Is it Possible My Child Just Can't Learn Math?

[Anonymous]

Our DS (13) has been diagnosed with a math disability. He excels at all other subjects, but he barely understands math. He meets with his math teacher regularly outside of class, and has support from a tutor and us (his parents). In the earlier years, we found that he could learn the concepts, but we had to use lots of manipulatives and spend a good amount of time outside of class. He needs daily reinforcement. Now that the math is harder (pre-algebra), we are often met with blank stares. We use algebra tiles, blocks, counters. I've read and studied the Ronit Bird books, but his progress is so slow that by the time he learns one concept, the class is onto the next unit. Last week, he turned in a nearly blank test, despite having studied the material. He simply does not understand it. The school has been very accommodating, but I can't imagine that it can continue to accommodate him if he is a full grade behind the lowest level. As a parent, I am having a hard time keeping up with the tutoring/teaching on our end.

Anyone been through this?

[Anonymous]

Yes, it’s possible. Your DS has dyscalculia which is basically the math equivalent of dyslexia.

My niece has this which was difficult for her growing up in a family of math nerds. But she did fine and is now getting a PhD in psychology.

[Anonymous]

My son has diagnosed ADHD and dyscalculia, and is in advanced math classes in high school thanks to many years of intensive tutoring. And when I mean intensive, I mean daily. At home. With us, the parents, as teachers, for all of elementary school, and some years of middle and high school, as needed. The equivalent in paid tutoring would be prohibitive for us, although we are willing to pay a tutor this spring to make sure he's ready for his AP Calculus exam.

A lot of neurotypical teens start to have difficulties in math starting in middle or high school, OP, and this is because they did not sufficiently master the core concepts in elementary (just going through the motions instead) and because math accelerates significantly at the secondary level. So it's not surprising that students with learning issues would have difficulties too.

But since math concepts build on each other, please get him math lessons (at home with you or taught by someone else) as soon as possible. The more you delay, the worse it's going to get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
My son has diagnosed ADHD and dyscalculia, and is in advanced math classes in high school thanks to many years of intensive tutoring. And when I mean intensive, I mean daily. At home. With us, the parents, as teachers, for all of elementary school, and some years of middle and high school, as needed. The equivalent in paid tutoring would be prohibitive for us, although we are willing to pay a tutor this spring to make sure he's ready for his AP Calculus exam.

A lot of neurotypical teens start to have difficulties in math starting in middle or high school, OP, and this is because they did not sufficiently master the core concepts in elementary (just going through the motions instead) and because math accelerates significantly at the secondary level. So it's not surprising that students with learning issues would have difficulties too.

But since math concepts build on each other, please get him math lessons (at home with you or taught by someone else) as soon as possible. The more you delay, the worse it's going to get.

Sorry, I see you're trying your best to teach him. Perhaps add an extra outside tutor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it’s possible. Your DS has dyscalculia which is basically the math equivalent of dyslexia.

My niece has this which was difficult for her growing up in a family of math nerds. But she did fine and is now getting a PhD in psychology.

My niece did not take Calculus in high school and never went above math for liberal arts majors in college. In her case, the inability to learn math went beyond not mastering core concepts in her early math learning. She had lots and lots of tutoring in math all through school. She has an anxiety disorder and dyscalculia and focusing on her inability to do math had no upside other than making her feel bad about herself.

She was an excellent student otherwise and a very good writer, got into Berkeley and graduated last year. Not everyone needs to learn calculus/trigonometry to be a successful person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it’s possible. Your DS has dyscalculia which is basically the math equivalent of dyslexia.

My niece has this which was difficult for her growing up in a family of math nerds. But she did fine and is now getting a PhD in psychology.

My niece did not take Calculus in high school and never went above math for liberal arts majors in college. In her case, the inability to learn math went beyond not mastering core concepts in her early math learning. She had lots and lots of tutoring in math all through school. She has an anxiety disorder and dyscalculia and focusing on her inability to do math had no upside other than making her feel bad about herself.

She was an excellent student otherwise and a very good writer, got into Berkeley and graduated last year. Not everyone needs to learn calculus/trigonometry to be a successful person.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it’s possible. Your DS has dyscalculia which is basically the math equivalent of dyslexia.

My niece has this which was difficult for her growing up in a family of math nerds. But she did fine and is now getting a PhD in psychology.

My niece did not take Calculus in high school and never went above math for liberal arts majors in college. In her case, the inability to learn math went beyond not mastering core concepts in her early math learning. She had lots and lots of tutoring in math all through school. She has an anxiety disorder and dyscalculia and focusing on her inability to do math had no upside other than making her feel bad about herself.

She was an excellent student otherwise and a very good writer, got into Berkeley and graduated last year. Not everyone needs to learn calculus/trigonometry to be a successful person.

+1000

Seriously. As the parent of an elementary-age child with dyscalculia, I couldn't agree more. It truly blows that he has years ahead of him trying to master math that he will never use.

[Anonymous]

Give to the Journal of Numerical Cognition. The real problem is not enough bench research to aide these children. They guess that methods deployed with dyslexia will assist (multi-sensory math) but no real proof. The first step is get a neuropsychological exam. This will be your road map. Perhaps there is undiagnosed ADHD. This can be co-morbid. You want to sort this out because math is in everything. Math jobs pay the best - and you want your child to face down hard things. Another good resource is ASDEC - or any of the dyslexia schools’ math teachers - dyscalculia can also be co-morbid. While we may not know the perfect curriculum repetition and step by step instruction with prompts from an IEP can make this do-able. Good luck! We found Jump Math to be very helpful as well. Look for any Tier 1 curriculum. Illustrative Math is also notable.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if it’s possible to opt out of math classes due to the disability? I’m not joking, honestly curious. I’m successful and there’s no way I use math beyond what I learned in maybe 4th grade in my job. 7th or 8th grade math seems like plenty for most people.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you all for the recommendations and hope! For those who tutored their own kids, did you try to keep up with the class work? Or did you start from scratch and reteach? Do you think any of the online practice is good? I've heard that with dyscalculia online work and worksheets are not helpful. Rather, all of the work should be hands on. I have been using some of the IXL units for repetition, but I still sit with him as he works through it to make sure that he is trying. Part of our challenge is convincing our DS that he can learn math and him wanting to do so.

[Anonymous]

In addition to all that has already been recommended, my kids have benefited greatly from watching Numberblocks on TV. Entertaining and great for teaching the fundamentals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you all for the recommendations and hope! For those who tutored their own kids, did you try to keep up with the class work? Or did you start from scratch and reteach? Do you think any of the online practice is good? I've heard that with dyscalculia online work and worksheets are not helpful. Rather, all of the work should be hands on. I have been using some of the IXL units for repetition, but I still sit with him as he works through it to make sure that he is trying. Part of our challenge is convincing our DS that he can learn math and him wanting to do so.

I'm the poster who taught my son math. We're scientists, so for us math is non-negotiable, we consider it to be an extremely beneficial exercise in logic and reasoning, and my son accepted that fact - it's important to note, because we didn't have to deal with refusal to learn. So we just looked at his work, and explained it to him. It always led to finding weak spots in his understanding of basic concepts, so we then had to inch backwards to find where the weakness was and deal with it, before going back to his homework and saying: "now you know why equations need to be balanced, or now you know what this formula actually means and how it was developed, what can you do with this problem?", and accompany him and re-explain until he got it. Most of the time, teachers don't have time for proofs and explanations, so students just apply the formula unthinkingly and then fail when the problems look slightly different. Our job was to explain why the rules were the rules, and why it doesn't work if the rule isn't followed. It takes so much time to do this, yet it's so worth it when your child masters concepts and feels confident and in control. We didn't use them very much, but Khan academy videos are popular. We also used some Art of Problem Solving videos for the proofs (they're free).

Since my son also has ADHD, he needed to be medicated for all this to work, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to pay sufficient attention for any of it to sink in...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you all for the recommendations and hope! For those who tutored their own kids, did you try to keep up with the class work? Or did you start from scratch and reteach? Do you think any of the online practice is good? I've heard that with dyscalculia online work and worksheets are not helpful. Rather, all of the work should be hands on. I have been using some of the IXL units for repetition, but I still sit with him as he works through it to make sure that he is trying. Part of our challenge is convincing our DS that he can learn math and him wanting to do so.

I'm the poster who taught my son math. We're scientists, so for us math is non-negotiable, we consider it to be an extremely beneficial exercise in logic and reasoning, and my son accepted that fact - it's important to note, because we didn't have to deal with refusal to learn. So we just looked at his work, and explained it to him. It always led to finding weak spots in his understanding of basic concepts, so we then had to inch backwards to find where the weakness was and deal with it, before going back to his homework and saying: "now you know why equations need to be balanced, or now you know what this formula actually means and how it was developed, what can you do with this problem?", and accompany him and re-explain until he got it. Most of the time, teachers don't have time for proofs and explanations, so students just apply the formula unthinkingly and then fail when the problems look slightly different. Our job was to explain why the rules were the rules, and why it doesn't work if the rule isn't followed. It takes so much time to do this, yet it's so worth it when your child masters concepts and feels confident and in control. We didn't use them very much, but Khan academy videos are popular. We also used some Art of Problem Solving videos for the proofs (they're free).

Since my son also has ADHD, he needed to be medicated for all this to work, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to pay sufficient attention for any of it to sink in...

Would you please teach my son I love math, but I am clearly not effective in explaining the balancing part. That is where we keep getting lost! Thank you everyone. This gives me hope!

[Anonymous]

I second using Khan Academy videos. They have little quizzes that your child can use to see if they have already mastered a concept, and if they have not, they can look at the videos in that specific section. We use this to pinpoint weak spots in our child's math learning.