(Ireland) DYSCALCULIA affects 6-6.5% of kids; we need more awareness

Sept 15, 2018, Irish Times: Dyscalculia: Why maths doesn’t add up for some of us https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/dyscalculia-why-maths-doesn-t-add-up-for-some-of-us-1.3628162 Many suffer from dyscalculia, a problem as common as dyslexia but seldom diagnose… This week, researchers in Northern Ireland published research which found that many children are suffering from this developmental condition but are not aware of it. A team of academics at Queen’s University Belfast examined the performance of more than 2,400 primary schoolchildren and found that some 112 children had a specific learning disorder in maths. However, just one of these children had been previously diagnosed with dyscalculia. The prevalence of the condition is estimated to be about 6 to 6.5 per cent. While this rate similar to dyslexia – which affects reading and spelling – there is far less awareness of dyscalculia. In fact, the research team estimates that a child with dyslexia is more than 100 times as likely to receive an official diagnosis and educational support than one with dyscalculia. Less awareness So why are so few children being diagnosed? Máirín Barry, a former lecturer on special education needs at the UCD school of education, says there is far less awareness of the conditions even among specialists….