What dyscalculia is (and isn’t)
Dyscalculia is a specific learning disorder in mathematics: a serious, ongoing difficulty with understanding and working with numbers and quantities. It’s lifelong, it isn’t caused by poor teaching or a lack of effort, and it often occurs alongside dyslexia or ADHD.
It’s not the same as being “bad at maths”, finding a topic hard, or having maths anxiety. Plenty of students are anxious about maths without having dyscalculia, although anxiety and avoidance can be part of the picture.
This page is general information, not a diagnosis. Definitions and signs are from Raising Children Network, the Australian parenting website.
Signs of dyscalculia in high school
In Years 7 to 10, signs often show up as the maths becomes more abstract. A student with dyscalculia may:
- Struggle with abstract maths like algebra and fractions, well beyond the rest of their schoolwork.
- Rely on memorised steps without understanding why they work, and lose them quickly.
- Find it hard to spot obviously wrong answers, or to estimate whether an answer is about the right size.
- Still struggle with basic number facts, like times tables, or still count on fingers.
- Have trouble with everyday numbers, such as managing time and money.
- Find it hard to explain their thinking in maths.
- Rush or avoid maths tasks, or feel very anxious about them.
Signs from Raising Children Network. One or two of these on their own is common; it’s a persistent pattern, despite good support, that’s worth looking into.
Dyscalculia or gaps that can be fixed?
Many struggling students have gaps: topics missed or never quite learnt, which make later topics hard. Gaps and dyscalculia can look similar at first. The difference shows up over time, with good support.
| Gaps from earlier years | Possible dyscalculia | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it shows up | Specific topics, often ones missed or rushed | Across almost all number work, including the basics |
| With targeted practice | Improves fairly quickly once the missing skill is taught | Improves slowly, and skills fade quickly without ongoing support |
| Basic number facts | Usually secure | Often still hard, even in high school |
| Sense of size | Can usually tell when an answer is way off | Finds estimating and spotting wrong answers hard |
A free topic test can show which topics are causing trouble. If your child struggles with the first, easier questions in almost every topic, that’s worth raising with the school.
Getting an assessment in Australia
- Talk to the teacherAsk how your child is going compared with the class, what they’ve noticed, and what extra support the school can offer, such as an individual learning plan.
- See a professional if it continuesIf difficulties continue despite support, see a GP, paediatrician or psychologist. You don’t need a GP referral to see a psychologist.
- Formal assessmentA psychologist runs a range of tests comparing your child’s skills with what’s typical for their age and year level, and writes a report with recommendations.
- Share the reportGive it to the school and to your child’s tutor, so adjustments and teaching can be based on it.
Dyscalculia is an accepted disability under the Disability Discrimination Act, so schools can make adjustments such as extra time, calculators or modified tasks. Source: Raising Children Network.
The most useful step: a tutor who specialises in dyscalculia
One-on-one tutoring with a trained teacher is one of the main supports for dyscalculia. A general maths tutor can help with homework, but a specialist works on the underlying number sense, which is what makes everything else easier.
What to look for
- Experience with specific learning difficulties, and dyscalculia in particular
- Work on foundations and number sense, not only this week’s homework
- Concrete and visual methods: number lines, diagrams, hands-on materials
- Small steps, lots of practice, and patience
Questions to ask
- How many students with dyscalculia have you worked with?
- How will you use the psychologist’s report?
- How will you work with the school?
- How will I see progress?
Where to find one
- Your state’s SPELD association. SPELD NSW runs a referral service for tutors with learning-difficulty experience, including remote tele-tutoring
- The psychologist who did the assessment
- Your school’s learning support team
Practice at home, alongside the tutor
A weekly session with a specialist is where the core work happens. Between sessions, students still have this term’s class topics to keep up with. That’s where Tuterly can be a useful resource:
- Detailed worked solutions, with every step written out, which your child can go back to as often as they need.
- Fresh questions on the same skill, so practice is repeated without being the same question again.
- Mistakes come back until they’re mastered, which helps when methods fade quickly.
- Private and at their own pace, with no one watching them get it wrong.
- Saved mistakes to share with the tutor, so sessions can start from what your child found hard that week.
To be clear about what it isn’t: Tuterly doesn’t diagnose or treat dyscalculia, and it doesn’t replace a specialist tutor or support at school. It covers Years 7 to 10 class maths, so building early number sense is the tutor’s job. Used together, the tutor builds the foundations and Tuterly keeps the practice going in between.