Hi there ~
I understand your concerns.
Dyscalculia may be a very disabling condition. Helping you identify your strengths and weaknesses is the first step to getting help. Following identification, parents(if in your case can get involved), teachers and other educators can work together to establish strategies that will help the student learn math more effectively. Help outside the classroom lets a student and tutor focus specifically on the difficulties that student is having, taking pressure off moving to new topics too quickly. Repeated reinforcement and specific practice of straightforward ideas can make understanding easier. Other strategies for inside and outside the classroom include:
- Use graph paper for students who have difficulty organizing ideas on paper.
Work on finding different ways to approach math facts; i.e., instead of just memorizing the multiplication tables, explain that 8 x 2 = 16, so if 16 is doubled, 8 x 4 must = 32.
- Practice estimating as a way to begin solving math problems.
- Introduce new skills beginning with concrete examples and later moving to more abstract applications.
- For language difficulties, explain ideas and problems clearly and encourage students to
ask questions as they work.
- Provide a place to work with few distractions and have pencils, erasers and other tools on hand as needed.
The most important strategy is to help students become aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Understanding how a person learns best is a big step in achieving academic success and confidence. It might be helpful to call your insurance to find our if aetna or cigna has a list of providers or school psychologists that are covered, who might be able to help. The other way is to call the school psychologists in your school district or your surrounding school districts and find out if any psychologist is willing to help you in this domain.
I hope this helps.
Take care and have a lovely day!