Dyscalculia: The Numbers Game That’s Not Just About Math

When we think of math difficulties, we often associate it with being ‘poor at math.’ However, this is not the same as having a real problem with quantification, which affects an estimated 7 percent of the population (Haberstroh & Schulte-Korne, 2019). Math difficulty, or dyscalculia, is a neurologically based impairment that affects math learning and problem-solving. In this article, we will delve into the complexities of dyscalculia and explore the five functional brain systems that are essential for math development.

What Is Dyscalculia?

Math ability is highly complex and involves many concepts, symbols, procedures, and applications. Dyscalculia is not a unitary condition but varies from person to person. It is not a sign of low intelligence, laziness, or poor instruction, given its prevalence. Dyscalculia is often co-morbid with dyslexia, another neurological condition that affects reading and language skills.

Signs of Dyscalculia Across Age Groups

Math ability occurs along a continuum. At one end, mathematically talented children show strong tendencies to quantify everything around them, even early in life. For example, they wonder how much water a football stadium can hold when they are there to watch a game. At the other end, a 5th-grader with a math disability may still not know the answer to 5 x 2. Mathematical knowledge is cumulative, and missing some part of the foundation affects the learning of higher levels.

Age Groups and Math Expectations

The age groups below are expected to be able to do the following:

• Preschool Through Kindergarten: Count forward from 1 to 10 automatically, write and name each of the 10 numerals (0 to 9), and pick out the bag with the largest number of lollipops from a group of bags holding 1-10 of them each.
• Elementary School (by 3rd grade): Know up to the five times table, add and subtract numbers with multiple digits, and basic understanding of fractions.
• Late Primary (by 5th grade): Know up to the 10 times table, multiply and divide with multiple-digit numbers, and solve basic part-whole concept problems involving time, money, and fractions.

When Systems Break Down

Math development involves five functional brain systems: sensory-motor, linguistic, cognitive, psycho-social, and executive function (Berninger & Wolf, 2015). The linguistic system plays a crucial role in understanding math concepts, and oral discussion and written expression assist in this process. However, when these systems break down, math learning and problem-solving become challenging.

New Technologies, New Solutions

Even typically developing children can fall behind in math for various reasons. This may be due to instructional gaps or other environmental factors that can be addressed. However, dyscalculia is a condition that does not resolve itself even with more practice. The technology is already available to trace the linguistic difficulties underlying dyslexia to its source to resolve the disorder (May & Van Horne, 2025). Given the linguistic solution, the logical approach is to first determine whether the source of the math difficulty is also language-based before investigating the other four functional systems.