college and dyscalculia, what to tell my professor?

Hi, I work with students in those pre-college math classes at our community college. The most common issue is that teachers move too fast — and that’s with people who are just rusty, not with a real dyscalculia problem, so I can imagine how confusing and frustrating it must be.
ONe thing our college is working on is doing math in “modules” so that students can be self-paced. (One thing they already do is have me around to work with students at their pace, too). But ‘til that is in place, wha’ts more common is that students just have to take the class, do the best they can, drop it so they don’t get an F, and take it again. In any given class, half the people are there for the second time around.
Besides it all going too fast, what makes it hard for you? Do visual explanations or examples help?

I thank you very much for your responding to my post. The only thing that I personally know to do in math is methodically go through my math book. I read and read all of the explanations and examples and write them all out in long hand. It is very very hard for me to articulate anything I am unsure about in math, I even speak slower than I normally do when I am working with a tutor and whatnot. When I was a school girl in the resource room for math, they taught with the modules and it worked alright for me, to an extent. However, I need to catch up and master enough remedial algebra so that I can pass a comprehensive final and move on to the next math class. As of right now, the only thing I know to do is just go over everything and read over everything until I understand it, and then do a problem a good five or six times in a row until I get it correct. I really cannot (pardon my spelling) conceptualize anything in math. I have since taken the math test that I wrote of in my previous post and made a 69. I made a 69 because my teacher gives partial credit, I did not get anyone problem 100% correct at all and this is after a grand total (since August 26th) of about four hours a day of work six days a week. I wish I knew of how to visualize how to do certain things in math, like with the distributive property, that is mighty hard for me. I am currently learning of the polynomials and I am finding it very hard to write them down onto paper, so I do not know where I will stand with my remedial algebra class at all. Sue, how do you learn of these things if you are in my situation? I would really like to master enough of this remedial algebra (which is really just high school algebra one) so that I can move to the next class, but I really do not know how to do it. Thank you for reading my post. I try to explain these things to my teacher but it is if she does not believe me. I think she sees a 29 year old lady and nothing more than that. I think that she thinks that I am just out of practice and have anxiety or something, but that is really not the case at all, I wish I just had anxiety to tell you the truth.

Don’t tell anybody, but I don’t generally visualize in math either — so while I don’t have the depth of problems you do, it could be that you can learn it well enough without being able to visualize it.
So, next question — how are you with logic?
I think one of the most important processes to be able to do is to be able to substitute things in an equation.
The simple version would be — if X is 3, what is X + 7?
How are you with that kind of thing?

And do you have the language basics yet — that 4x would be 4 times X ? (so if X were 3, what would 4x be?)

I’ve had some luck explaining that “distributive” property by having people draw an arrow from the first number (the one outside the parentheses) to each number you have to multiply by. So if it was 3(x + 3) you’d draw an arrow from the 3 to the x, and an arrow from the 3 to the three. When you distribute candy, you hand it out to everybody… same thing with distributing a number. It’s like “distributing” a magic spell. It goes over and zaps *eerybody* in the parentheses. So first it zaps the first number… Three Times X. Then you stick that plus sign in there. THen zap! it zaps the three… three times three. So the answer is
3x + 9.

But… this is words ;) one of these days I’m gonna make a video :)

Merlinjones,

Girlfriend I hear you. I have mad silly dyscalculia. The experience you are having is exactly like what I went through in college. In fact, i never passed the math requirments at my university, and ultimately my family had to threaten a lawsuit so I could get my degree.

Please be advised, colleges and universities get money from the govt. for every l.d. student they have enrolled. Get retested, with that you should get special consideration as far as your math requirement goes: free tutors, extra time, etc. In my case, the school was taking money they recieved for l.d. kids and spending it on athletes-hence the lawsuit and they gave me my degree, b/c I had performed well everywhere else.

Don’t worry about conceptualization. You never will conceptualize. Just memorize what you can and go from there.

When you talk to your teacher, I’m sure she’ll be cool. If not, stand strong, b/c no one who is not learning disabled will ever understand you. Especially if you do well in school otherwise.

You rock. Math sucks. Use all of your abilities and skills to move along in the class-homework, conferences with the teacher, alternative stuff you can think of.

Don’t let your frustration stop you. Take a break from math for a day or two. Remember why it’s great to be alive. I’ll think of specific things and post again.

Hmmm…. merlin, man or woman?

Anyway that ‘guest’ post was me, but login didn’t happen and I didn’t notice.

That post was too cool to me! That was very nice of you to do such a thing. Yeah, I will never conceptualise a damn’ thing in math, I guess. I did get all of my re re re evaluating out of the way and next week I get to go talk to disability student services. I actually have e mailed them already, a heart wrenching e mail, of my mathematics troubles and I even put in the e mail hyperlinks to dyscalculia, the Wrights Law and the American with Disabilites act!!! So, tell me I won’t at least qualify to get a tutor! Sue, I think that you are in the most noble lines of work there is, really. I thank you for message board a posting with me and I am sorry that I have been to busy studying and working to come to this web site more often. Peace be to all of you on this site, man!! And merlin is a lady, thank you:)

hi Merlin jones,

You would be surprised how many people have thought desdemona was a guy!! I am such a big Harry Potter nut that on Halloween I go as Dumbledore, so you could be a gal, who knows. :-)

Anyway back OT, I also have dyscalculia (or I think so), didn’t find out til after college but the head of the math dept was aware of the problem— she even got the required for graduation math test not required anymore. Truth be told, prolly got tired of tutoring me for it after I flunked it 4 times.

Anyway, it seems a bigger deal in school than in the rest of life. However, I learned about negative numbers the hard way (checkbook!!). And know I know how to do the checkbook thing better. Can even estimate my grocery costs within a couple dollars.

And now I am tutoring in math. This is a very strange world.

—des

It’s okay — drop in any time but it’s not supposed to *add* to life’s complications, right? Will keep sending supportive thoughts your way :)