This is general information. A diagnosis should come from a qualified professional. See how to get a learning assessment in India.
Many children find maths hard at some point. Dyscalculia is something more specific: a persistent difficulty in understanding numbers and number-related ideas, which can make even simple maths a struggle for a child who is doing well in other subjects. It is not a lack of effort or intelligence.
What it can look like
- Difficulty with number sense: how numbers work, how to compare them, and how to estimate quantities.
- Trouble learning and remembering number facts, and patterns such as times tables.
- Difficulty telling the time, and with money.
- Difficulty with calculations and with maths reasoning, such as word problems.
- Losing track of the steps in a problem, or forgetting materials.
- Frustration, avoidance and anxiety about maths.
Dyscalculia often occurs together with dyslexia or other learning differences.
What helps
There is no medicine for dyscalculia, but specialist teaching and the right adjustments make a real difference.
- Start with real objects. Use counters, blocks, coins, dice, number lines and everyday things such as beans or beads, so that the child can see quantities and how they change. Then help the child connect the objects to the symbols that stand for them.
- Build number sense first. Do not rush into drilling facts and procedures. Understanding comes first, and memory follows.
- Use real-life maths. Cooking, shopping, pocket money, games and sports are all full of numbers.
- Review and model. Go back over what the child already knows before teaching something new. Show a worked example that the child can look at during practice.
- Teach self-talk. Encourage the child to talk through the steps aloud. Many children with dyscalculia have strong language skills, and this uses them.
- Check in often to make sure the child has understood, before they practise alone.
Adjusting worksheets and tests
- Put fewer problems on a page.
- Separate word problems from number problems.
- Include tables, graphs or number lines on the worksheet, so that the child does not have to copy so much.
- Give extra time, and allow the use of concrete or virtual manipulatives for older students.
Looking after confidence
Maths anxiety is common. Use breaks, movement and calming strategies when frustration builds, and praise effort and strategy, not only right answers. See confidence and emotions.
Exams in India
Section 17 of the RPwD Act, 2016 asks governments to make suitable changes to the exam system. For CBSE students with a certified benchmark disability, circulars list concessions such as a scribe or reader and compensatory time. Calculators are generally not permitted in CBSE exams. In January 2020, however, CBSE allowed a simple basic calculator for students with dyscalculia who were registered under the special-needs category and had the appropriate certificate, with approval through the school and the CBSE Regional Office. A Delhi Directorate of Education circular has also extended calculator use for students with dyscalculia in school exams up to Class XII. Rules change, so check the latest circular and ask your school early. See exam concessions for students with disabilities.
Sources
- Understood, Treatment for kids with dyscalculia.
- Understood, Classroom accommodations for dyscalculia.
- London Borough of Bromley, What is dyscalculia? (SEND local offer).
- Directorate of Education, Government of NCT of Delhi, Circular on exemptions and concessions for students with benchmark disabilities, and the facility to use a calculator for students with dyscalculia, which encloses CBSE’s circulars of 12 April 2019 and 20 January 2020.
- Government of India, The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, Section 17(i).
This guide is general information, not legal, medical or professional advice. If something here does not match your situation, please speak to a qualified professional.