The problems displayed by individuals with dyslexia involve difficulties in acquiring and using language — reading and writing letters in the wrong order is just one manifestation of dyslexia and does not occur in all cases. Other problems experienced by dyslexics include:

• Learning to speak
• Organizing written and spoken language
• Learning letters and their sounds
• Memorizing number facts
• Spelling
• Reading
• Learning a foreign language
• Correctly doing math operations

Startling facts about dyslexia and related language-based learning disabilities:

• Fifteen to twenty percent of the population has a reading disability.
• Of students with specific learning disabilities who receive special education services, seventy to eighty percent have deficits in reading. Dyslexia is the most common cause of reading, writing and spelling difficulties.
• If children who are dyslexic get effective phonological training in kindergarten and first grade, they will have significantly fewer problems in learning to read at grade level than do children who are not identified or helped until third grade.
• Seventy four percent of the children who were poor readers in the third grade remained poor readers in the ninth grade. This means that they couldn’t read well when they became adults.
• Individuals inherit the genetic links for dyslexia.
• Dyslexia affects males and females nearly equally, and people from different ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds as well.

The following difficulties may be associated with dyslexia if they are unexpected for the individual’s age, educational level, or cognitive abilities. To verify that an individual is dyslexic, he/she should be tested by a qualified testing examiner.

• May talk later than most children
• May have difficulty pronouncing words, i.e., busgetti for spaghetti, mawn lower for lawn mower
• May be slow to add new vocabulary words
• May be unable to recall the right word
• May have difficulty with rhyming
• May have trouble learning the alphabet, numbers, days of the week, colors, shapes, how to spell and write his or her name
• May have trouble interacting with peer

The following difficulties may be associated with dyslexia if they are unexpected for the individual’s age, educational level, or cognitive abilities. To verify that an individual is dyslexic, he/she should be tested by a qualified testing examiner.

• Has difficulty decoding single words (reading single words in isolation)
• May be slow to learn the connection between letters and sounds
• May confuse small words – at/to, said/and, does/goes
• Makes consistent reading and spelling errors including:
• Letter reversals – d for b as in, dog for bog or god
• Word reversals – tip for pit
• Inversions – m and w, u and n
• Transpositions – felt and left
• Substitutions – house and home
• May transpose number sequences and confuse arithmetic signs (+ – x / =)
• May have trouble remembering facts
• May be slow to learn new skills; relies heavily on memorizing without understanding
• May be impulsive and prone to accidents
• May have difficulty planning
• Often uses an awkward pencil grip (fist, thumb hooked over fingers, etc.)
• May have trouble learning to tell time
• May have poor fine motor coordination

Researchers don’t know exactly what causes dyscalculia. But they’ve identified certain factors that indicate it’s a brain-based condition.

Here are some of the possible causes of dyscalculia:

• Genes and heredity: Studies of dyscalculia show it’s more common in some families. Researchers have found that a child with dyscalculia often has a parent or sibling with similar math issues. So dyscalculia may be genetic.
• Brain development: Researchers are using modern brain imaging tools to study the brains of people with and without math issues. What we learn from this research will help us understand how to help kids with dyscalculia. The study also found differences in the surface area, thickness and volume of parts of the brain. Those areas are linked to learning and memory, setting up and monitoring tasks and remembering math facts.
• Environment: Dyscalculia has been linked to exposure to alcohol in the womb. Prematurity and low birth weight may also play a role in dyscalculia
• Brain injury: Studies show that injury to certain parts of the brain can result in what researchers call “acquired dyscalculia.”

For children with dyscalculia, it’s unclear how much their brain differences are shaped by genetics and how much by their experiences.

Researchers are trying to learn if certain interventions for dyscalculia can “rewire” a child’s brain to make math easier. This concept is known as “neuroplasticity” and has been shown to work in people with dyslexia.

• Has trouble learning to count, especially when it comes to assigning each object in a group a number
• Has trouble recognizing number symbols, such as making the connection between “7” and the word seven
• Struggles to connect a number to a real-life situation, such as knowing that “3” can apply to any group that has three things in it—3 cookies, 3 cars, 3 kids, etc.
• Has trouble remembering numbers, and skips numbers long after kids the same age can count numbers and remember them in the right order
• Finds it hard to recognize patterns and sort items by size, shape or color
• Avoids playing popular games like Candy Land that involve numbers, counting and other math concepts

• Has trouble recognizing numbers and symbols
• Has difficulty learning and recalling basic math facts, such as 2 + 4 = 6
• Struggles to identify +, ‒ and other signs and use them correctly
• May still use fingers to count instead of using more sophisticated strategies
• Has trouble writing numerals clearly or putting them in the correct column
• Has trouble coming up with a plan to solve a math problem
• Struggles to understand words related to math, such as greater than and less than
• Has trouble telling his left from his right, and has a poor sense of direction
• Has difficulty remembering phone numbers and game scores
• Avoids playing games like Risk that involve number strategy
• Has trouble telling time

• Struggles to apply math concepts to everyday life, including money matters such as estimating the total cost, making exact change and figuring out a tip
• Has trouble measuring things, like ingredients in a simple recipe
• Struggles with finding his way around and worries about getting lost
• Has hard time grasping information shown on graphs or charts
• Has trouble finding different approaches to the same math problem
• Lacks confidence in activities that require estimating speed and distance, such as playing sports and learning to drive

Dyscalculia affects more than your child’s ability to handle math class and homework. Math skills and concepts are used everywhere from the kitchen to the playground to the workplace.

It’s understandable if you’re concerned about the long-term impact of dyscalculia on your child’s life. But once you identify your child’s weaknesses, you can find ways to work around them by building on strengths. Here are some everyday skills and activities your child may find difficult:

• Social skills: Failing repeatedly in math class can lead your child to assume failure is inevitable in other areas too. Low self-esteem can affect your child’s willingness to make new friends or participate in after school activities. He might also avoid playing games and sports that involve math and keeping score.
• Sense of direction: Your child might have trouble learning left from right. He may have trouble getting places by reading maps or following directions. Some kids with dyscalculia can’t picture things in their minds. Does your child have trouble imagining how a building or other three-dimensional object would look if viewed from another angle? If so, he may worry about getting lost when changing classes, riding a bike or driving a car.
• Physical coordination: Dyscalculia can affect how the brain and eyes work together. So your child may have trouble judging distances between objects. He may seem clumsier than other kids the same age.
• Money management: Dyscalculia can make it difficult to stick to a budget, balance a check book and estimate costs. It can also make it hard to calculate a tip and count exact change.
• Time management: Dyscalculia can affect your child’s ability to measure quantities, including units of time. Your child may have trouble estimating how long a minute is or keeping track of how much time has passed. This can make it hard to stick to a schedule.
• Other skills: A child may have trouble figuring out how much of an ingredient to use in a recipe. He might have a hard time estimating how fast another car is moving or how far away it is.

• Montessori concepts incorporated
• Learning through answering questions
• Focus on understanding
• Adaptive logic – questions always at the child’s level
• Addressing common errors & misconceptions
• In-depth explanations
• Visuals and animations for effective learning