Luckily, I know that this has been 'looked into' by people far more intelligent than some, whom I find myself inclined to trust.

I also have been diagnosed with dyscalculia my junior year of college after years of struggling with concepts other people think are a piece of cake. I almost failed high school because "I wasn't trying hard enough" in algebra and it took 4 tries to pass my math requirement in college. It isn't JUST that you're slow at math, imagine if every time you looked at a number you wrote down another one, or you couldn't perform basic arithmetic in your head and were forced to use your fingers. I agree to an extent is sounds like B.S but if it's something you've had to suffer with a good chunk of your life, and then you realize someone has developed an alternative method for you to figure this stuff out it's a huge relief!

I have a few of the symptoms. I'm extremely forgetful with audio things, like my Dad will tell me to do the dishes, and five seconds later I've already forgotten. I can remember printed word exactly what was written, how it was written, and how it was laid out on the page. I have horrible sense of direction, can't remember numbers, cannot read music (I've tried to learn, failed.) and I can't use a map. Some of these things are really crappy to have, since they interfere with my daily life.

Math has always been an immense difficulty for me. Granted, I can *live* from day to day using calculators. But in an academic environment I loose all ability to function in math classes. I remember sitting down in math classes during elementary, jr high and high school faced with problems. I would work through them thinking that I'd be doing them correctly, but I'd get them back all wrong. I was never in any advanced math. My mind seems to just kind of shut down at certain points and I begin getting headaches or seriously exhausted trying to figure out problems. I had to retake a remedial math class at an online college 3 times and I still didn't pass it. We're talking material that was covered in elementary school.

On the other hand, I excel in a lot of other areas. It was strange because I'd be an A student everywhere, but I'd consistently fail in math. There's just something not normal with that.

It would be nice if this was more well known. It may have prevented me from having to drop out of my online classes due to not understanding my lack of comprehension in math, and that the online classes were not working for me. Instead, they based it on me not being motivated enough to succeed, despite that I had all around good grades in other classes. :/ Kind of stupid.