DS's dyslexia affecting maths...does anyone have experience?

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Yeti
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2012 10:44 pm

DS's dyslexia affecting maths...does anyone have experience?

Post by Yeti »

My DS was diagnosed in Y3 with dyslexia. He is now in Y5 and we thought we would try (he really wants to try) for our local partially selective school, however it feels as if we are climbing a mountain!

After diagnosis, he had vision therapy and then around 20 one- to-one sessions with a dyslexia tutor, this seemed to really help his reading and spelling, his reading age went from 7.8 to 12.4 in 10 months. No help from his school though. I think they think he is too "able" to warrant any intervention from them. After meeting the senco I decided to focus my energy on helping my son.

We've been doing a few practice papers and in maths, and my gut feeling is that his learning difficulty is having quite an impact on his maths. He makes very many silly mistakes with basic arithmetic, and seems to have a real difficulty working out what to do with the questions where there is written information, where you have to work out what to do and then perform simple steps in the right order. He does not seem able to sequence the steps.

Often he will solve a problem in the most complex way possible, which increases the "working out" and scope for error. He doesn't "see" that there could be a much simpler way to tackle it.

I would love to hear from anyone who has been through similar with their DC, or if anyone has any tips on how I can help him.

He's a bright boy, when the EP tested him his WRIT IQ was 135, but he performed relatively poorly on the digit span test - 90 indicating poor auditory processing and working memory, and I'm wondering if this is what is affecting his ability to do maths. He gets frustrated so I really want to help him!
mystery
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Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: DS's dyslexia affecting maths...does anyone have experie

Post by mystery »

It might be, but look at the improvement you got in reading with 10 months of tuition. Do you know someone equally good for maths?
Belinda
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Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2007 10:57 pm

Re: DS's dyslexia affecting maths...does anyone have experie

Post by Belinda »

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Last edited by Belinda on Sat Nov 03, 2012 5:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Belinda
Posts: 1167
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2007 10:57 pm

Re: DS's dyslexia affecting maths...does anyone have experie

Post by Belinda »

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Last edited by Belinda on Sat Nov 03, 2012 5:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Belinda
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Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2007 10:57 pm

Re: DS's dyslexia affecting maths...does anyone have experie

Post by Belinda »

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Last edited by Belinda on Sat Nov 03, 2012 5:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Yeti
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2012 10:44 pm

Re: DS's dyslexia affecting maths...does anyone have experie

Post by Yeti »

Thanks for the replies and Belinda, thank you for those links - I've had a quick look and already found some useful tips - such as getting him to estimate an answer first, to see if he can make the link between a question and what it actually means. Also turning lined paper on its side for columns for his workings - a simple idea but could really help him set his sums out clearly - we struggle with this!

I will be able to read more later when the DSs are in bed.

A private tutor isn't an option at the moment, but I am hoping I can support him myself by doing some practice questions daily - little and often works much better for him, and giving him some strategies for the longer written questions.
mystery
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Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: DS's dyslexia affecting maths...does anyone have experie

Post by mystery »

Columns - ah yes, good idea. Why don't children get given squared maths paper from year R onwards? And lined paper to write on? It would not just be children with "dyslexia" or "dyscalculia" that would benefit. Sometimes I think we have gone crazy.

I buy squared maths exercise books online and use them for homework. Only trouble is DD2 hasn't got the hang of putting numbers in squares and draws her own squares after she has written the numbers. It ends up looking like a cobweb. Maybe if they used squares at school instead of empty sheets of white paper to scrawl badly on things would shape up sooner.
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