The Early Years: Demystifying Labels-Dyscalculia

Dyscalculia and Definitions of Learning Disabilities

DSM-V: Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs) are defined in The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), published by the American Psychiatric Association. SLD is defined as a “Specific Learning Disorder-with impairment in Mathematics (315.1), Reading (315.0), or Written Expression (315.2). SLD is ‘a neurodevelopmental disorder of biological origin manifested in learning difficulties and problems in acquiring academic skills markedly below age level and manifested in the early school years, lasting for at least six months, not attributed to intellectual disabilities, developmental disorders, or neurological or motor disorders’.”

This surely contradicts the current paradigm of understanding disabilities! The Convention on the Rights of People with Disability (CRPD) states that:

Disability results from an interaction between a non-inclusive society and individuals:

Person using a wheelchair might have difficulties gaining employment not because of the wheelchair, but because there are environmental barriers such as inaccessible buses or staircases which impede access.

Person with extreme near-sightedness who does not have access to corrective lenses may not be able to perform daily tasks. This same person with prescription eyeglasses would be able to perform all tasks without problems.

Persons with disabilities are not viewed as “objects” of charity, medical treatment and social protection; rather as “subjects” with rights, who are capable of claiming those rights and making decisions for their lives based on their free and informed consent as well as being active members of society.

This appropriation by medical vocabulary of difficulties that children face during school years has resulted in much labelling and exclusion of children. It is time to look into teaching methods and change current classroom practices to become aligned with new laws such as “The Right to Education Act”.

Since learning is a hypothetical construct it is difficult to say that a child will not exhibit a behaviour until he/she gets an appropriate opportunity to do so.

Recalling my childhood, I must have had all the Dys’s-Dysgraphia, Dyslexia and Dyscalculia! My father was in the army and I changed nine schools during 11 years of schooling.

With every posting came a new state, a new city and a new school with new challenges. Dad moved from Shillong to Kanyakumari then Hyderabad to Delhi and Chennai to Udhampur! In the first 3-6 months in each new school I brought home test papers with marks not exceeding 3/10!

I also recall a flurry of anxiety as my parents struggled to help me acclimatise to new teaching learning environments. Teachers would complain about my non-existent math skills and abysmal handwriting! I am thankful though that these labels-Dysgraphia, Dyslexia and Dyscalculia hadn’t steeped into the everyday vocabulary of teachers then.

There are many new ways of teaching mathematical concepts and the simplest ones can start in very early years. In early childhood talking to very young children using words like “many”, “only one”, “empty”, “full”, “first, second, last”, “very heavy”, “Ah so light”, “sooo big”, “tiny and small” lay the foundation for preschool mathematical thinking and concepts.

Research shows that children develop math concepts and skills very early in life. From the moment they are born, babies begin to form ideas about math through everyday experiences and, most important, through interactions with trusted adults. Language-how we talk with infants and toddlers about math ideas-matters.

We use basic math language all the time, without realising it. For example, when we separate clothes by color, we’re using the math concepts of sorting and classifying. When we keep score during cricket and determine how much our team is ahead or behind (number and operations), or give someone directions to get from one place to another (spatial relationships)-that’s math. We constantly use comparison words (measurement) such as big and little and use patterns to explain the order of daily routines and activities (“We brush our teeth after breakfast and before going to sleep at night”).

We can make the math that occurs in daily life visible to children through math talk. The more we talk math, the better chance infants and toddlers have to build a positive attitude toward math learning and learning in general.

Math talk enriches everyday learning experiences for infants and toddlers. You’ll be surprised at how much they know and can learn. Your math talk today can help your children be successful in math as they get older.

(The writer is an occupational therapist.)