Double Maths?  Are you kidding me?  I walked reluctantly into the old, rustic classroom and saw Mr Rumble. I liked Mr Rumble, it was nothing to do with him that I did not like Maths, he had a great sense of humour and made the lessons fun.  It’s just … well – I don’t understand Maths at all.

Very often, I felt sick, faint and dizzy at the thought of attending.  I was not long at the school and adding Maths to the agenda did not help.  What was wrong with me?  Why didn’t I get it?  I was mad about Maths!

I enjoyed sitting next to Shelena though!  Shelena was from India, she was super at Maths and we had fun together in the class.  I did have to question my intention for seating next to her as she often helped me with my tasks.  I remember disturbing her often, when we both enjoyed winding up Mr Rumble by sucking sweets loudly in a silent class when we caught him looking down at his books.  He knew it was us and played along.

Then, suddenly Mr Rumble presented us with a Maths paper.  ‘It’s time to practice for your exam, so I thought I would spring this on you, hope you don’t mind’?
I looked at the paper, after Mr Rumble split us up!  My help was gone!  I began to panic!  My heart beating rapidly!  Palms sweating abundantly!  I thought about something I read recently, an article about ‘Dyscalculia’ a strange term.  But quite relational to this moment.

As I scanned through the questions, none made sense.  It was like a lack of logic, no recognised pattern, when I turned over the page, I forgot the formulas. I could not reason with it and it made no number sense.  I just didn’t get it!  Too late, times up and I failed ….
It figured to be honest = I told Mr Rumble how I felt.

Mr Rumble made some modifications for me, he gave me more time to complete my test, let me complete it online, he even let me play Maths games on the computer – all after my test that diagnosed me.  It was a great help and at least I don’t fear Maths anymore.  I will always need modifications to use Maths, but it’s proved to be so much easier now thanks to Mr Rumble.

Dyscalculia is defined as ‘severe difficulty in making arithmetical calculations, as a result of brain disorder’ Oxford Dictionary Online

Typical symptoms include:

• difficulty counting backwards
• difficulty remembering ‘basic’ facts
• slow to perform calculations
• weak mental arithmetic skills
• a poor sense of numbers & estimation
• Difficulty in understanding place value
• Addition is often the default operation
• High levels of mathematics anxiety

Reference:  The Dyslexia Association – click here to visit the website >