Hi,
honestly, I don't know if I have dyscalculia or if I have any learning disability at all. True is I have difficulty with analog clocks. I can read time but it takes really long to figure what time it is and I'm still insecure if there's noone to assure me I got it right. This fact and my laziness make me wear digital watch.
Then there are my math problems. Basics I could learn. Addition, division and such were okay. Problem was equations and highschool math. Fortunately my parents hired personal tutors for me but compared to my peers my score is still very low. One testing of all high schools in my country showed me that in math I'm below average hardly better than 15% of pupils of my age group, on the other hand I scored really high score in language based skills.
Then there's this thing with my weird spatial awareness. I tend to bump into furniture because I think it's not as near as it really is and once I tried to grab a thing that laid on my bed and the only thing I grabbed was the air because the bed was about ten cm lower.
Oh, and I read here that someone mentioned not being able to read sheet music. Yeah, that sounds like me. I can sing if I hear the song but if you ask me to sing something I don't know the melody and you just give me notes. Eh, this won't go well.
So this is me, I'm currently thinking if and where to get tested.
Location: Texas USA Posts: 6102 Joined: 2008-05-25
6/12/12
Hi Antarea,
I'm glad that you've found us here. So, you've finished High School? But, with no testing and diagnosis, you seem to have gotten through High School without an IEP (individual education plan). Were you able to do geometry? And, what happened when you got to algebra? Yes, I think that it would be great for you to get professionally tested.
Our forum member, Squeakymonster, loves music and was (is?) doing a degree in music. But I think that she said she had trouble precisely where you mentioned,... in reading the notes to be able to sing the melody (without hearing it first).
Since your parents paid for you to have a tutor, I'll guess that they have already had your eyes tested, too, and that the problem you've described with spatial orientation doesn't come from a visual problem. Antarea, there are tests that can tell you more about your spatial orientation problems. I don't know much about them, but our Admin 'eoffg' is very interested in this sort of problem. I hope that when/if you get tested for dyscalculia, you'll also ask to be tested specifically on your spatial orientation problems. One name that comes to my mind is "proprioception". Here's a Wikipedia link for that. http://en.wikiped...rioception
And here's an article that includes information about 'depth perception'. Not knowing what might be causing your problem, I'm just including this link so that you can pick out some vocabulary that might be useful to you,... even if it's so that you can say, "No, that's not what I mean". http://www.noteac...eiving.htm
So, glad to see you here. Others will also want to meet you here. - jus'
Location: Australia Posts: 1262 Joined: 2005-03-20
Hi Antarea,
Dyscalculia is in fact caused by a Spatial thinking difficulty, so that your 'weird spatial awareness' is the main indicator.
Spatial thinking is to numbers, what sound is to letters.
Numbers are used to represent a quantity, and quantity is something that we concieve of with spatial thinking.
But another most important thing that we use spatial thinking for, is to order our thinking.
So that when we think through an equation?
We use spatial thinking to order the equation in our mind, and use as a guide, as we think through the equation.
But with a spatial thinking difficulty, the equation can't be ordered in our mind? So that their is nothing to use as a guide, and keep track of where we are up to, as we work through it.
Thank you for your replies and sorry for not answering sooner.
Yeah official testing would be nice. To know what exactly is wrong and to adjust my life to it. Problem is I live in Czech republic and we might be a bit backwards in things regarding learning disabilities and such. But I will keep searching for a possibility to get tested. Can a psychologist test you? Or is it possible to get tested in centre for IQ testing?
justfoundout: Yes, my eyes are alright. Well, I do wear glasses but I need them only to read boards if I sit too far away and/or the letters are small.
Geometry wasn't easy but I suck at drawing generally so I don't know how much is it Dyscalculia's fault. As for algebra I think that the easier a topic is to memorise the higher the probability that I will at least understand HOW to do it, even if I'm not sure WHY it works the way it works.
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