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Performing even a simple arithmetic function is a complicated process that requires short and long-term memory, language, visual processing and the ability to translate a number on a page into a physical quantity. If a child’s brain is unable to handle any of these tasks, he or she will struggle to do math. This inability, at the clinical level, is called dyscalculia.

What Are the Symptoms of Dyscalculia?

Dyscalculia is not merely being bad at math. It is a neurological condition, a learning disability, that prevents individuals from processing simple math questions that are part of everyday life. Individuals with dyscalculia may have difficulty:

- reading and calculating time,
- counting money and making change,
- estimating or understanding distances,
- remembering phone numbers and zip codes,
- solving simple word problems that require remembering numbers,
- and even counting backwards.

They often struggle with simple concepts, like the communitive law of addition in which 2+3 = 3+2, or like how the value of a number is changed by the movement of a decimal point. Rather than being merely bad at math the way many Americans are, individuals with dyscalculia are dysfunctional with numbers. It can be a debilitating condition. Dyscalculia afflicts roughly 3%-7% of the population and is usually discovered early in elementary school, when children begin learning basic math. No one knows what causes it, though genetics, fetal exposure to alcohol and brain trauma all seem to have some connection. Children afflicted with dyscalculia often suffer from the physical manifestations of their struggle – anxiety, agitation, panic, even nausea and vomiting.

What Should I Do If My Child Has Dyscalculia?

If you believe your child has dyscalculia, have a doctor to determine if a vision or hearing impairment that might affect their ability to learn. Once those causes are ruled out, make an appointment to see a learning specialist at their school. They'll talk with you and your child and test their math abilities to help determine if they have it. Getting a diagnosis opens the door for accommodations at school, which is required by law to provide evaluations and treatment plans for students who are struggling.

The good and bad news for children with dyscalculia is the same as it is for children with dyslexia and dysgraphia: it is a lifelong condition that has no “cure.” It can be managed with specialized education. Depending on the severity of the condition, children can get help from their school, a tutor, or a school that specializes in educating neurodivergent children. Dyscalculia occurs co-morbidly with other neurodivergent conditions – ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia and autism. Those with dyscalculia have a higher risk of certain mental health disorders, like anxiety, depression, bipolar, and behavioral issues.

Teaching Students with Dyscalculia

As with the related learning disabilities named above, dyscalculia is most manageable when treatment is initiated early. The gold standard for treatment of dyscalculia is a structured approach like the Orton-Gillingham method, the same method demonstrating success with dyslexic and dysgraphic children. Orton-Gillingham is an empirically proven approach, customized to the needs of each child, that breaks down the math process and moves children sequentially from the easiest tasks to the most difficult, adding skills iteratively, delivering information in a multi-sensory way and employing best practices in math principles. Core elements of mathematical problems are broken down. If you suspect your child has dysgraphia, have them tested and become their advocate. Though a lifelong condition, it can be managed and overcome with expert intervention applied over time.

Trident Academy in Mt. Pleasant, SC serves students with learning disabilities,
employing teachers certified in Orton-Gillingham. Most of their students learn to read, write and do math at grade level or beyond and “graduate” back into their school districts, earning their high school diplomas from ordinary high schools alongside their friends and neighbors.

Summary: Dyscalculia is a manageable, lifelong condition that affects the ability to
understand simple arithmetic concepts.

The Orton-Gillingham approach has long been considered the gold standard of education for students with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. Years of data have demonstrated that Orton-Gillingham is the best prism through which children can learn to read, write, spell, do math and develop other skills.
Orton-Gillingham overcomes language-based challenges via a structed, sequential,
multi-sensory approach, based on the understanding that children learn in a variety of ways and that no one way of teaching works for everyone.

Can Orton-Gillingham Be Taught in Classrooms?

While the Orton-Gillingham approach is most associated with individualized and small-group instruction, it is also useful in classrooms. Indeed, the science of neurology has this Millenium begun to suggest that Orton-Gillingham may be the best approach for most students, not just students with learning disabilities.

How Does Orton-Gillingham Work for Dyslexia?

Orton-Gillingham’s primary innovation nearly 100 years ago was to break down letters and words into their most elemental forms and combine them in familiar patterns to form comprehensible meaning. The fundamental principle by which teachers employ Orton-Gillingham is customized to each student’s needs and abilities, so that while children are learning via the same approach, each child’s journey is different.
Based on the science of reading, Orton-Gillingham has served as the basis for a series of refinements and improvements that now fall under the rubric “structured literacy.” Structured literacy is designed to focus the attention of the student and teacher on the basic structures of language, including sounds, letters, spelling and sounding patterns, syllables, prefixes and suffixes, and more.

How is the Orton-Gillingham Approach Used to Teach Dyslexia?

Teachers employing the Orton-Gillingham approach begin with the most basic skills and build upon them over time. Concepts are taught and mastered iteratively and cumulatively so that students master increasingly complex ideas. As a student struggle or advances, lessons are adjusted to create a bespoke experience that works for that particular child. Failing forward is a key element of the Orton-Gillingham approach; errors are considered learning opportunities with immediate, finely tuned feedback.

Examples of the Orton-Gillingham Approach in Teaching Dyslexia

Here is an example of how the approach works for children with dyslexia, moving from
simple to complex concepts:

1. The student learns the sounds that letters make and how they correspond to letters. The student might learn the letter “s” and how “s” sounds.
2. Upon mastery of that concept, the student learns two-letter combinations, e.g.,“sh.”
3. The student then moves to more complex patterns and multisyllabic words. These lessons are delivered in multisensory form so that students can experience the concepts in a variety of ways.

For example, the teacher might:
1. Show a flashcard or write letters for students to see,
2. Speak the letters and words out loud and direct the students repeat them, and
3. Instruct the students to write the letters.
This series of practices engages the visual, auditory and tactile senses, and builds a
strong foundation for students to understand increasingly complex language patterns.

School for Students With Dyslexia in Charleston SC

At Trident Academy, a school for students with learning disabilities in South Carolina, the Orton-Gillingham approach has been used for 20 years to help students catch up with their peers and return to regular public and private schools to graduate high school. Hundreds of parents of children with dyslexia and other learning disabilities have attested to the impressive gains their children have made using the Orton-Gillingham approach at Trident Academy, gaining lifelong skills needed to become successful adults.