Directions! Ah yes, those things that are great to know if you want to get from A to B. Yes, well, what if you don't know the way to B?
Get a map!
Well, that would be all well and good if dyscalculia didn't get in the way. The condition makes it very hard to read a map, unless very specific directions are labelled at each turning point.
Ask someone!
Dyscalculia can make it very difficult to remember directions, especially if they are only spoken ones. Trouble with left and right orientation is also common. This affects me most for example when someone suddenly says "turn right!" and then I'll panic because I don't instinctively know which way that would be, and I'll most likely end up going the wrong way. It isn't a case of absolutely not knowing it at all, because I know I write with my right hand and my left hand is the indie, less mainstream one.
Anyway, getting lost, or feeling like you're in an impossible situation is scary. I had a college induction day a little while ago (about the time I wrote my first entry on here), where all we had to find our way around was a confusing, plan-view map of the entire (huge) campus. I couldn't remember the way to the classroom I had been in earlier that day (in the language department) and the map was useless to me, so I ended up walking into the business studies building, which confused me greatly. Thankfully, my friend had seen me out of a window and came to get me. So basically, the easiest, least stressful way to get around a new place is if you have someone to take you there and to help you familiarise yourself, which isn't always easy to have. This may be true of any person, but for many dyscalculics, as I have explained, the normal options of directions or maps are cancelled out.
I would like to add that today marks the beginning of a project I have set myself. I'm going to create a short film about dyscalculia and what it's like to live with the condition. i have never made anything longer than a music video before so hopefully the outcome will be good!
Thanks for reading.
Thursday, 23 August 2012
Early signs and remembering dates
Looking back, now that I know I have dyscalculia, there are things I did when I was young that were early signs of my condition. Obviously at the time I had no idea it meant anything.
One particular thing that sticks out, which I have to stop myself from doing these days (especially as I'm doing a GCSE in history now), is how whenever I was reading a piece of text, if a date came up (for example 1892) I would completely skim over it because in comparison to reading the words, reading a number, especially such a big one, was a much harder task. Nowadays I stop myself and think it out: right, eighteen-ninety-two. I then carefully think about where that date is on a mental time line, so I fully absorb the information.
Now, in history we have to learn a lot of dates. I have surprisingly become quite good at this (for a dyscalculic), but only because of one thing: I remember the shape of the number and then I associate that with the event, for example, the German hyperinflation of 1923. It may sound strange, but it works for me (although I cannot remember birthdays of friends and family to save my life, i might add)! This association with words helps because I love words and language. this is where, like many dyscalculics, I find my area of expertise. i have managed to excel in French at my school, achieving an A at GCSE two years early. The only real trouble I have is the French numbers (it gets very complicated when you get to seventy)!
One particular thing that sticks out, which I have to stop myself from doing these days (especially as I'm doing a GCSE in history now), is how whenever I was reading a piece of text, if a date came up (for example 1892) I would completely skim over it because in comparison to reading the words, reading a number, especially such a big one, was a much harder task. Nowadays I stop myself and think it out: right, eighteen-ninety-two. I then carefully think about where that date is on a mental time line, so I fully absorb the information.
Now, in history we have to learn a lot of dates. I have surprisingly become quite good at this (for a dyscalculic), but only because of one thing: I remember the shape of the number and then I associate that with the event, for example, the German hyperinflation of 1923. It may sound strange, but it works for me (although I cannot remember birthdays of friends and family to save my life, i might add)! This association with words helps because I love words and language. this is where, like many dyscalculics, I find my area of expertise. i have managed to excel in French at my school, achieving an A at GCSE two years early. The only real trouble I have is the French numbers (it gets very complicated when you get to seventy)!
nth term = success doesn't have to be about maths?
10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 20
70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 90?
I do this almost every time I am counting. I find it harder to count once I get passed 20, as the numbers get bigger. I always have to do a double take when counting in tens after ninety, as I always seem to say 20 instead of 100; maybe because it sounds like nineteen? I don't know. I also often say ninety or sixty after seventy-nine, even though it should obviously be eighty. It just doesn't make sense in my head.
Sequences of numbers can be challenging. Of course, as it is part of the syllabus, we have to do more complicated sequences in GCSE maths class and work out how much it's going up or down by etc. However when they go up by different numbers each time, seeing as I can't hold numbers in my head, it is very difficult to get anywhere at all. And when the nth term gets involved, well, I probably knew what that meant once, for about ten minutes.
...And the Fibonacci sequence sounds like some sort of arrangement of biscuits.
70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 90?
I do this almost every time I am counting. I find it harder to count once I get passed 20, as the numbers get bigger. I always have to do a double take when counting in tens after ninety, as I always seem to say 20 instead of 100; maybe because it sounds like nineteen? I don't know. I also often say ninety or sixty after seventy-nine, even though it should obviously be eighty. It just doesn't make sense in my head.
Sequences of numbers can be challenging. Of course, as it is part of the syllabus, we have to do more complicated sequences in GCSE maths class and work out how much it's going up or down by etc. However when they go up by different numbers each time, seeing as I can't hold numbers in my head, it is very difficult to get anywhere at all. And when the nth term gets involved, well, I probably knew what that meant once, for about ten minutes.
...And the Fibonacci sequence sounds like some sort of arrangement of biscuits.
Saturday, 7 July 2012
Losing Things
Losing things can often be a problem for people with dyscalculia. I know it definitely does affect me. I have lost my glasses and every pair of earrings I own. I am always forgetting where I've put my hairbrush, camera, mobile phone, anything.
I believe that similar to the way it makes you completely forget how to do maths problems and formulae, dyscalculia affects your ability to remember where you just put something, even if it was just seconds ago.
You may agree or disagree with me, feel free to leave a comment either way.
Friday, 6 July 2012
Introduction
Hello, I'm Maggie and I am a teenager living with Dyscalculia, or 'maths dyslexia'. I have created this blog to share my experience of the condition and to help people's awareness and understanding.
Living with dyscalculia can be very difficult, frustrating and upsetting. I have always had problems with maths, for as long as I can remember, however this was always somewhat 'masked' by my intelligence and abilities in other subjects, particularly those such as English and French. The fact that the condition is widely unknown also contributes to this, even though studies show it is as common as dyslexia.
I am now finishing my second to last year at secondary school, meaning I am in the middle of doing GCSE maths. Because of my abilities in other subjects, the mask struck again, meaning I was put in a class in which we are all expected to get As and A*s in our exams. My target however, is a B. The fact that everyone in my class, in my eyes, seems miles ahead of me in their mathematical ability, it puts a lot of pressure on me. I don't like people seeing the bad grades that I get on all the tests, especially when they all expect me to be good because of how well I have done in other subjects.
The fact is, I can often do the work in class, albeit at a slower pace and with a lot more concentration than most, but once I have learnt it, I will forget it again in a matter of days, hours or even minutes.
The worst thing for me about having dyscalculia is that it makes me feel stupid. When someone asks me to do a simple sum and I will take forever to answer, or I have to ask someone else which way is left or how much change I am due in a shop. When I have to ask people to take me somewhere because I can't read a map.
When someone asks the time but the long hand has passed the half hour mark and I can't tell them straight away.
I know I'm not stupid. I know that I can do well in other subjects, that everyone has something they're not as good at. Yet dyscalculia takes it to a new level. It makes everyday situations hard, which can leave me feeling like I'll never be able to be independent. It often makes me cry. The amount of times I have had to hold back tears in my maths class is unbelievable.
And the worst thing? No one knows. The condition is so unknown that no one can even begin to understand what it's like, and most people don't even know I have it. I have been told by teachers to just "work harder" and "revise". Well of course I have done that! I'm not failing at maths on purpose! It is the one subject I try desperately to stay completely focused in, as hard as that may be.
However, this post has become very long, so I shall leave you there. If you had never heard of dyscalculia before, I hope this helped your understanding. If you have, or have experience with dyscalculia, then thank you for visiting my blog and please leave a comment, I will always reply. I will continue to blog about my experiences and things that help me to cope with mathematical situations, including map-reading and differentiating between left and right.
Living with dyscalculia can be very difficult, frustrating and upsetting. I have always had problems with maths, for as long as I can remember, however this was always somewhat 'masked' by my intelligence and abilities in other subjects, particularly those such as English and French. The fact that the condition is widely unknown also contributes to this, even though studies show it is as common as dyslexia.
I am now finishing my second to last year at secondary school, meaning I am in the middle of doing GCSE maths. Because of my abilities in other subjects, the mask struck again, meaning I was put in a class in which we are all expected to get As and A*s in our exams. My target however, is a B. The fact that everyone in my class, in my eyes, seems miles ahead of me in their mathematical ability, it puts a lot of pressure on me. I don't like people seeing the bad grades that I get on all the tests, especially when they all expect me to be good because of how well I have done in other subjects.
The fact is, I can often do the work in class, albeit at a slower pace and with a lot more concentration than most, but once I have learnt it, I will forget it again in a matter of days, hours or even minutes.
The worst thing for me about having dyscalculia is that it makes me feel stupid. When someone asks me to do a simple sum and I will take forever to answer, or I have to ask someone else which way is left or how much change I am due in a shop. When I have to ask people to take me somewhere because I can't read a map.
When someone asks the time but the long hand has passed the half hour mark and I can't tell them straight away.
I know I'm not stupid. I know that I can do well in other subjects, that everyone has something they're not as good at. Yet dyscalculia takes it to a new level. It makes everyday situations hard, which can leave me feeling like I'll never be able to be independent. It often makes me cry. The amount of times I have had to hold back tears in my maths class is unbelievable.
And the worst thing? No one knows. The condition is so unknown that no one can even begin to understand what it's like, and most people don't even know I have it. I have been told by teachers to just "work harder" and "revise". Well of course I have done that! I'm not failing at maths on purpose! It is the one subject I try desperately to stay completely focused in, as hard as that may be.
However, this post has become very long, so I shall leave you there. If you had never heard of dyscalculia before, I hope this helped your understanding. If you have, or have experience with dyscalculia, then thank you for visiting my blog and please leave a comment, I will always reply. I will continue to blog about my experiences and things that help me to cope with mathematical situations, including map-reading and differentiating between left and right.
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