1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,360 Hello everyone, welcome to the newest episode of our podcast, What in the World is Dyscalculia? 2 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:11,880 Or Dyscalculia? 3 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:17,880 If you have a background in Latin or if you are an engineer, psychiatrist or psychologist, 4 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:23,920 that's where I usually hear people pronounce the word as Dyscalcoolia. 5 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:32,280 Most people, teachers, educators, many doctors, family members and people outside of the US, 6 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:35,760 I typically hear pronounced Dyscalculee-a. 7 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:38,720 Some people just fight their way through the word as best they can. 8 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:44,960 Tomato, tomato, as long as we're talking about this math learning disorder, I'm very happy 9 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:53,160 because we need more advocacy, awareness, promotion and support centered around the 10 00:00:53,160 --> 00:00:58,800 math learning disorder that we call Dyscalculia. 11 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:07,640 This episode and the podcast What in the World is Dyscalculia is presented by Educalc Learning. 12 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:15,360 Educalc Learning is a for-profit company that is dedicated to helping educators, especially 13 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:23,040 classroom teachers, understand why their students are struggling in math and how to best support 14 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:24,040 them. 15 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:28,040 We also work directly with students through individual tutoring. 16 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:36,040 We are launching a comprehensive series of math courses designed specifically for students 17 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:38,120 who have Dyscalculia. 18 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:40,720 I'm very excited about that. 19 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,240 And of course we have our book, Teaching Students with Dyscalculia. 20 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:50,880 It's available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, my website, educalclearning.com. 21 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:54,240 You can ask for it at your favorite local bookstore. 22 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:58,240 I'm always a fan of promoting and supporting local businesses. 23 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:00,240 That's a great option. 24 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:06,920 And if you have any questions about that or our other books, please contact me. 25 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:12,040 The first thing I want to announce in this podcast is something I'm very excited about 26 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:21,440 and that is the launch of the Dyscalculia Training and Research Institute. 27 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:31,800 The DTRI is a 501C3 nonprofit organization housed in northeast Iowa but with outreach 28 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:37,160 across the country and we certainly hope to have outreach in other countries as well because 29 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:44,360 the math learning disorder is the same anywhere you go around the world. 30 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:50,440 If you are interested in what the Dyscalculia Training and Research Institute is going to 31 00:02:50,440 --> 00:03:05,880 focus on, please visit our website, www.thedtri.org. 32 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:13,420 The focus of the nonprofit is going to be awareness, outreach campaigns, getting fact 33 00:03:13,420 --> 00:03:19,600 sheets and information to families and schools and school psychologists, and also to promote 34 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:20,600 research. 35 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:27,680 We desperately need more published scientific research centered around this math learning 36 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:29,640 disorder. 37 00:03:29,640 --> 00:03:33,920 If you are listening and you are a researcher, if you're looking for topics for a master's 38 00:03:33,920 --> 00:03:44,560 or doctoral research program, please contact me, Honora, at thedtri.org and I would be 39 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:50,600 thrilled to talk with you about research. 40 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:54,120 Now if you are not a researcher, maybe you are listening because you are a teacher or 41 00:03:54,120 --> 00:04:01,080 a parent or a person who has Dyscalculia and you want to know more about this issue, that's 42 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:09,560 going to always be the main focus of our podcast, digging into this specific learning disorder. 43 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:16,280 There is information that is not quite so research driven on my for profit website, 44 00:04:16,280 --> 00:04:20,000 educalclearning.com. 45 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:25,000 If you take a look at that website, that's where we are hosting our training for teachers, 46 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,120 that's where we are promoting our books. 47 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:33,840 Not only teaching students with Dyscalculia, but we have some others online and some others 48 00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:40,600 in the pipeline that we are working on, including a Spanish version of teaching students with 49 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:41,600 Dyscalculia. 50 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:48,400 I am very excited about that, having a multicultural focus to the business and reaching as many 51 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:52,960 people as possible is near and dear to my heart. 52 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:56,680 So you can look for more announcements about those things coming up soon. 53 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:03,520 But as I have been working on opening the non-profit and expanding the reach of the for 54 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:09,440 profit, I thought what do I want the focus of this business to be, how are we going to 55 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:11,920 approach Dyscalculia. 56 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:17,600 And the main thing I have come up with that speaks very much to my heart and I bring it 57 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:26,480 up a lot in my speaking engagements and conversations with people is the amount of shame people 58 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:30,480 feel when they have a learning challenge. 59 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:33,920 That's horrible, we have got to change that part of the conversation. 60 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:38,400 First of all, there is nothing wrong with having a learning challenge. 61 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:43,000 We all have a challenge in some area of our lives and having a learning challenge, especially 62 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:48,520 when it's tied to neurodivergence, which simply means you have your own way of thinking, 63 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:54,040 interpreting, remembering, and recalling math. 64 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:57,040 That's nothing to be ashamed of. 65 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:08,680 However, in the classroom, in our families, and in the workplace, people feel very ashamed 66 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:16,120 about advocating for themselves, about explaining that they have this issue with numbers, that 67 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:22,160 it's triggering for them, that they've had so many negative experiences. 68 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:30,120 So every part of our conversations need to center around removing shame. 69 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:38,440 And as an educator, let me apologize to listeners who have many traumatic stories they can tell 70 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:45,280 about being in the classroom at any grade, any age, and feeling left out, feeling marginalized, 71 00:06:45,280 --> 00:06:53,360 feeling embarrassed, we have to change that experience. 72 00:06:53,360 --> 00:07:00,600 Outside of changing that experience, if you have that background and you know that math 73 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:04,600 has always been something that's been painful for you and you're trying to get help for 74 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:11,080 yourself, then I encourage you to start with understanding that there's nothing wrong with 75 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:16,280 you, there's nothing wrong with the way you understand interpret math, and there's nothing 76 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:23,760 wrong with not being able to remember basic math facts. 77 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:28,600 Understand that you have operated in a system that was not designed for you, and hopefully 78 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:36,960 we can change that experience so that future students don't have these same traumatic experiences. 79 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:43,040 Understand that as an adult, as an adult learner, as an adult going back to college, as an adult 80 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:48,760 in the workplace, or even just in your house worried about your family finances and being 81 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:54,400 involved in financial conversations, you have a place in all of those arenas. 82 00:07:54,400 --> 00:08:01,200 And all of those arenas should be adaptive to your individual needs. 83 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:04,240 It's really not a big deal. 84 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:12,000 It is not difficult to support people who have a learning difference centered around 85 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:13,120 math. 86 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:20,520 It is not challenging, it's not going to put anyone out, it's not a big deal to be helpful. 87 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:28,920 That message really needs to get out to your spouses, your bosses, your professors, and 88 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:30,880 you need to hear it in your heart. 89 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:34,280 So I hope you take that into your heart. 90 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:40,680 I hope that we remove the shame and stigma that people feel when they have to say, you 91 00:08:40,680 --> 00:08:44,120 know, actually, I've always struggled with math. 92 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:45,200 I don't really get it. 93 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:46,200 I think about it differently. 94 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:48,240 I have a hard time with memorization. 95 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:50,360 It's actually a learning difference. 96 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:51,880 Oh, there you go. 97 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:53,040 There's self-advocacy. 98 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:54,480 There's the conversation. 99 00:08:54,480 --> 00:09:02,800 And when you as an educator or a parent or a boss, the employer, as the college professor, 100 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:08,400 when you hear people talk to you about their math experiences, listen to what they're saying. 101 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:10,600 Listen to those trigger points. 102 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:15,800 And have a conversation based around their strengths, not around their weaknesses. 103 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:20,160 Please stop saying that everyone needs to use math every single day because it's not 104 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:22,520 really true. 105 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:26,240 There are plenty of people who don't use math most days. 106 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:31,160 And it's all right if people don't enjoy math. 107 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:32,160 That's okay. 108 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:34,080 You can still be a successful person. 109 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:37,160 You can still be a successful student. 110 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:40,560 And you can still have a successful career. 111 00:09:40,560 --> 00:09:45,120 So let's start having conversations where we address the learning difference. 112 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:47,560 We address the strengths. 113 00:09:47,560 --> 00:09:52,480 We address finding the right support for areas of weakness. 114 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:58,280 And we stop making people feel ashamed that they're not a math genius. 115 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:02,640 Stop showing them the YouTube videos with the math tricks where you do something convoluted 116 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:06,400 that makes no sense to someone who's struggling with numeracy. 117 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:07,480 That's not going to help. 118 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:10,600 That's not the kind of support we're looking for. 119 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:12,920 There are lots of easy ways to support people. 120 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:19,040 And a lot of them include using a calculator, having reference sheets. 121 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:25,000 If you're in the workplace having an Excel set up with formulas ready to go. 122 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:30,040 And honestly in the workplace that's part of most onboarding programs. 123 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:34,080 Most workplaces already have systems that they're using. 124 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:38,080 And they're going to train employees how to use that system. 125 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:44,680 So it's not like you have to go into a modern job and bring your calculator or your abacus 126 00:10:44,680 --> 00:10:48,080 with you and figure things by hand. 127 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:49,520 We don't live in that world anymore. 128 00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:51,480 We live in a world of technology. 129 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:55,400 So let's learn how to use the technology properly. 130 00:10:55,400 --> 00:11:03,960 This can back up into our K12 system using grade level appropriate support underneath 131 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:05,480 fourth or fifth grade. 132 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:08,600 I'm not sure I recommend a calculator in all situations. 133 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:15,200 Then I would recommend one to 100 charts, multiplication lists, not the multiplication 134 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:20,600 chart in the big rectangle for people with visual spatial issues, which is very common 135 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:21,960 in dyscalculia. 136 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:23,760 Those things can be a mess. 137 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:27,520 But using the multiplication lists. 138 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:31,960 That is really helpful for so many different operations. 139 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:38,040 Having worked examples, having a reference sheet during classwork homework quizzes and 140 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:39,200 tests. 141 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:41,520 That's how we help our students move forward. 142 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:43,960 Now once we get into fourth or fifth grade. 143 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:51,880 We are now focusing on vocabulary formulas and quantity of work. 144 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:54,120 I'm a teacher too. 145 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:56,080 Teachers like to assign a whole lot of math. 146 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:58,280 They like to see a lot of problems done. 147 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:05,880 So if you want that quantity finished in a reasonable amount of time, then support students 148 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:07,720 with these external tools. 149 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:13,720 Because students with dyscalculia do not have the same internal mental tools because of their 150 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:14,720 neurodivergence. 151 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:20,880 It's the same as letting students wear their glasses, wear their hearing aids. 152 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:24,560 Same as letting students listen to audiobooks. 153 00:12:24,560 --> 00:12:28,640 Let's quit being afraid of technology. 154 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:34,480 And the college arena, so many colleges are moving into online math programs and that 155 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:39,560 can be really, really difficult for students with learning differences. 156 00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:45,000 They're just as not the same understanding, working with the computer as there is working 157 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:52,240 with either pencil and paper or talking out topics with another human. 158 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:58,320 And navigating the computer programs can be a challenge in and of themselves for any student 159 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:00,240 for lots of different reasons. 160 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:01,480 That's a really large topic. 161 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:07,320 I'm not sure we're going to get it fixed today for sure or anytime soon. 162 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:13,600 But let's at least start having those conversations, how our college math classes supporting all 163 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:15,680 students, especially those who struggle. 164 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:24,040 So these are some of the focus areas that I want to have in our minds during these next 165 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:27,640 upcoming podcast episodes of the season. 166 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:33,160 Shifting our conversation, removing shame from the conversation of having a learning 167 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:40,240 challenge, analyzing appropriate support tools at different parts of the lifespan. 168 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:47,960 K-12 versus college and university versus the workforce versus at home. 169 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:53,360 And there's so much work to be done here that any arena you find yourself in, if you are 170 00:13:53,360 --> 00:14:00,640 a student, a teacher, a parent, a doctor, an administrator at a school, a researcher, 171 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:05,680 there's a place for you in the world of dyscalculia awareness. 172 00:14:05,680 --> 00:14:07,520 We need you in your help. 173 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:11,160 I hope you will join me on this journey. 174 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:16,280 If you have questions about the podcast or anything else we've talked about today, please 175 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:17,840 reach out to me. 176 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:26,080 You can find me at Honora, H-O-N-O-R-A at educalclearning.com. 177 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:30,640 Or if you're interested more in the research and awareness through the nonprofit, that's 178 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:36,080 Honora at thedti.org. 179 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:39,240 You can also find me on LinkedIn. 180 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:41,160 And I hope to hear from you soon. 181 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:44,640 I hope you are enjoying the podcast. 182 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:59,440 And I will see you next time on What in the World is Dyscalculia.