The Causes, Prevalence and Interventions for Dyscalculia in Malaysia

Abstract

Children with Dyscalculia show deficits in the basic understanding of quantities and numbers, which cause difficulties in math skills acquisition despite adequate schooling. This study summarizes the current knowledge regarding causes, diagnosis and treatment of Dyscalculia in Malyasia from a clinician’s perspective. The findings reveal that Dyscalculia is a brain based specific learning disability, which often co-exist with other neurological disorders such as Dyslexia and attention-deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). Symptoms of Dyscalculia include difficulty in reading, writing, counting, arithmetic calculation, direction co-ordination, finger counting agnosia and time management. A computer-based Diagnosis of Dyscalculia should measure all the possible difficulties that are faced by Dyscalculic patient along with other disorders that might co-exist with Dyscalculia and IQ. Care can be provided to Dyscalculia children using one-on-one intervention and the implementation of a standard policy based on health professionals, teachers, parents for diagnosis and treatment. The study also shows the need for more research into the current situation, diagnosis and intervention of dyscalculic cases in Malaysia to help meet the needs of these dyscalculic children.

The design and development of a dyscalculia checklist based on a focus group interview

“…The items are consistent with Nfon (2016), who states that students with mathematics learning difficulties struggle with estimating tasks involving money, time, speed and distance. Aquil and Ariffin (2020a) reinforce the constructs of Arabic numbers and verbal numbers by stating that students with dyscalculia have weak number sense, particularly regarding number relations. For instance, they cannot connect the Arabic number ‘8’ to its matching set, and numbers are akin to meaningless symbols.…”

“…This is supported by Srikoon et al (2017), who argue that working memory is one of the most significant abilities in the learning process. In addition to difficulty in counting and mathematical computation, students with dyscalculia also experience difficulties in time management (Aquil & Ariffin, 2020a).…”

“…Dyscalculia is a brain‐based learning difficulty that frequently co‐occurs with other neurological conditions (Aquil & Ariffin, 2020a). It affects approximately 3%–6% (Mahmud et al, 2020) or even 5%–7% (Bugden et al, 2020) of the population.…”

İlköğretim Matematik Öğretmen Adaylarının Diskalkuliye İlişkin Görüşleri

“…Tıp dünyası diskalkulik öğrenciler için herhangi bir ilacın bulunmadığını diskalkulinin tedavisine yönelik olarak sorunların akademik olarak ele alınması konusunda hemfikirdir (Aquil & Ariffin, 2020). Diskalkulik öğrencilerin tedavisine yönelik olarak, dijital temelli müdahaleler matematik başarısını olumlu yönde etkilemektedir (Benavides-Varela vd., 2020;Miundy vd., 2019;Polat vd., 2012;Räsänen vd., 2009).…”

Türki̇ye'de Di̇skalkuli̇ Üzeri̇ne Yapilan Çalişmalarin İncelenmesi̇

“…In addition, despite the use of descriptive criteria and testing tools, a prevalence rate of approximately 6% in different countries has made the treatment of dyscalculia extremely important (Shalev & von Aster, 2008). There is a consensus among the scholars that there is no medicine for dyscalculic students and that the treatment of dyscalculia should be addressed academically (Aquil & Ariffin, 2020). In the treatment of dyscalculic students, digital-based interventions positively affect mathematics achievement (Benavides-Varela et al, 2020;Miundy et al, 2019;Polat et al, 2012;Räsänen et al, 2009).…”