Many children find maths hard at some point. Dyscalculia is something else: a specific and persistent difficulty in understanding numbers and calculating, which persists despite practice and good teaching.
What dyscalculia is
Dyscalculia is a learning difficulty with a neurobiological basis that mainly affects number sense —understanding what a quantity represents and how numbers relate to each other— and calculation. It is not explained by a lack of intelligence or effort. In the diagnostic manuals (DSM) it is classed as a specific learning disorder with impairment in mathematics.
It sometimes occurs alongside other difficulties, such as dyslexia or ADHD, and is often accompanied by maths anxiety.
Signs in the early years (ages 4 and 5)
- Struggling to count in order and to match each number to an object.
- Not recognising small quantities (one, two, three) at a glance, and needing to count them one by one.
- Struggling to say which group has more or fewer items.
- Struggling to recognise and name written numbers.
Signs in the first years of primary school (ages 6 to 8)
- Still counting on fingers for simple sums when classmates no longer do.
- Not remembering basic facts, such as 3 + 4, even after a lot of practice.
- Mixing up the order of numbers or similar numbers (12 and 21).
- Struggling to understand place value: units, tens, hundreds.
- Struggling to place a number on a number line or estimate a quantity.
Signs from age 8 or 9
- Mental arithmetic is very slow and relies on very basic strategies.
- In word problems, finding it hard to decide which operation to use.
- Difficulties with money, time or measurements.
- Feeling anxious or freezing up with maths, or saying they are “no good with numbers”.
None of these signs on its own points to dyscalculia. What matters is that several appear and persist despite practice.
When to seek advice
If difficulties persist for months despite practice, or if your child starts avoiding anything to do with numbers, it is worth seeking advice.
- Talk to the class teacher and the school’s support team.
- Ask for a professional assessment. Diagnosis is made by a professional —psychologist, neuropsychologist or educational psychologist— using specific tests.
What families can do
- Use numbers in everyday life: counting in the kitchen, comparing prices, measuring, telling the time.
- Play board games with dice, cards or numbered boards.
- Ask for estimates (“how many spoonfuls do you think will fit?”) and check them together.
- Take the pressure off: praise the reasoning, not just the answer, and avoid phrases like “I was never good at maths either”.
- Work with the school so that support at home and in class pulls in the same direction.
How NeurekaLab can help
NeurekaLab does not diagnose. It assesses number processing and calculation through the skills involved in learning maths —mental arithmetic, estimation, transcoding, number line, base-10 system and reasoning— and shows which ones are worth reinforcing. After that, activities adapt to their level and progress, in short sessions of 15 minutes at most.
Find out more on NeurekaLab for families. To go further, read Maths difficulties: how to recognise them and intervene early, The mental number line and Maths anxiety in the early years.