Symptoms of dyscalculia

Characteristics, symptoms, abnormalities, early warning, dyscalculia, arithmetic impairment, arithmasthenia, acalculia, learning impairment in mathematics, learning difficulties in mathematics lessons, arithmetic impairment, partial achievement disorder, dyscalculia, dyslexia, reading and spelling impairment, LRS.

Early detection

In order to define deviations from the standard, knowledge of what is actually called a standard is required. In the area of dyscalculia (but also of any other learning problem, such as dyslexia), this means that one first of all learns which standards should be achieved when and where. It is not very difficult to define this in school because of the defined learning goals and standards to be achieved, which have to be achieved specifically in each school year. But what about performance deviations in the pre-school area?are there already indications that learning problems are likely to occur?if so, what can be done diagnostically and therapeutically to minimize the probability of learning difficulties?

Developmental problems in kindergarten

The basic idea of the kindergarten goes back to Friedrich Fröbel, who in 1840 filled his basic idea with content and turned it into reality. He had the vision of a place for children, which took in and supported all children regardless of social background and according to the principle of an extended family. The focus was always on playing together, social interaction and the care of the child.

The kindergarten was also intended to be a place of contact between families and to promote interaction. The kindergarten and Fröbel’s basic idea were subject to various influences – just like other educational areas. Thus, pedagogical concepts were changed and adapted to social conditions and changes.

Even political influences can certainly be proven, if one is looking for them. As a result of the changed living conditions, especially due to the changed childhood, the kindergarten or day care center is gaining more and more importance as an important institution for the care of small children. As already mentioned in the context of the early detection of dyscalculia, the essential prerequisites are formed, such as Perception – storage – motor skills and imagination after the laying of the foundation stone in the womb through interaction with the environment in toddlers and thus in pre-school age.

They influence learning in a special way and are often jointly responsible for the development of learning problems (dyscalculia, lack of concentration, reading and spelling difficulties). These components can be promoted by a variety of exercises. The kindergarten, which in its ideal form holistically combines education, care and upbringing, can have a fundamental influence.

The child’s own experiences form the most important basis for this, freely adapted from the saying of Confucius: “Tell me and I will forget it! Show it to me and I remember! Let me do it myself and I understand it!

developmental abnormalities can already be found in the pre-school area. However, caution is advised here because not every deviation from the norm means that learning problems will definitely develop in the school environment. However, “healthy” vigilance can do no harm.

It does no harm to tackle problems when they are detected, if no excessive actionism is the consequence. In any case, it must be prevented that conspicuous features are “over-therapied”. For example, if you find a conspicuousness in the visual perception of a child, then this ability must not be trained 24 hours a day.

It should then be integrated into the child’s playful involvement and the child’s progress should be reviewed from time to time. Some serious abnormalities may require the consultation of a pediatrician. Your kindergarten, as a pre-school institution, can give you further information in this regard.

The following list assigns the underlying ability to the various abnormalities. It does not claim to be complete. It is not always possible to assign conspicuousness to ability.

Sometimes there are several underlying abilities, which is why anomalies are called twice. The following problems are also not limited to the pre-school area. They can also be present in school age.The only thing that applies here is: If abnormalities occur, the following abnormalities can possibly be an indication of learning problems: Perception: Storage: Motor skills: Imagination:

  • Problems when touching objects with blindfolded eyes.
  • Problems to name the body parts that were touched with closed eyes.
  • Problems with hearing certain sounds and/or sound connections
  • Finger diagnostics (inability to distinguish certain fingers of the hand and to show them on demand)
  • Problems with visual detection of small quantities up to a number of six objects (e.g. points of the cube image; muggle stones which are not in any order; turn tiles, stones …); quantity must be counted!
  • Connected with this also: problems of registration of relations: greater than less than; more than less than; the same number, …
  • Problems in the area of combining certain areas of perception, e.g. problems in the hand – eyes – coordination (touching certain objects)
  • Problems with coloring (crossing the lines)
  • Problems when sorting items according to certain criteria.
  • Problems with imitating rhythms (clapping)
  • Problems in the field of spatial orientation
  • Problems with naming objects that you have seen before, but which are then removed or covered.
  • Problems when rebuilding rows (red circle, blue triangle, green square, yellow rectangle) or rebuilding figures from memory.
  • Problems with memorization
  • Problems with repeating words, syllables and numbers, but also: Problems with repeating nonsense-syllables, but also with repeating rows of numbers.
  • Problems in the area of gross motor skills (when running, winding, catching, balancing)
  • Problems in the fine motor area (coloring, pen position, finger games, tying shoes)
  • Problems with clapping, resp. re-clapping of given rhythms
  • Problems with imitating the motion-motion sequences.
  • Problems with imitating gestures and/or facial expressions.
  • Problems when crossing the center line (for example, when children have to cross the center line, e.g., moving forward, backward or sideways, touching the left knee with the right hand or vice versa)
  • Problems with retelling stories due to lack of imagination (creating images in the mind)
  • Problems when continuing logical series
  • Problems with coloring (crossing the lines)
  • Problems when planning activities (determine sequence: first … , then …)