Hi I'm Karen and I have dyscalculia

Just by chance, I stumbled upon a name for a problem I have suffered with since third grade.  Picture how an illiterate person can squeak by their entire lives not knowing how to read.  Well, I have done that in everything that involves numbers.  Because I was a good quiet kid, I think my math teachers passed me out of pity.  It's not like I didn't try.  I spent more than enough hours with different tutors.  I would kind of understand what they were showing me, but by the time the test came around I never got higher than a D.  This continued in college where I failed the basic math course--twice.  You begin to develop a phobia when you confront numbers.  There are many levels or symptoms of dyscalculia. These are the ones I have:

Reliance on 'counting-on' strategies, e.g., using fingers, rather than any more efficient mental arithmetic strategies.

Difficulty with everyday tasks like checking change.

Inability to comprehend financial planning or budgeting, sometimes even at a basic level; for example, estimating the cost of the items in a shopping basket or balancing a checkbook.

Difficulty with mental arithmetic.

Difficulty with conceptualizing time and judging the passing of time.

Problems differentiating between left and right.

Having difficulty mentally estimating the measurement of an object or distance (e.g., whether something is 10 or 20 feet away).

Inability to grasp and remember mathematical concepts, rules, formulae, and sequences.

I have read that people who suffer with this, happen to excel in English and science (well I'm the former not the latter).  Even going so far as to say some excel creatively, like in poetry.  I think back to a day in seventh grade that I earned some respect from my class by reciting a serious poem I had written.  Everyone thought I copied it from a book.  Or my favorite English teacher's recommendation for my college application.  He wrote, "She has already read books and poetry that most high school students would not attempt." 

It's a great comfort to know that I'm not a complete idiot, and there is a reason for this gap in intelligence.  If I had to choose between being a whiz in math or English, I'd rather pick English anyway.  You can't snuggle up with a good book about the pythagorean theorem--that is, unless you're my husband :)

To learn more, please visit: www.dyscalculia.org