The idea of dyscalculia is new to me and I never really considered that I might have it, so it feels like I’m making excuses for my inadequacy and failures by slapping a disability I might not even have onto myself. I’m afraid of getting a diagnosis because of the possible costs and judgement that comes with it… my understanding of it is very surface level right now so I’m hoping to gain some insight from people who might have it

Some things that made me suspect I might have it: (I’m 19 by the way)

1. Cannot tell left from right without checking which hand makes the letter ‘L’
2. Struggled really hard learning how to read clock faces as a child
3. Have to use fingers to subtract in order to tell military time
4. As a child, could never finish math speed tests on time, always the last to submit in class
5. Bordering on failing maths all the time in school despite achieving top marks in other subjects (but I always thought it’s because I never put a lot of effort into studying and understanding it, since I never liked maths)
6. Still need to use fingers to subtract, have only recently put in the effort to try and do mental additions
7. Severe time blindness, can’t estimate how long a task takes accurately. (For example, I thought I could draw 12 pages of a comic a day when in reality I could only do 2-4, was in denial for 2 weeks before I adjusted my schedule)
8. Struggled very hard with finishing exams on time in school, especially essay writing and long questions. This was very hard on me as my grades started slipping a lot because of this
9. Was terrible in dance class (following instructions + learning the steps) despite learning for 7 years
10. Terrible sense of direction even in familiar places. (Got lost for 30 mins trying to make a 5 minute journey in an area I went to school in for 8 years…)

What makes me think I might not actually have dyscalculia:

1. I don’t have trouble understanding math symbols like +, x, -, ➗
2. I feel like I could have improved if I had just put in more effort to practice my maths and exam timing skills (struggled with demotivation and severe procrastination so I always thought it’s just my fault)

Like after tutoring, I was able to pull my mark up from a 15/30 to 28/30 in the easy section of my maths exam paper 3. I can grasp simple concepts for each chapter in maths (for example, algebra I can do the basic stuff with simple practice but can’t do it once they start getting slightly more complex and needing more steps) 4. I don’t think I ever had trouble with mixing numbers up or with reading out number lists 5. I can memorise math formulas if I study hard enough

These are just things off the top of my head, I’m not looking for an internet diagnosis or anything like that, just hoping to get some insight or reassurance from a community :,) thank you I’m wondering if it’s worth it to do an SpLD assessment through uni

Sooo, long story short, I've always been shit at math (I have no idea how I passed any standardized test) and now I'm considering college, and by gods I need to get a job too! I've recently been considering if I might have Dyscalculia. I did take a few online tests, which indicated that I might have moderate dyscalculia!

I would like to get tested & properly diagnosed by a professional, as online tests are only a mere suggestion at best... and also because if I really do have it, then I know damn well I'd need accommodations in school/work settings! (Plus, if/when I get a tutor, it might be helpful to know)

So, where exactly do I begin? How do I navigate the system? Can insurance cover this type of thing? What doctors do I need to see? I'm in the US

I’m self diagnosed in the process of getting diagnosed. But the pre college math class i’ve taken now twice i didn’t get a high enough grade to move forward. I EXCEL in every other class, history, science, film, international relations etc. but this class i’ve taken for 6 months and even went out of my way to help my teacher struggling with mental health (he trauma dumped on me and i listened thinking he’d help me pass -he didn’t). i just broke down and haven’t been able to be by myself. i feel like no one believes this is a real thing. ever since i was a kid i’d want to off myself bc i based my worth off acedemics and couldn’t get it together with math. i’m now 22 in school and NEED math to progress and feel stuck. i can’t work at a minimum wage job the rest of my life. i want to work in a communications major field (PR) and the only math i need is statistics and the general ed ones but i’m so depressed rn but why does no one understand this is a fucking real thing. what do you guys do for work? how do i get through life. i feel like my bf who’s graduating is gonna be embarrassed his gf is a fucking idiot. he reassured me but i have severe anxiety and this triggered that and my depression. sorry i’m venting.

I have OCD, anxiety, and dyscalculia. My anxiety is intense and I just started working a new job which involves a cash register at a fast food place, which is different from working the retail cash register which I've already done. I can't just scan an item, I have to write on a food box what they want and do change, etc. Today I ran into a mishap and opened the till before inputting the change. I had to use a calculator (the order was 21.50, customer gave me 25) and i have my boss standing RIGHT over my shoulder. I was taking super long and my boss is just like "count up! count up! are you getting it?" and I tell the customer and my boss that I have a learning disability and they both say "no you don't! they just don't teach kids math anymore in school" like can these old people not? I literally won 10k over a lawsuit with my school in Ontario. My disability is fucking real. I can't. I just wish people believed me.

Hello all,

So my partner was just diagnosed with Dyscalculia. She's always known she's had trouble with numbers but only recently discovered the actual disability had a name and all that. She was officially diagnosed by psychologists and is now on the hunt for tools to help her in her job.

I'm sure many of you know that this disability isn't very well supported in the working world :(

She is looking for a keyboard for her PC that has the numbers on the numpad and top row written as WORDS instead of numbers. So "One, Two, Three" etc etc. I know its possible to get custom made keycaps but, still looking for a fully designed keyboard/keypad that was created specifically for Dyscalculia. She uses an app on her phone that has this feature for the calculator, among other helpful tools, but can't seem to find a counterpart on PC. Are there any programs that run on the PC that assist with calculations and such? Her job does deal with numbers quite a bit, and she loves it - doesn't want to change professions. I think her dream program would be some sort of on screen calculator that has the keys written as words instead of numbers, and she would be able to copy/paste the final solutions from that into one of her work windows. From there she could place it where it needs to be.

Any information anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

I’m curious, how do you experience reading with dyscalculia. Do you not struggle at all? Do you find it easier? Do the struggles of maths appear similarly when reading?

I have autism and I believe I have hyperlexia but this does not translate into maths for me. My brain easily notices patterns in numbers but this doesn’t help when doing actual equations so I have always been average at maths and yet skilled in English. I’m curious how this translates over on the other end of the spectrum.

I have diagnosed adhd and 99% sure i have dyscalcula. I’m 17 and still count with my fingers, i can’t read the time on a clock without counting it, i don’t know my times tables, i can’t count backwards and i can’t do even the easiest maths sums in my head. I can’t even word count my work as i lose track of what number im at. It’s actually really annoying how none of this was questioned in primary school. i went undiagnosed adhd until last year and i’ve struggled so much with maths ever since i was little 🤦

Similar to how others speak of “neurotypical” shift in behavior and their ability to identify neurodivergents when encountering someone them in which the neurodiverse person also notices the shift in how they’re now valued on a social hierarchical level.

I’ve noticed this with except with my unfortunate math inabilities and interactions with tutors who get to see how cognitively not up to par I am with math in ways most people won’t see.

This happens particularly with female tutors who rehash their “ex mean girl” they graduated from as they’ve aged, but can’t help but make a reappearance when they discover that you don’t know much, aren’t catching up to speed, with- that eyebrow raise, stiffening of the facial muscles, glare into your soul, and slow head-nod that presents almost to satiate their energy and discomforts and almost desperately but failing to become more blatantly patronizing than they can handle letting out.

I adore the few of my tutors in my university who not only maintain momentum re-explaining things to me, being personable, and even reassuring me (something I don’t need, but I greatly appreciate) however there’s always one that treats you as they’ve ranked you, subtly patronizes you multiple times in ways that if you snapped back against and called out would make you look like a crazy person.

Snickers, eyebrow raises, small sighs, subtle lack of friendliness to you despite you being personable and positive nervous laughs and jokes to lighten up the situation are met with stern faces. I almost snapped at my tutor today and another lady whom was with her who atop made the joke “what do you mean? you should be at the end of your book and know everything by now” to which I stared at her sternly for a few seconds and said ok? but I was ready to passively sent the message that just because I’m “retarded” in math doesn’t mean that I’m incompetent in general.

I’m definitely not going to stay quiet next time nor sit with my personal discomforts just as they’re unable to.

I am so tired of having dyscalculia. I’m so tired of checking my answers over and over and over again just for them to be wrong. so tired of studying so much just for it to make absolutely no difference. It’s making me lose my ambition to go to medical school or continue onto higher education, because what’s the point? I’d end up making mistakes constantly whether it’s a test or writing down patient information or whatever. Someone’s life could end because i accidentally wrote down 5 when i should have written 2. I constantly am feeling like a failure. Whether I put in effort or not, i get the same grades if it involves numbers. I’m about to graduate with my bachelor’s in neuroscience and I’m utterly exhausted of berating myself for this, I don’t ever want to take another exam again and I honestly feel like I shouldn’t even go for a science career because the stakes seem too high; a simple mistake could be life or death for someone, and my only excuse would be “yeah I’m just not great with numbers”. I wish I chose a different degree, because as much as I love neuroscience I’m not sure whether four years of hating myself for something I can’t really change was worth this degree.

How do I stop letting this stop me. I wish I could just open my brain and fix whatever is causing dyscalculia.

I have always struggled with numbers and anything relating to numbers as a given but I also struggle with:

-struggle with directions, maps, and travelling. I easily get lost, feel disoriented, and panic. It takes me about 6 months or more to be able to get a new bus, or walk a new route through a town or city.

• I couldn't understand the difference between left and right until I was about 13, and that was only because I got a game console and had L and R controls.

• I was terrified of computers and would cry if I had to use a computer because I couldn't get my head around the steps needed to navigate a computer simply to open a program etc. I was given one on one tutoring at school for this and eventually overcame it when I repeatedly did the required steps and memorised them.

• very poor memory in general, but struggling with recalling events, sequencing of what happened, and recalling information. I basically have to ask for a paper copy of everything because I can't take in information given to me verbally

-bad time management eg not realising how long it will take me to do a task. Sometimes arriving 2 hours early to an appt because I couldn't work out well when I needed to travel, how long it would take me, time it would take to walk x distance or transfer buses / train etc. I try really hard to not be late for things but I sometimes am, but usually chronically early due to anxiety around being late.

-budgeting and money struggles - I can do my best to work to a budget, but my partner has taken over our finances and direct debits / bill responsibility to an extent because it causes me so much stress and distress. Writing things down helps but I would say it is a struggle for me since I first started becoming financially independent.

-I couldn't tie shoe laces until I was 14 because I just couldn't comprehend the steps /pattern to tie the laces. Even the spongebob song didn't help me nor videos for young children. I wore velcro shoes until almost 15 when I really wanted converse sneakers so I finally learned, though it took hours and a lot of frustration and crying on my part. To this day people still comment I tie my laces an odd way.

-odd mannerisms and ways of moving my body - I have been asked a few times if I am dyspraxic because of my stance or way I hold myself and move. It really embarasses me. I was terrible at any kind of sport for years because I struggled with the pattern of lining up movements eg how to hit a tennis ball

-struggle with planning and sequencing events/plans, often forgetting plans I have and double booking myself etc

-struggle in conversation keeping the rhythm of conversation going, finding myself to be stiff and creating large paused or lapses, creating bad social anxiety.

I'm waiting to also be assessed for asd and adhd - my sister is diagnosed with both

So I suppose I was just wondering does anybody else struggle with these things - do you also have adhd or are on the asd spectrum or are these just the lesser talked about parts of dyscalculia for adults?

Hello, 27m. I recently just started a job which required me to learn a process that requires multiple steps to complete a particular task on a computer and realized that the way I process instructions in my mind is never processed the same until I do it myself, basically making me a hands-on learner but this goes back all the way to elementary school where the times tables were a system/concept I couldn't understand and instead of understanding them I'd try my best to memorize the way numbers sounded on each times table. This eventually was the way I went on about a lot of things that involved instructions or formulas. I know for a fact I'm not dyslexic because I was always top of my class in literature-related subjects as well as history, where I've managed to memorize a plethora of important/interesting historical dates and so on.

It was so bad before high-school that I was moved to a private school that had a different learning system where everyone was assessed and worked different levels according to their abilities. To add even more context, I was a freshman with 5th grade math abilities yet senior level etymology and reading.

In the past few days I've taken some screenings where they point to Dyscalculia but only a specific number of questions apply to me.

For example, I'm quite good with time keeping and estimating speed/distance or knowing where I leave things and have a good sense of direction.

My biggest issues are things like word problems, spoken directions, giving someone an accurate amount in change, losing track of what number I was in while counting large quantities. Some could say I'm just bad at math but as stated above, it's more than just the numbers but concepts or processing information or instruction that require an order of events.

I avoid Learning new things or dislike change or adjusting because it triggers some kind of anxiety.

I tend to do particularly well once I learn a process, however I notice I tend to ask more questions than others who are learning the same thing as well as constantly needing reassurance that the way I'm doing things is correct.

I know this is not an official diagnosis thread but I'm interested to know if there is anyone here with a similar experience who may already be formally diagnosed.

it takes me a while just to tell the time. all i have is a ged. i don't know what to do

Being a very "left-brained" (as inaccurate as that concept is, but using it to convey the idea) while also having professionally diagnosed dyscalculia is probably the most frustrating aspect of my life.

I'm far too literal to truly excel in the arts and... well dyscalculia greatly limits what I can do in STEM.

Currently, I work as a freelance SEO content writer, but as many people know, generative AI is putting the demand for that skill at risk.

I got good grades in school (except math, which almost cost me my graduation lmao, thankfully getting 80s and above in literally everything else helped), so it's not any kind of "book smarts" issue. It's just...I feel so unaligned with any of the options the world is handing out.

So anyway, my question is, are there others out there like me? And what do you do for work? While SEO writing works well for me right now, I'm exploring what else would even suit someone like me.

Too literal for the "soft jobs" too dyscalculic for the "hard jobs." The heck?

I still have yet to find my car and I’m completely exhausted. For the life of me I cannot remember where I parked. My key fob is from the early 2000’s and is trash so it only works if I’m literally right next to the car but wtf man. Why doesn’t my brain just remember things?? I’m so tired of this. What do yall do to prevent this?

Hi everyone! I'm very much aware y'all are not clinicians that can diagnose someone. However, I'm really wondering what y'alls opinion is on the symptomps I experience, before I take it to a professional, to see if they could be related to dyscalculia and if someone recognizes themself in my story.

Little background: I'm 21F, diagnosed with Tourette's and giftedness (IQ around 130).

Symptoms I experience:

*Great difficulty with math since high school, it was the subject i worked the hardest for and got tutoring for by my parents and teacher and yet I often scored like 30's while in other classes I scored 70-80-90's with ease. Teachers also saw math really wasn't working for me and eventually the subject got dispended (I didn't have to do it anymore). I also was extremely slow doing maths

*Very poor sense of direction

*Difficulty sorting numbers on IQ test

*Math strategies on IQ test require effort; counting on fingers

*Difficulty remembering dates & names

*Difficulty with time tables & percentages

*Slow at reading an analog clock (but barely use this so possibly just not trained enough)

*Slightly slower at counting e.g. dice

*More than average (?) difficulty with large numbers

*Difficulty estimating quantities (e.g. buying food)

*Difficulty regulating working memory when doing double tasks which can be a sign of a developmental or learning disability (IQ-test)

Reasons i likely don't have dyscalculia

*My math problems started in high school. As a kid there were three groups for maths based on how good you were and I even got placed in the highest group. Does this mean I can't have dyscalculia? Or did my high IQ just compensate my struggles really well?

• I am able to do basic mental math like adding and substracting, with some difficulty, but i think everyone has somewhat of a difficulty with that?

• At the time my school math problems started i wasn't feeling great mentally (however, these are dyscalculia symptoms I still experience, while I'm doing good now)

So that's that. Thank you so much for reading and responding! 🫶

Vikera

I don't know what I'm going to do. I really want to get into a good college but I just can't understand most of the problems. Its going to be so embarassing if I get a bad score because everyone I know views me as the "Smart one" 😭 😭 😭 😭

I love to dance but learning choreography is a nightmare for my dyscalculia and I can't keep up even in most beginner classes. The only way I've been able to scratch that itch is by doing "dance-y" cardio workouts by emkfit and The Fitness Marshall (which are really fun), but I want to work on improving my dance skills and learning choreography. Does anyone know any dyscalculia-friendly classes or resources where they make the choreography really simple and accessible?

I’ve always been a rather smart kid, my test scores have shown I’m a fair bit above average in just about every subject (not a genius by any means, but pretty smart), other than getting some letters mixed up, I’ve always been proficient in reading, writing, the sciences…I’m just a bit of a nerd in general, I build drones and RC model planes, I keep many exotic pet reptiles from places like Indonesia and Africa, I have tons of these special interests that require a fair bit of intellect, but for some reason, I’ve never, not once in my life, been anything but below average in math, from the point I started school, to right now (sophomore in highschool) I’ve barely scraped by in math, I’m failing this year while being extremely successful in most other classes, my father screams, throws things, and physically threatens me solely because I just can’t keep my math grades up. To me the only answer is Dyscalculia, I can’t see why I am so proficient in other subjects, but am a total failure when it comes to anything involving numbers, the worst part of all of this is that my dad simply refuses to acknowledge the existence of disorders like dyscalculia (despite he himself having been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia) so is there any way I could convince this manchild that I’m most likely not normal so I can get tested?

In my country when you do vocational education you need to graduate with a 5,5 for basic maths and I wanted to know the opinion of other people so I posted it but people didn’t mind at all and someone even said that extra time should be enough.

And I partially agree that you should be good in basic math but for me and many others it’s just impossible, I am not at the level of math a 16 yr should be I can do as much as a 5 yr old and even that is just to difficult for me. I don’t think people understand how embarrassing it is not being able to do something everyone else can, at some point I have even been suicidal about not being able to do basic math. I have kind of given up on trying and cheat at every test but I can’t do that when I have to graduate so I’ll just not get my diploma.

This is more of a rant than anything else but I really needed to get it out

I’m an undergraduate psychology student with a challenge ahead of me. I’ve recently signed up to complete two independent research projects (one literature review and one survey based quantitative study) during the upcoming fall semester. If I finish both in time AND do a fantastic job, I can graduate with two publications under my belt. Which I desperately need in order to get into grad school and accomplish my dreams.

Naturally, I need to both learn and master research methods, basic stats and SPSS before the summer ends. So are there any books and resources geared towards folks with dyscalculia who need to learn statistics or advanced forms of math? Most of what I can find sadly focuses on grade school or high school level subjects, not college level stats. Or what I’d need to know to get As in my major’s required statistics courses.

I'm trying to find out what causes this, I don't have a diagnosis related to math but it was the closest I could find. I'm wondering if numbers become letters in your head? I can't remember numbers. If I'm trying to write down a phone number from another written source for example I have to check back multiple times one number at a time. If a person is saying a number it has to be a single number at a time so i can write it before i forget.If I try to remember a couple numbers at a time I say it in my head repeatedly but they become letters and I get confused. If I say the numbers outloud repeatedly before writing this helps.

Apart from that I'm terrible at math and still count on my fingers for addition/subtraction (calculator for multiplication and division) math is like a foreign language to me. I failed math so many times in high-school I ended up getting my ged. I don't have these problems with letters and excelled at English in school. But math I just can't make sense of.

pretty much what the title says, i haven’t been professionally diagnosed with dyscalculia but i strongly suspect i have it and i’m embarrassingly god-awful with money. i get paid bi-weekly but i can’t even make my paycheck last up to the 2nd week and i don’t even live on my own, which is humiliating for me, lol.

Sorry to be one of those people who asks the same question thats been asked a thousand times.

I self diagnosed myself with dyscalculia a few years ago, since I finally googled "why cant i read an analog clock" as it was causing problems at a job i had, they wouldnt let me use my phone to check the time. I felt my research answered a lot of questions about myself that I didnt even realize other people didnt struggle with normally. a couple weeks ago in a conversation with some coworkers, one of them who doubles as a math teacher, i mentioned it off-hand joking i cant even read a clock and he goes, "Thats not dyscalculia, I cant either- you know what, nevermind." and dropped it immediately. So now Im anxious I said something dumb.

I'm not bad at math. And Ive always excelled at english and reading since a very young age.

but then 1st grade me is staring at a paper with problems like 5+7 or 4+3 and just. not comprehending. My mother getting frustrated with me because I just stare blankly at my paper. I didnt know what the numbers meant or represented, and that memory is burned into my brain lol. Just the feeling of, "I dont know what this means! "and my brain just feeling like scribbles like i was reading a foreign language.

My older sister was a math tutor at the time in middle school, and she sat down and showed me tricks. Like counting on the numbers (like 3 has three points) and drawing out 5 apples, and then 7 apples, and counting visually. And life was so much easier after that. In 2nd grade, I relied on memorization with my times tables- and there is usually a trick! but I never got through all of them, and had to take the same tests over and over again. Learning to visualize helped me into my highschool years. On tests, especially with fractions, Id still have to draw everything out- which got really confusing with bigger numbers, and id often run out of time. I got lucky with good algebra teachers as well- i dont even hate algebra. I also learned to characterize numbers, so memorizing common functions(?) was like memorizing relationships between two people or creating a story. So numbers ofc have their own personalities in my head. but 2s and 5s patterns I dont struggle with. although I hate odd numbers.

I saw someone else relate to not being able to read a clock because they learned counting money first and like... a quarter of an hour isnt the same as a quarter of a dollar and whatnot. which makes total sense to me. its weird to spilt things up out of 60. 100 makes more sense, i can use a pie. And im actually ok with counting money- it still is a visual process, and after being a cashier for a while, it got easier. If someone gives me 2 pennies, or i need to calculate a tip, or something confusing happens where the change i need to give is different than the one on the register by even 1 cent, I need to use a calculator. And I recount and redo the same thing like 5 times to make sure I got the right number. Very annoying for the customer who thought giving me more change was going to be easier...

If people say things involving numbers to me, it just does not compute. Especially addresses or phone numbers and the like- it sounds like utter jibberish. Unless I am writing it down, its in one ear and out the other. I have never been able to do simple addition/subtraction in my head. I always need to use my fingers or write it down.

Am I wrong to self diagnose? Its not such a huge thing in my life where I feel an official diagnosis would make a huge difference in my life at this point- but its also nice having an explanation as to why I struggle with some things. I am diagnosed ADHD, and I am epileptic and mentally ill, so that whole frontal lobe thing is a bit messy. but if im making a big deal, lmk?

Anyway thank you if you read this far.

ed to add: TL;DR- I learned tricks to help me with math early on, but symptoms of dyscalculia were still present, and I wonder if I am just making a big deal or if its a valid self diagnosis.

I’m in the special Ed math class at school and somehow still still struggling a lot (which is how I found out I have dyscalculia) and I tried to explain to the teacher that i honest to goodness cannot figure this shit out and I asked him if he’s ever heard of dyscalculia, and he said yes. But he also said that he doesn’t think I have it. I was kind of upset, and then I got home my parents scolded me for trying to tell the teacher that I have dyscalculia. they said a bunch of things about how it’s not real or I’m just lazy or looking for attention. How should I address the situation to get the help I need?

I’m in the special Ed math class at school and somehow still still struggling a lot (which is how I found out I have dyscalculia) and I tried to explain to the teacher that i honest to goodness cannot figure this shit out and I asked him if he’s ever heard of dyscalculia, and he said yes. But he also said that he doesn’t think I have it. I was kind of upset, and then I got home my parents scolded me for trying to tell the teacher that I have dyscalculia. they said a bunch of things about how it’s not real or I’m just lazy or looking for attention. How should I address the situation to get the help I need?

My 12yo was recently diagnosed with dyscalculia.

She thinks asking for or accepting help (from me or at school) makes her stupid, and is struggling a lot.

I was hoping that there were games she could play that would help her learn without feeling like she is learning.

I can't help her with math; I had to take 6 math classes in highschool to pass 2, and I passed the second a week before graduation.

If anyone has thoughts on how I can help her, I would very much appreciate it!

My goal is to get into college and become an X-ray tech. I am terrified that I won’t succeed. Sometimes it feels like my dreams will only ever just be dreams. I’ve been told that The job requires no math, but the program requires some physics so I am terrified. Is there anyone out there who was able to overcome math difficulties during college for their degree? Maybe It’s time to get my head out of the clouds and do something more within my scope.

I currently have an undergraduate degree in sociology and a master’s degree in religion and culture. Obviously I was young and wanted to study what I enjoyed without considering what it would mean for future career prospects. I’ve noticed at my current job (retail team leader) that I’m very good at with solving tech problems and fixing the self serve machines. I’m thinking I wish I would have gone down the IT or engineering route and I’ve been looking into courses I could still get funding for despite already having my degrees. Computing is a common one and it sounds like a good path but obviously I’m apprehensive because of my struggles and anxieties around maths. Has anyone had any experience with this? I’m thinking I probably won’t have to do mental maths which might make it possible for me but I don’t know what it truly entails or if I will be able to get my head around mathematical concepts