| Math Apps for Iphone, Ipod |
[30 Jun 2009|11:14pm] |
I love these. Practice! Explanations on solving.
Dull moment in line at the post office? Play math zombie, where you have a grid of numbers, and have to tap combinations to add up to the number given on the screen. Great for "doing quick math in the head" practice. Set it for timed or untimed play.
Math Drills Lite: basic add, subtract, divide, multiply drills, and lots of settings to adjust to your skill level.
Solver: a two equation/quadratic equation solver, good for checking your answers. ( sure, you could use it to SOLVE, but where's the learning in that?)
Mathemagics: shows you "tricks" to solve math calculations, combines lessons with practice.
Algebra 100,101, 102, 103, 104: all by the same person, varying degrees of algebra drills to practice on. Almost all can be done mentally, but it clobbers home the concepts!
FracHelper : fractions befuddle me in mad ways. This shows the step by step of how to solve them.
EasyFactor: a reference app for a variety of algebra/precalculus topics. Nice little "explainer".
I have a few others, in quadratics and such, but there's also some more "elementary" math drill apps as well. I don't use them as often as I should, but 5 minutes of practice here and there, whenever, does seem to make a difference.
And like I mentioned before, Ipod won't get annoyed by "explain it again, I don't get it."
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| Dyscalculic in college. |
[30 Jun 2009|08:07pm] |
Here's the deal: I was diagnosed when I was 17. My mathematical comprehension was on a fifth grade level, despite everything else excelling far beyond age level. I am now 21, and if anything, my comprehension in all aspects affected by dyscalculia has lowered.
I get straight A's in everything not-math. My math skills are so pathetic, though, that I flat-out F fail even when I'm utilizing tutors, minimal accomodations for the ADHD (getting to take tests elsewhere, notes), and am taking a math level so low that I'm not even getting credits for it. I passed one non-credit course because the teacher took pity on me. I haven't passed the next non-credit required for me to get up to my first credit course, and then for my psychology degree, I still have to get all the way up to statistics.
Despite being given my diagnosis in highschool, and a written description of what my disability is and recommended help for it (for example, a calculator), I was not given a 504 plan because I entered an internet-based highschool and they weren't requiring me to take more than an 8th grade math course to graduate. He also claims that what he wrote for me had the same legal weight as a 504 documentation.
Well... great. Now I'm in college. Real life is here, and it's harder. I don't know what to do in order to move on. I've taken all the courses that I can without getting my math out of the way, and I can't take my required biology until then either. No one is taking me seriously without a 504. The disabilities department keeps telling me it's up to the teachers on how to help me, and then the teachers tell me it's up to the board.
Do I have any rights anymore, or does the law pretend learning disabilities stop mattering once you're out of highschool? Because so far, that seems to be the direction my research is pointing me in, and it's mindblowing. I can't seem to get it through to these people that it's not a matter of me just not trying hard enough. I know I could just take an "easier" major, but I already gave up my aspirations to become a zoologist because of the math courses required to get to chemistry- I can't give up another dream.
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| Update on Math and Ipod app fun.. |
[26 Apr 2009|06:48pm] |
I might just be seeing some effects. adding and subtracting in my head is easier, and I'm getting a bit better at multiplication in my head as well. ( I can usually mentally calculate the change from a purchase at work without needing to look at the register screen. I do this for practice, actually.)
A trawl through the educational apps shows a huge variety of math apps, from simple explainer apps, to practice, at all levels from elementary to university, so you have a good chance of customizing to your skill level. I've already picked up apps the next level up from where I started!
It might just be working. It's a great way to kill time for a few minutes and that daily or near daily bit of practice seems to cement some stuff in my brain easier.
It's been about three weeks, and were I using it a bit more consistently ( finals kind of threw that by the wayside) I'd probably progress faster.
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[13 Apr 2009|06:49pm] |
learning math:
So my husband and I, and another poster here were contemplating some sort of math resource for dyscalculics.
What has helped you, or does, in learning?
What's the biggest challenge topic wise? ( for me, fractions. Can't flipping wrap my head around that, and some stuff like quadratics and exponents. Some of the higher stuff flummoxes me beyond all belief after some intense math upgrading.)
What would you like to see? ( ie lots of practice questions, lots of examples, formatting? what would make it easiest? Personally, I need to see visually, where those numbers get moved in equations.)
It might take some time but this summer, I'd like to start assembling something. We have the capacity to master math, if we get the right info. ( I firmly believe in this.)
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| Small word issues anyone |
[09 Apr 2009|08:45am] |
I've been pondering this question for ages and... why not ask?
I must drive my editor nuts with this and I wonder if it is a symptom related to dyscalculia. I never was diagnosed as a kid--testing was not around yet I am a classic case of it.
Do any of you have issues with seeing small words too and in turn writing them? For example (and this is just a handful of the common ones things are reversed in larger words too):
Saw = was
And = Adn
The = Teh
Who = how
an = And
And so on...
Curious as to your expriences. My next book deals with a heroine who has a language disorder and this small word issue with me made me wonder its connections to dyscalculia and dyslexia.
Cheers!
Mav
(aka Jennifer)
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| Better math through technology |
[08 Apr 2009|11:50am] |
I struggle with remembering some of the fundamentals of math, finding myself having to relearn the concept if I'm away from it for even a week. ( fractions, and factoring).
This week I picked up an ipod touch, and there's loads of math apps, from basics to calculus, formula references, and the fun thing is, a good number of them have drills, that adapt as you learn too, throwing harder factoring at you and what not. A fractions program I snagged shows the step by step how to solve it.
I figure using the drill programs for even 5-10 minutes a day might help me with putting down more permanent memory in my brain. There's games, Math Zombie, which makes you add simple numbers in your head ( timed or untimed) and that's even a help.
The other upside is if you get stuck over and over, the ipod apps won't complain about having to explain something over and over. It doesn't get "personal", if you know what I mean, with some tutors and instructors driven to insanity when you can't grasp what they're saying.
So far, I've had some moderate success in some of the drills, and after some time with them, aha! i can see how this concept works...I get it. ( factoring, for one.)
Worth the investment, or if you have such a gadget, give some a try, they're free/or insanely cheap ( 99 to 1.99).
I can add numbers in my head now. I'm not fast at it yet, but I am getting faster, or the zombies will get me. ( math zombie. It gives you a grid of numbered squares, 1-9, and a number: 17, for instance, and you have to tap the correct combo of squares to add up to 17. )
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| New community for visual stress, Meares-Irlen Syndrome, dyslexia and so on |
[21 Mar 2009|11:32am] |
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) codeman38 and I have just created ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) visual_stress, for anyone who experiences symptoms of visual stress. It's also known as visual processing disorder, Meares-Irlen Syndrome, Irlen Syndrome, or Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome, and it takes the form of unpleasant visual distortions or eyestrain when reading, sometimes with headaches or migraine as well. It's commonly treated with colour, for instance in the form of acetate overlays for paper or tinted spectacles. You can read more about it here. There's a strong connection with dyslexia, and some people with processing problems have co-existing auditory processing disorder or other neurological issues.
You don't have to be diagnosed with visual stress to join, just to have difficulties in this general area. People with ME/CFIDS, migraine, MS, epilepsy, autism spectrum disorders or ADD/ADHD, for example, often experience visual problems of this nature.
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| whoa! |
[28 Jan 2009|09:08pm] |
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I just found out about dyscalculia. Im well into my 4th semester of college and am taking my first math class, "Basic Mathematics' is what my book is called. Its only the second week and i feel like I'm back in the 4th grade freaking out over my test on times tables. While I had always excelled in other areas, math has been a constant struggle. Somehow I skated through school getting "Cs" and "Ds" and wound up taking "recordkeeping" my senior year, where learned to balance a checkbook. I had my son my senior year of high school and always told people that it was my choice to take that class because I wanted an easy load so that I could graduate and walk with my class. After that I went to cosmetology school rather than to college. I was always the "scatterbrained" one in my family, getting lost, forgetting birthdays, leaving things behind at peoples houses, and screwing up my banking. I was not born prematurley like some of you were, however I was speaking in full sentences by the time I was two, and reading by three. Everyone thought I was exceptionally gifted until the 3rd grade. Then my inadequacies in math began to show. I never really learned my times tables despite the fact that i used my math wrap ups everynight. Then when we began adding and subtracting 3 digit numbers, i would write the numbers down wrong, screw up the columns, or get a different answer everytime I worked on a problem. I went to a catholic school and was pegged as "slow" despite my earlier achievements in reading and writing. Because people began to see me like that, i feel that I began to perform beneath my capabilities from fourth grade on, and no one ever said a thing. My mom took me to the eye doctor and they discovered that i wasn't using my left eye at all. (parents are like "whew, shes not stupid, she can't see) I went through 3 years of vision therapy, 3 days a week. After i began to use my left eye, my coordination improved dramatically and became an exceptional athlete, however I never got any better at math. Fast forward to now, Im 28 and finishing up my pre-requisites for nursing school. I am taking my first math class in 10 years, and I am freaking out. It is an online math class so I can stop and re-start the video lectures. I must have watched each section at least 3 times and taken verbatim notes. But when it comes time to take the test, I miss almost every question. They advise "re-work" the problem. Ok, done, but I get a different answer everytime. Last night I am working on some long division and my eyes well up with tears because i don't know how many times 27 goes into 364. (no calculators allowed for this class, my worst nightmare ever) My son walks by and tells me that he learned long division at the beginning of the year and would I like some help. I say yes and suddenly every two seconds its "AJ whats 6x8? or 9x7? How many times does 12 go into 243? And suddenly he is doing my homework for me wondering why mommy dosen't know her times tables. Every time we practiced with him, my fiancee would facilitate the session when the numbers weren't the 2s, 5s, or 10s.(Not like I actually know those from memory, I can just fake them better) And then my mom hands me some print out with "symtoms of dyscalculia" and man, i felt like i was reading an autobiographical account of my life. Im so glad that I am not alone, and that I am not stupid. I feel like if people know about it, then there are people that can help, and strategies for coping. Today for the first time in over 20 years, I don't feel stupid. Obviously i haven't been officially diagnosed, but I'm 150% sure thats whats wrong. Its a new "disorder" and I am a total skeptic. They told me in Kindergarden my son was ADHD and I should have him evaluated. I said thanks, but no thanks, he is a 5yr old boy. I did lots of reading, and we monitor his diet and keep a strict schedule for homework, showers, dinner, bedtime etc. He is now 10, in the 4th grade and been on honor roll every semester. Forgive me if I am a bit reluctant to use "labels". Anyway, Im sure glad to have found this community.
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| Hi, I'm new here... |
[11 Jan 2009|06:16pm] |
Hi, I'm to lazy to register at this moment, but eventually will.
I just learned about dyscalculia, after basically having it my entire life. I’ve self diagnosed myself...I've never been tested. Let me explain my symptoms and perhaps you all can tell me if it seems familiar?
-I cannot remember operations...like at all. I can learn it, know it, do the math problems and feel really proud of myself that I've beaten the problem at last. 2 hours go by...poof...its gone, like I've never even learned it.
-I've always had this problem as long as I can remember. I have a memory of being in 5th grade, looking over at the girl who sat next to me…(the pretty girl who had it all together) as she scribbled her math cheerily with her pencil, and I sat with tears in my eyes feeling so stupid for not getting what everyone else got.
-My problem with math is NOT laziness. It later became apathy because how many times can you fail at something before you stop setting yourself up for failure? Eventually, I began skipping my math classes in HS because it was just to embarrassing to be in 9th grade still struggling to remember what 8*6 is let alone all the other new information that they kept piling on. Eventually this lead to utter DEFIANCE. I refused to take any part in algebra class because I felt too upset with the fact that letters had usurped the numbers I'd come to know. Letters do not belong in math....PERIOD! So I quit going to math class. Sad to say, no one noticed at school.
-in 92, after quitting HS and getting my GED (which required a 40 score in math, I got 45. If I hadn’t gone to the GED classes I never would‘ve passed! ) I wanted to go on to community college to start working on a History Degree so I could eventually become a teacher. I am a History whiz and can recall the most trivial historical event, I also passed my English courses with good grades. I got A's in my History and English classes but struggled in my remedial math course (pre algebra). Eventually, I dropped out of college, resenting whoever it was that decided that a history teacher needs to know algebra.
-fast forward. Now I've got no career prospects because I cannot get past the math required to get a degree or even a technical certificate! I am 36, I cannot add 255 + 303 in my head. If I tried, before I got to add the first numbers, the 255 would either dissolve or scramble and I'd forget what I'm supposed to be adding.
-Unlike others, I have an EXCELLENT mental map. This could be because I live where I grew up and know the area so well. But if someone told me, "go right" I'd have to feel for the writers cramp on my right middle finger lol.
-I am horribly disorganized and never do anything the same way twice.
-forget about reducing or increasing recipes!
-or calculating how much time a roast should cook based on how much it weighs.
-I do not have a problem with clocks, I can tell time on an analog clock, but what I cant do is tell you what time it will be in 5 hours and 20 minutes. It would take a LONG time to figure that one.
-I cant count back change. People have explained it to me, and I sometimes get it...but then I forget.
-I also think I have low latent inhibition, which makes me highly distractible and unable to focus if there is too much noise or activity in the room. Like right now, my kids are driving me bonkers lol.
-I love to read and learn and I do it whenever I get the spare chance
-I was born 2 months premature and weighed 4lbs 7oz at birth, I've read that’s a risk factor.
-I never remember people’s names or birthdays. I always get the BD wrong by one…if the BD is on the 22nd, I’ll assume its either the 21st or the 23rd. I always remember faces, almost never remember names.
-I cant gossip…because gossiping requires the ability to remember details…and I cannot. (not really a BAD thing I guess lol)
-I fear my mailbox and anything bill related. I have horrible credit and cannot keep a checking account because I constantly overdraw.
-if I had a nickel for every time I heard, “She’s so smart…if only she would apply herself.” As if feeling like an idiot is a choice! Yea, I suck at math because I’m lazy, whatever! That’s what I always heard. No one seemed to wonder why I wasn’t “lazy” in English or history or science class!!
-I am also an INFP according to the MBTI test. I am very interested in knowing if personality type and dyscalculia go hand in hand. Has anyone else taken that test?
Does it sound like dyscalculia?
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| Math...being conquered! |
[09 Oct 2008|10:46pm] |
I'm thrilled to hear of the successes of us!
Math will never be my best subject but I refuse to give up. It might take me longer, but I know where the problem lies (in processing, from text or lesson to translating and understanding it.)
Here's what has helped:
1. A retail job. Oh yes. The repeated use of a numeric keypad trained my brain to read numbers. The transcription errors dropped after two years in retail. I could count and tally and calculate basic math. It worked as a boot camp, and eventually numbers didn't seem quite so scary.
2. Make a notebook of your math stuff, in whatever step by step, manner, method diagram you need to understand each problem or calculation. Write it down in as much detail as YOU need to understand it. ( this has been saving my ass in chem)
3. From elementary on, I was told to use graph paper to keep my columns and figures pin straight, to avoid confusion. To this date, my math notes are, well, neurotically tidy. It helps.
4. If there's tutorial services for free: USE THEM. Hell, camp out. Show up with those questions you don't understand and handle just one of those a day even.
5. Get a good calculator. I have a graphing calculator, which I needed for a calculus class, but I picked up a TI-34 scientific that shows things in "textbook" and "classic" mode and it's very dyscalculic friendly, I find. It's not so full of bells and whistles I get flummoxed.
6. See if you can get assignments or part of them in advance. Look them over. Flag the stuff you know how to do. Flag the stuff you MIGHT know. Flag the last that you need tutorial help with. Budget time. If you have 5 out of ten questions that need tutorial help, then tackle one a day. Its no good trying to get them all done at once. At least then you can get the ones you know out of the way, and get those marks, and try to tackle the others.
I've discovered that my fellow chem students often have the same issues with some questions as I do, so I'm not entirely alone. And I've learned that the fine art of at least showing SOME of the work, and in some cases, learning to do a flying educated guess, will net you those extra marks.
I have a chem midterm next week. If anyone ever said I'd be pulling 90's in chem assignments, I'd have died laughing ten years ago.
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[07 Oct 2008|10:31pm] |
Hi! I'm not new to this community, but the last time i posted was probably a very very long time ago, so i'm posting again.
I'm roobes, and I know for sure i have dyscalculia without a doubt, i haven't been 'officially' diagnosed, i was going to be but the person who was assessing me never got back to me. I've always struggled with maths and i just thought it was because i was stupid and it was such a relief to know other people have the same problems with maths. Maths is truely like a foreign language to me, even basic maths puzzles me...when faced with the simplest of maths problems my mind goes blank and i freeze. It's a horrible feeling.
I just feel so upset that Dyscalculia will put me at such a disadvantage in life, maths is a skill that you need in everyday life but one that i can't do at all.
My problem is that i'm going to be getting a job soon and it will most probably be in retail. I'm terrified because of my dyscalculia that it will mean i'm bad at my job and people will label me as 'slow'. I heard that when applying for jobs you must tell them if you have a specific learning difficulty like dyscalculia or you could get sacked when a problem arises and you haven't told them that you have this difficulty. But i'm really worried that telling them about it will make people less likely to employ me.
For people who do work, how do you tackle the problems that come with dyscalculia?
I just wanted to know that i'm not the only one who feels like this.
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| ...I think I am going to cry |
[07 Oct 2008|01:48pm] |
I got a 100% on my managerial accounting exam!!!
I haven't had a 100% on anything in maths since graded school!
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| This is a Great Group |
[20 Sep 2008|10:32am] |
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It is so encouraging for me to read other people's stories and how they are dealing with dyscalculia. I have never met someone (to my knowledge) who had gone through what I have gone through in school. Usually, I meet people who say they are not good at math, but can do the work independently, on a college level (unlike myself). I have tried to explain my problem to my husband so many times, I had gotten aggravated. My mother and teachers always saying I never applied myself (I damn well applied myself). I am glad to see all of you are students, even overachievers.
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| What Are The Benefits? |
[19 Sep 2008|07:20pm] |
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I am 100% sure that I have dyscalculia. Unfortunately (fortunately?) I was never diagnosed with this disorder. I am in college, and will not be taking any math courses for the duration of my time at the university. What tangible benefits are there for one with dyscalculia? I am well aware of the disadvantages.
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| oh! my! god! |
[13 Sep 2008|01:46am] |
Wow, I don't even know where to begin. I feel like I just had a major epiphany! My entire life I have always felt like I had a learning disability related to math, but just didn't know what to call it. The closest I ever came was "dyslexia but with math, not reading". No one ever paid much mind to my complaints and just told me that if I tried hard enough I could get better, that I was just "bad at math". So I've struggled through years of high school math classes, just barely getting by, usually resorting to cheating and copying papers in order to pass with a low 70 (which I would never do in any of my other classes, I was also in advanced placement language, literature, history and government courses and did well in them).
Now I'm in college, and I'm in my third round of "developmental" math, and already struggling even though all we are doing is very simple algebra. Algebra that I've been trying to learn since 8th grade. It just won't translate for me.
So, anyway, I was doing my usual nerdy wikipedia browsing, and was reading about right brain lateralization and it somehow led me to an article titled "dsycalculia". I am in shock right now. Every symptom is completely spot on, even things I never thought to associate with my math problems (having trouble with clocks, left/right, poor sense of direction, bad at games/sports, I'm clumsy, can't even attempt to dance, good with geometry and non-math related science, over active imagination (extremely), latent inhibition/sensitivity to noise....everything!!!!). And I promise I'm not one of those people who think they have every illness/disorder they come across. I read about disorders like this a lot actually (I'm a psych major). And the only other time I ever felt this way was when I read about social anxiety (which I am officially diagnosed with).
So, now I feel like I really need to be diagnosed, just to be able to prove to people who, my entire life, have been telling me that I'm just not trying hard enough. What do I do? Who do I see? Will the counselors at my university have any idea what I'm talking about? I don't know where to go from here. I'm convinced that I have it. I've never been so sure of anything before! (and I'm usually very unsure of myself).
Also, sorry if this seems nonsensical or over enthusiastic or whatever, I'm just really really thrilled that I somehow came upon this. Like I said, this has been a life long struggle for me and I never imagined that I would be able to find out what was wrong. Now I finally have a reason for all of it. It's extremely satisfying, even though I know it won't solve my problems.
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| problem. |
[05 Sep 2008|09:30pm] |
Hi everyone.
I was officially diagonsed with dyscalculia about three weeks ago - i am nineteen.
I've run into a large problem, however.
The college I am attending has a set course line. I cannot take other classes in exchange for other classes, and the school refuses to waive classes "to anyone for any reason". I have failed my math course three times now because of my learning disability - which is why i went out and got tested in the first place.
The course is two times a week, eight hours a day, for a month. The first four hours they teach you anywhere from four to seven concepts, and the next four hours, you do worksheets they grade on a right or wrong basis. This is absolutely impossible for me.
The school won't waive the math class for me, and there is no "easier" math course for me to take for this credit. The help they offer students for disabilities is more geared towards those with reading problems - such as extra time on tests, sitting in front of the room, etc. Nothing that would help me pass the actual math class. I've tried a tutor two times already but my brain can simply not do the math.
I am on a 4th grade math level and this math is absolutely impossible for me.
I know legally my family and i cannot do anything since they are offering their disability help towards me, so they don't have to waive the class. But each retake of the class costs my parents 1,200 dollars, and it would be too expensive for me to drop out of this college so I have to stay.
I have no idea what to do and am really just at my wits end of the entire affair. Any suggestions/help? The school does not understand dyscalculia - i really think they believe i am just "bad" at math.
If you have any questions, please go ahead as well, I'm not sure if my post was completely clear.
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| Hello! |
[27 Jul 2008|01:04am] |
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Hi, everyone! I'm Rachel, aged 18, from the Eastern part of the USA, and I am very happy to have found this community! I am an undiagnosed dyscalculic (which is frustrating because I def have it).
I think I'm pronouncing it wrong, though- I've always pronounced it dis-CAL-kew-luh, but most people, I've found, say it "dis-cal-KYEWL-yuh". Am I wrong or there two different pronunciations?
Also, if you're interested, here is an awesome forum for people like us!
Keep spreading the word!
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| Greetings |
[02 Jul 2008|11:41am] |
Hey everyone. I just joined and this is my first post. I've had dyscalculia for most of my life (I'm 35) but was only diagnosed a few years ago. I had a wonderful college algebra teacher who taught me coping and learning strategies and have been able to pass both Intro and Intermediate Algebra with a "A"s. Of course I lived in his office often seeing him twice a day. I didn't say anything to him at first but he recognized signs right away. He was an extraordinary teacher.
Happily those are the only math classes I need to take for the rest of my life (my Master's program has no math). I'm glad to have found this community. I have other problems that I work hard to overcome but it'll be a lifelong struggle, I'm sure. It has been already. ;)
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