Dyscalculia is an MLD (mathematics learning disability) that affects approximately ten percent of the US population, yet almost no one (shy of those diagnosed with the MLD) knows that it even exists. People who suffer from Dyscalculia have severe anxiety attacks, as well as short term memory loss associated with mathematics, numbers, rules, and retention. Other symptoms of Dyscalculia range from normal or accelerated language acquisition, poetic ability, good visual memory for the printed word, difficulty with the abstract concepts of time and direction, inability to keep track of time, and may be chronically late.
The diagnosis of such a MLD is a simple test that ranges from a few hours to as long as a day. It is, however, difficult to recognize because it appears similar to math anxiety, lack of studying, and just simple mistakes. Doctors believe that there are thousands in the world who have Dyscalculia, but go undiagnosed. The test is also very expensive, costing too much for the average person or college student to pay for (ranging from five hundred dollars into the thousand or so range). As is typical in dyscalculia syndrome, students are usually gifted in most other academic areas. They may be in Honors classes, achieve excellent grades, and be tenacious learners. Math, however, confounds them, because it defies their learning history. They can read, understand, work the problems, but instead of remembering and