1. The author struggled with math and numbers throughout school due to an undiagnosed learning disability called dyscalculia. They had difficulty understanding numbers and calculations. 2. As an adult, the author was diagnosed with dyscalculia after a workplace assessment flagged them for it. They were taught coping strategies to help with their disability. 3. The author copes with dyscalculia at work by having colleagues check their work for mistakes with numbers and calculations and reading back numbers to ensure accuracy. Technology has also helped reduce barriers.

1. All the right numbers not necessarily in the right order - How I coped with
living with a learning disability.
As Diversity Week comes to a close,I have spentmostofthe week sharing colleagues'case studies and
uploading inspirational facts aboutDisability.
I felt it was time for me to 'step up' and share aboutmine - after all, I've been encouraging others so more a case
of 'Do as I do' not 'Do as I ask'.
Let me take you back to the 80's - the era of mullets,puffball skirts,bubble perms and electric blue
mascara.Supportfor dyslexia was in its infancy and no one ever dreamed thatthere was a specific learning
disabilityin mathematics. It's more common than people think, the percentage ofthe population with
developmental dyscalculia is estimated to be between 3-6 percent, or one in twenty individuals.This is a similar
percentage to that for dyslexia, and yet dyscalculia is very understudied and under-resourced in comparison.
Unlike some other learning disabilities,dyscalculia is as likelyto affect girls as boys.
I really struggled through senior school and myteachers couldn'tunderstand how Icould be in the top sets for
everything apartfrom Physics (lots of scientific calculations) and maths - absolutelyno hope.I plodded on,but
couldn'tunderstand whyI justcouldn't'get' numbers,theymoved and blurred and it was like my brain had a time
lag. How can someone torn a string or words into numbers? Whatdoes a million look like - it's all zeros. I spent
may a maths lesson in tears and when it came to my GCSEs I had to beg the school to let me sit the level to at
leastget a C to allow me to go to University.
I failed.U. I resat.E, E, E, D - getting better. On into sixth form I had an inspirational maths teacher who changed
the formatso I could do coursework.I scraped a C and as far as I was concerned I was done with maths.
But maths isn't the issue - numbers cross into our working lives - telephone numbers - dates - train
timetables. Horrendous. But I just thoughtthis was normal and I coped - putting dates into words and asking
people to check numbers thatwere passed to me.I thoughtthis was exactly how everyone functioned.
My career progressed and Imoved into training - modern apprenticeships - and the company I was working for
was trialling workplace assessments for young people,and as part of the training the team I was managing and I
had to be tested so we understood whatto do. After the assessmentthe trainer pulled me to one side and
explained that I had flagged for dyscalculia and had I ever been tested?
Me - "..."
"well here's a link to the company- I advise you to get in touch"

2. Me - "..."
A couple of days later I got in touch and got formally tested - and I finally had a diagnosis for mydancing
numbers.Iwasn'tthick, I wasn'tstupid or slow or any of those things I'd been labelled.Iwas taught coping
strategies and shown how to change colours and fonts to help.
The other challenge Ifaced was special awareness and leftand right - my husband affectionallysays to me is
that a Claudine rightor everyone else's,as we have had some interesting detours!Now I justsay - go that way
and point. . . . my brain can process thatbut the switch between saying left and pointing left is mis -wired,I tend to
say left and pointright.
So how do I cope in work?
I've had so much supportfrom my manager and colleagues when I've told them,right from when I came for my
interview with DWF. I don't need physical reasonable adjustments,with technological advances,mine are more
of reasonable allowances or support.
I ask people to check my work - as I can't see where the mistakes are - and let me know. If I'm in a meeting with
you and you give me a number,or a 'phone number,I may read it back to you or ask you to read it for me to
check it's right. Or if I'm filling in a form,I may ask you to check dates or calculations and tell me ifit's wrong.
Colleagues are reallyunderstanding - ifI'm working on something complex,they know it will take me longer and
allow me that time to do it - I may have to work in a meeting room to avoid distraction and help myconcentration
but today I can do this totally unselfconsciouslyand the fear of numbers no longer rules mylife.
People ask me whatis it like - the only analogyI can give is watch the Morecambe and Wise "Mr Preview" sketch
with Andre Previn. apartfrom being comedygold,it summed itup perfectly in that rather than notes, I'm getting
all the numbers butnotnecessarilyin the rightorder!
What are the symptoms of dyscalculia?
Because there has been so little work on dyscalculia,there is no definite listof symptoms.Butthere is still a lot
that we do know.
Symptoms established by research
1. Delay in counting.Five to seven year-old dyscalculic children show less understanding ofbasic counting
principles than their peers (e.g.that it doesn'tmatter which order objects are counted in).

3. 2. Delay in using counting strategies for addition.Dyscalculic children tend to keep using inefficientstrategies for
calculating addition facts much longer than their peers.
3. Difficulties in memorizing arithmetic facts.Dyscalculic children have great difficulty in memorizing simple
addition,subtraction and multiplication facts (eg.5 + 4 = 9), and this difficulty persists up to at leastthe age of
thirteen.
These symptoms maybe caused by two more fundamental difficulties,although more research is needed to be
sure:
1. Lack of “number sense”.Dyscalculic children mayhave a fundamental difficultyin understanding quantity.
[They are slower ateven very simple quantitytasks such as comparing two numbers (which is bigger,7 or 9?),
and saying how manythere are for groups of 1-3 objects.The brain areas which appear to be affected in
dyscalculia are areas which are specialised to representquantity.
2. Less automatic processing ofwritten numbers.In mostofus, reading the symbol "7" immediatelycauses our
sense ofquantity to be accessed.In dyscalculic individuals this access appears to be slower and more effortful.
Thus dyscalculic children mayhave difficulty in linking written or spoken numbers to the idea of quantity.
Other symptoms
The following are likely to be symptoms ofdyscalculia:
1. Difficulty imagining a mental number line
2. Particular difficulty with subtraction
3. Difficulty using finger counting (slow,inaccurate,unable to immediatelyrecognise finger configurations)
4. Difficulty decomposing numbers (e.g.recognizing that10 is made up of 4 and 6)
5. Difficulty understanding place value
6. Trouble learning and understanding reasoning methods and multi-step calculation procedures
7. Anxiety aboutor negative attitude towards maths (caused bythe dyscalculia!)
All these symptoms (bar the last) are related to quantity.
The following maysometimes be ASSOCIATED with dyscalculia,butnot in all cases:
1. Dyslexia, or difficulty reading
2. Attentional difficulties
3. Spatial difficulties (notgood at drawing,visualisation,remembering arrangements ofobjects,understanding
time/direction)
4. Short term memorydifficulties (the literature on the relation between these and dyscalculia is very
controversial)
5. Poor coordination ofmovement(dyspraxia)