Change the Equation Website - Dyslexia's Poor Step-Sister

Dyslexia's Poor Step-Sister

Posted by: CTEq on Monday, June 6, 2011 at 7:53:18 am

Odds are, you’ve never heard of dyscalculia, but I’m guessing you could offer a pretty good definition of dyslexia. That, says a group of researchers in the UK, is a big problem.

In an article that just appeared in Science, those researchers argue that dyscalculia is just as widespread, and perhaps even more damaging, than dyslexia. In case you haven't already guessed, those who suffer from dyscalculia have a very tough time learning or grasping simple math. They may, for example, have trouble counting down from 10 to 1 or estimating simple distances. Many can't make change and might have to count out basic calculations on their fingers. They may be otherwise intelligent people.

The researchers claim that five to seven percent of the population suffers from dyscalculia. That has severe economic consequences, they write, because math skills are growing ever more important in the labor market.

They decry the funding inequities that make dyscalculia the forgotten step-sister of dyslexia. NIH funding for research on dyslexia outstrips dyscalculia funding by a factor of more than 50 to one, they write. This strikes them as perverse, in light of recent research that points to "low numeracy [as] more of a handicap for an individual's life chances than low literacy."

Before we follow this line of argument any farther, let's acknowledge that it's never wise to pit math against reading. Both subjects are absolutely critical. That said, discalculia may deserve far more attention than it currently receives

via changetheequation.org