Dyscalculia and Dysgraphia
Thursday, July 3, 2008

Dyscalculia

Dyscalculia (difficulty in learning or comprehending mathematics) was originally identified in case studies of patients who suffered specific arithmetic disabilities as a result of damage to specific regions of the brain. Recent research suggests that dyscalculia can also occur developmentally, as a genetically-linked learning disability which affects a person's ability to understand, remember, and/or manipulate numbers and/or number facts (e.g. the multiplication tables). The term is often used to refer specifically to the inability to perform arithmetic operations, but is defined by some educational professionals and cognitive psychologists as a more fundamental inability to conceptualize numbers as abstract concepts of comparative quantities (a deficit in "number sense"^[1]). Those who argue for this more constrained definition of dyscalculia sometimes prefer to use the technical term Arithmetic Difficulties (AD) to refer to calculation and number memory deficits.

Dyscalculia is a lesser known disability, similar and potentially related to dyslexia and Developmental Dyspraxia. Dyscalculia occurs in people across the whole IQ range, and sufferers often, but not always, also have difficulties with time, measurement, and spatial reasoning. Current estimates suggest it may affect about 5% of the population. Although some researchers believe that dyscalculia necessarily implies mathematical reasoning difficulties as well as difficulties with arithmetic operations, there is evidence (especially from brain damaged patients) that arithmetic (e.g. calculation and number fact memory) and mathematical (abstract reasoning with numbers) abilities can be dissociated. That is (some researchers argue), an individual might suffer arithmetic difficulties (or dyscalculia), with no impairment of, or even giftedness in, abstract mathematical reasoning abilities (see, for example, physicist Emma J King).

The word dyscalculia comes from Greek and Latin which means: "counting badly." The prefix "dys" comes from Greek and means "badly." "Calculia" comes from the Latin "calculare." which means "to count." That word "calculare" again comes from "calculus," which means "pebble" or one of the counters on an abacus.

Dyscalculia can be detected at a young age and measures can be taken to ease the problems faced by younger students. The main problem is understanding the way mathematics is taught to children. In the way that dyslexia can be dealt with by using a slightly different approach to teaching, so can dyscalculia. However, dyscalculia is the lesser known of these learning disorders and so is often not recognized.

Another common manifestation of the condition emerges when the individual is faced with equation type of problems which contain both integers and letters (3A + 4C). It can be difficult for the person to differentiate between the integers and the letters. Confusion such as reading a '5' for an 'S' or not being able to distinguish between a zero '0' for the letter 'O' can keep algebra from being mastered. This particular form of dyscalculia is often not diagnosed until middle or high school is entered.

Potential symptoms

Frequent difficulties with arithmetic, confusing the signs: +, −, ÷ and ×.
Inability to tell which of two numbers is the larger.
Difficulty with everyday tasks like checking change and reading analog clocks.
Inability to comprehend financial planning or budgeting, sometimes even at a basic level; for example, estimating the cost of the items in a shopping basket or balancing a checkbook.
Difficulty with times-tables, mental arithmetic, etc.
May do fairly well in subjects such as science and geometry, which require logic rather than formulae, until a higher level requiring calculations is obtained.
Difficulty with conceptualizing time and judging the passing of time.
Problems differentiating between left and right.
Having a poor sense of direction (i.e., north, south, east, and west), potentially even with a compass.
Difficulty navigating or mentally "turning" the map to face the current direction rather than the common North=Top usage.
Having difficulty mentally estimating the measurement of an object or distance (e.g., whether something is 10 or 20 feet away).
Inability to grasp and remember mathematical concepts, rules, formulae, and sequences.
An inability to read a sequence of numbers, or transposing them when repeated such turning 56 into 65.
Difficulty keeping score during games.
Difficulty with games such as poker with more flexible rules for scoring.
Difficulty in activities requiring sequential processing, from the physical (such as dance steps) to the abstract (reading, writing and signaling things in the right order). May have trouble even with a calculator due to difficulties in the process of feeding in variables.
The condition may lead in extreme cases to a phobia of mathematics and mathematical devices.

Potential causes

Scientists have yet to understand the causes of dyscalculia. They have been investigating in several domains.

Neurological: Dyscalculia has been associated with lesions to the supramarginal and angular gyri at the junction between the temporal and parietal lobes of the cerebral cortex.^[2]^[3]
Deficits in working memory: Adams and Hitch^[4] argue that working memory is a major factor in mental addition. From this base, Geary^[5] conducted a study that suggested there was a working memory deficit for those who suffered from dyscalculia. However, working memory problems are confounded with general learning difficulties, thus Geary's findings may not be specific to dyscalculia but rather may reflect a greater learning deficit.

Studies of mathematically gifted students have shown increased EEG activity in the right hemisphere during algorithmic computational processing. There is some evidence of right hemisphere deficits in dyscalculia.

Other causes may be:

Short term memory being disturbed or reduced, making it difficult to remember calculations.
Congenital or hereditary disorders. Studies show indications of this, but the evidence is not yet concrete.

Dysgraphia

Dysgraphia (or agraphia) is a deficiency in the ability to write, regardless of the ability to read, not due to intellectual impairment. People with dysgraphia often can write on some level, but often lack co-ordination, and may find other fine motor tasks such as tying shoes difficult. It often does not affect all fine motor skills. They can also lack basic spelling skills (having difficulties with p,q,b,d), and often will write the wrong word when trying to formulate thoughts (on paper). In childhood, the disorder generally emerges when they are first introduced to writing. They make inappropriately sized and spaced letters, or write wrong or misspelled words despite thorough instruction. Children with the disorder may have other learning disabilities; however, they usually have no social or other academic problems. Cases of dysgraphia in adults generally occur after some neurological trauma or it might be diagnosed in a person with Tourette syndrome, ADHD or an autism spectrum disorder such as Asperger's. The DSM IV identifies dysgraphia as a "Disorder of Written Expression" as "writing skills (that) ...are substantially below those expected given the person's ...age, measured intelligence, and age-appropriate education."

Etiology

The cause of dysgraphia is unknown but whenever it occurs in an adult, it is usually caused by head trauma, some types of diseases or brain damage. When it is found in children there is a tendency for there to be multiple dysgraphics in his or her family. A parent or close relative of the child tend to also show signs of dysgraphia.

There have been few studies on dysgraphia.

Types of dysgraphia

Dyslexic dysgraphia

With dyslexic dysgraphia, spontaneously written work is illegible, copied work is fairly good, and spelling is bad. Finger tapping speed (a method for identifying fine motor problems) is normal, indicating the deficit does not likely stem from cerebellar damage. A dyslexic dysgraphic does not necessarily have dyslexia. (Dyslexia and dysgraphia appear to be unrelated but are often comorbid.)^{[citation needed]}

Motor dysgraphia

Motor dysgraphia is due to deficient fine motor skills, poor dexterity, poor muscle tone, and/or unspecified motor clumsiness. Generally, written work is poor to illegible, even if copied by sight from another document. Letter formation may be acceptable in very short samples of writing, but this requires extreme effort and an unreasonable amount of time to accomplish, and cannot be sustained for a significant length of time. Writing is often slanted due to holding a pen or pencil incorrectly. Spelling skills are not impaired. Finger tapping speed results are below normal.

Spatial dysgraphia

Dysgraphia due to a defect in the understanding of space has illegible spontaneously written work, illegible copied work, but normal spelling and normal tapping speed.

Some children may have a combination of any two or all three of these. Symptoms in actuality may vary in presentation from what is listed here.

Symptoms of dysgraphia

A mixture of upper/lower case letters, irregular letter sizes and shapes, unfinished letters, struggle to use writing as a communications tool, odd writing grip, many spelling mistakes (sometimes), pain when writing, decreased or increased speed of writing and copying, talks to self while writing, muscle spasms in the arm and shoulder (sometimes in the rest of the body), inability to flex (sometimes move) the arm (creating an L like shape), and general illegibility. Reluctance or refusal to complete writing tasks.

Lesser known symptoms of dysgraphia

Pain while writing

Many people who are dysgraphic will experience pain while writing. The pain usually starts in the center of the forearm and then spreads along the nervous system to the entire body. This pain can get worse or even appear when a dysgraphic is stressed. Few people who do not have dysgraphia know about this, because many with dysgraphia will not mention it to anyone. There are a few reasons why pain while writing is rarely mentioned:

Sufferers do not know that it is unusual to experience this type of pain with writing.
If they know that it is different from how others experience writing, they feel that few will believe them.
Those who do not believe that the pain while writing is real will often not understand it. It will usually be attributed to muscle ache or cramping, and it will often be considered only a minor inconvenience.

Common problems that are often associated with dysgraphia

Stress

There are some common problems not related to dysgraphia but often associated with dysgraphia, the most common of which is stress. Often children (and adults) with dysgraphia will become extremely frustrated with the task of writing (and spelling); younger children may cry or refuse to complete written assignments. This frustration can cause the child (or adult) a great deal of stress and can lead to stress related illnesses. Other common environmental sources of stress in the classroom setting are (a) high levels of environmental noise, and (b) over-illumination. This can be a result of any symptom of dysgraphia.

Treatment

Treatment for dysgraphia varies and may include treatment for motor disorders to help control writing movements. Other treatments may address impaired memory or other neurological problems. Some physicians recommend that individuals with dysgraphia use computers to avoid the problems of handwriting.

Occupational therapy could be considered to strengthen muscle tone, improve dexterity, and evaluate eye-hand coordination. Dysgraphic children should also be evaluated for ambidexterity, which can delay fine motor skills in early childhood.

Often small things can help a student with dysgraphia, such as allowing them to use a preferred writing utensil or allowing them to submit typed work instead of hand written documents.

Suggestions for teachers and parents:

Use small pencils (a typical pencil cut in thirds) golf pencils, or trianular shaped pencils all promote a functional grip. Jumbo pencils are useful for individuals with tremors or some types of cerebral palsy.
Ensure solid handwriting instruction has taken place. The student should be able to tell you how each letter is made using the same vebiage as his teacher.
Before the student begins to compose a paper, have them engage in prewriting activities such as webbing, or verbalizing what they will write about.
Use pre-lined paper that has yellow highlighting where the words are supposed to go
Allow students extra time to complete in-class assignments; otherwise they won't get the benefit of the instructional practice
Get students keyboarding early on
Allow students to use laptop or other computer for class work
Allow children to dictate to an adult; they can then recopy if necessary
Allow children to dictate into a tape recorder; they or an adult can transcribe later. This allows the creative output process to occur without being stopped by the execution problem.
Have compassion and know that this issue has nothing to do with intelligence or behavior.

Posted byDoc Junhel at 8:58 PM