What is discalculia? – Mapfre Blogs

Discalculia is a learning disorder that affects numerical understanding and basic mathematical skills. It may be due to genetic, neurological or environmental causes, and is usually diagnosed in childhood. Although it has no cure, with proper support and school adaptations, the quality of life can be significantly improved.

Discalculia is a learning disorder that affects A person’s ability to understand and work with the numbers. It is similar to dyslexia, but instead of affecting reading and writing, it impacts mathematical skills.

Common characteristics of discalculia

Discalculia people usually present a series of specific difficulties related to the numerical processing and basic mathematical skillsamong which are:

• Difficulty understanding basic numerical concepts (as older/minor, more/less).
• Problems to remember mathematical facts (such as multiplication tables).
• Difficulty to perform mental calculations.
• Do not write the numbers correctly.
• Problems to understand the positional value of numbers (for example, confuse 23 with 32).
• Difficulty handling moneyread analog watches or understand measures and proportions … which can make them present a low self -esteem.

Types of discculia

There are different types of discculia, each with particular characteristics that affect different aspects of mathematical learning, such as:

• Discalculia Anarritmia: There are difficulties in adding, subtracting and multiplying.
• Attentional-Secounts Discalculia: It is characterized by presenting problems in learning and memorization of multiplication tables.
• Spatial discculia: When a challenge is the management of arithmetic problems that present multiple columns.

Diagnosis

It is usually diagnosed in childhood, through psychopedagogical evaluations carried out by professionals as psychologists or education specialists. Between 3 and 6 % of the school -age population has this condition, which is independent of the level of intelligence. In Mapfre’s health insurance you will have great specialists who will help make a thorough and early diagnosis.

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What causes discalculia?

The origin is multifactorial, so there are different factors that could be the cause of discalculia:

• Biological causes determined by the genetic inheritance of the person, as neurological malformations.
• Brain damage, which would be an acquired discalculia. The acquired discculia is due to a brain injury, that is, people can suffer from a brain injury (before the injury they did not present any or almost none of the symptoms of discalculia). Suffering a brain injury does not imply suffering an acquired discalculia, but this occurs when the lesion affects a certain area of the brain.
• Environmental causessuch as the type of education and stimulation.

Treatment

Discalculia has no curebut with adequate support, people with discculia can develop strategies to handle their difficulties.

The school adaptations, the use of visual and technological toolsand personalized teaching can be very useful.

Discalculia is a learning disorder that significantly affects the understanding and management of numbers, impacting the daily and academic life of those who suffer from it. Although it has no cure, a early diagnosis and custom support strategies They can help people overcome their difficulties and improve their quality of life. Recognizing and understanding this disorder is essential to provide adequate accompaniment and prevent negatively affecting the self -esteem and autonomy of those who suffer from it.

What you should know …

• Discalculia is manifested as specific difficulties in numerical processing and basic mathematical skills, affecting simple concepts to more complex operations.
• It has a multifactorial origin that includes genetic factors, brain and environmental injuries, and is diagnosed mainly in childhood through psychopedagogical evaluations.
• Although there is no cure, treatment with educational adaptations and support tools can improve people’s ability to handle their difficulties and reduce the impact on their daily life and self -esteem.