My child suffers from dyscalculia, what should I do?

In elementary school, your child seems cold with math. He has trouble counting, doing additions, learning his multiplication tables… What if he suffers from dyscalculia? This specific developmental disorder affects digital learning, although the child does not experience any organic problem or mental deficiency. “The origin of dyscalculia, as with other ‘dys’ disorders, remains unknown. We just notice differences in several areas of the brain, responsible for working memory capacities (the ability to memorize and use this information at the same time), space processing and inhibition. There can also be a part of heredity, ”explains neuropsychologist May Benhayoun Sadafi.

Dyscalculia: we spot the first difficulties

Dyscalculia is difficult to detect because many children have difficulty in math! In addition, it is often associated with other more visible disorders such as dyspraxia which relates to motor skills. “The delay in math can manifest itself from the start of learning, but it can also be compensated for for years by the child,” says the neuropsychologist. We therefore remain alert on certain signs: difficulty in counting, learning tables, writing numbers, need to count longer than others on his fingers, to make sense of operations … If there is the slightest doubt, we talk about it with the teacher to get an outside perspective. If the fears are confirmed, we consult the speech therapist to measure the logical-mathematical skills of our child, and the neuropsychologist. He will see if there are other associated difficulties (other dys disorders, attention problem, memory…) and will identify the strengths on which to rely. A follow-up with the speech therapist will allow the child to get back to level in mathematics and acquire a personalized learning method. The length of follow-up depends on the age and severity of the disorder.

Dyscalculic child: effective support

During this follow-up, the speech therapist returns to the basics before going further. “He lets the child move at his own pace, count on his fingers. It teaches him to highlight important information in a problem, to use a color code for hundreds, tens and ones. The idea, for the child, is to work in small doses but frequently, and in the most playful way possible ”, explains May Benhayoun Sadafi. At home, we take advantage of every opportunity to practice counting and relate math to concrete uses: buying bread, weighing the ingredients to bake a cake … These combined aids should lead the child to gradually overtake its difficulties. 

Dyscalculia: what’s going on in the classroom?

At the same time, as soon as the diagnosis is known, the school is informed in order to be able to set up, with the teacher, an education adapted to the pupil if necessary. With in particular the help of an AVS (auxiliary of school life), the small dyscalculic will be able to follow an almost normal schooling. If, on the other hand, your child has accumulated too late, partial schooling in CLIS (Classe d’Intégration Scolaire) to follow certain subjects, may be beneficial. The pupil will be able to breathe a little and join the “ordinary” class for the subjects in which he feels more comfortable. Good rehabilitative and pedagogical support can thus prevent your child from failing at school.