Most people have heard of dyslexia. It’s in common usage and understood to be someone with issues reading the right way; but less people have heard of dyscalculia. Because of how well understood dyslexia is, that bias sometimes makes it is easy to misdiagnose dyscalculia for dyslexia.
Considering how effective early intervention is in helping children overcome these challenges, misdiagnosing them may mean applying inappropriate or less effective methods of teaching and learning.
Children with dyslexia may have a difficult time reading or even writing. They may miss important developmental milestones in these areas.
- Slow in reading books of their age level
If the child is not reading to their age level, it is a good signal to take notice as it could be a sign of dyslexia. Keep in mind that young children may be smart enough to get around any learning disabilities they may have, so you have to be careful about not dismissing early signs of it. - Messy handwriting
Children with dyslexia also commonly have dysgraphia. Children with dysgraphia have a difficult time writing properly. Their writing is inconsistent, messy, and may have problems spacing letters out properly on a page.
Children with dyscalculia may have any number of symptoms.
- Children may have difficulty recognising numbers and may show delays in their ability to count. They may even count backwards, which is how it is often recognised as dyslexia.
- Children may require aids to count. They may be unable to deal with numbers and calculations mentally, and overly rely on finger counting to compensate.
- Symptoms might not have anything to do with actual numbers. Children with dyscalculia may have problems recognising patterns and may have difficulties with puzzles and other pattern-based activity and play.
Math is difficult for many people, and even people without dyscalculia may have problems with understanding calculations and numbers, so it can be difficult to figure out if a child actually needs help. Combine that with dyslexia-like symptoms, and it’s easy to see why it would be difficult to diagnose. The child might not have dyscalculia, or they might. They also might be dyslexic, or they might not be.
Proper diagnosis is key to being able to address and manage the condition of the child. It might not serve the child well if the educators are trying to manage dyscalculia but planning based on a different diagnosis. A child with undiagnosed and undealt with dyscalculia may grow into adulthood not being able to understand estimation, or not knowing how to even calculate how much they need to pay for things they buy.
CAE offers our 12-month Advanced Diploma in Special Education to train educators and parents in the identification, diagnosis and treatment of these needs and the basic principles and practices of effective teaching and learning. The programme is highly practice-oriented to ensure that what you learn in class can be applied to children with special needs under your charge.
The 6-month Diploma in Education (Special Needs) part-time programme provides an essential introduction to the various categories of exceptional children and educational programmes available. The course will also train you to confidently design and implement an Individualised Education Plan or IEP to aid in specific areas such as language and communications.
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