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I am not an expert in dyscalculia, and, in fact, my area of study in mathematics education has not predisposed me to focus on the idea of mathematical disorders. Because of this, I think I have a point of view that may at least offer a useful way to view these questions. [Note: there are a lot of conjectures here, but I think that is not unusual for ...

9

I think the short answer to your question is that you are (like many people) confusing the arithmetic that you called 'mathematics' at school with the mathematics that mathematicians do. I very rarely add up numbers above 10, or write down ones with several digits. I think I possibly do own a calculator... somewhere. I would suggest starting with some ...

8

Modeling mental math strategies as part of your teaching is important. I make a show of the fact that I'm not pulling out a calculator. I also show them how I think through certain calculations: "36*50? That's half of 36 times twice the 50, or 18 times 100." [This semester I have a student who I noticed was counting on her fingers. She came to my office ...

7

I think one reason students reach for their calculators so readily is out of fear. They are afraid that they will get the answer wrong, and would rather rely on an oracle which "always gives the right answer". Fundamentally, I think this fear results from the threat of punishment for getting the answer wrong. This is so ingrained that it is hard to change....

7

I teach middle and high school math students. It is my understanding that dyscalculia is the math equivalent to dyslexia with reading. While I was in school for my teaching certificate, I was directed to this website. http://www.ncld.org/types-learning-disabilities/dyscalculia/what-is-dyscalculia?utm_source=dyscalculia-interest-email&utm_medium=email&...

7

I'm not exactly sure what's being asked here, since you say you want to to learn how "to do advanced math," but also that you "want to try algebra and trigonometry, to play with equations." I can't tell exactly what you mean by do advanced math, but you say: I'm pretty good at understanding concepts like Cantor Sets, mathematical logic, etc. So: It seems ...

6

I look forward to the responses to this interesting question. Instead of answering directly, permit me to make an analogy to art. Frank Stella is a renowned artist whose influence and compositional talent cannot be questioned. Nevertheless, I happen to know from reliable second-hand reports, that he cannot "draw" in the sense that, say, Leonardo, or even a ...

6

To lay this out at the front, I do not have have any medical or therapeutic credentials -- I just have certification in both secondary mathematics and special education. I will also be a bit US-centric in spots, as that is where my certification is. For the sake of my international colleagues, an IEP (Individualized Education Program) is an annual plan for ...

4

Show them instances where it would be easier to calculate mentally than it would be to use a calculator. Some examples: $1+1$ $123456789+0$ $11111+11111+11111+11111+11111$ $123456789-123456789$ Show them instances where a calculator would give an incorrect answer. For example, it is easy to see that $\cot 90^\circ$ is zero if one understands the concepts....

2

Possibly relevant: In the first chapter of Where Mathematics Comes From: How The Embodied Mind Brings Mathematics Into Being, Lakoff & Núñez discuss a few examples of individuals who have suffered some kind of neurological damage that partially or completely disables their ability to perform numerical calculations. With respect to this question, the ...

1

I was once a member of an email discussion list (about some long forgotten statistics software). Once somebody answered a question, some other pointed out he did some silly arithmetic error in that response. He responded that, yes, he had discalculia, and , for that reason, he had very early decided that he had to study mathematics, because, then, he only ...

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