Hey there, I'm sorry if there's a thread like this here already, but I was wondering if we could make a list of professions that don't require arithmetic. I'll start.
Graphic designer (about $30,000-$80,000 a year in Canada, plus you get paid to draw, how awesome is that!?)
Actor (Not a lot on average, but if you're good enough you can make millions!)
A writer (On average they make about $20,000 a year, but I imagine you could make more if you put a lot of effort into it)
A musical career. I imagine a lot of entertainers have dyscalculia, actually.
What are some other ones?
Edited by David on July 05 2009 02:33 PM
Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther could walk, Martin Luther walked so Barack Obama could run, Barack Obama ran so all the children could fly.
RE: actor - Both Tom Cruise and Henry Winkler have dyslexia;
musician - Cher has LD of some kind
Just please remember that even though any of the careers we have listed may require less or almost no math in comparison to others, most colleges and universities do require some kind of math or "math alternative" for a degree and just living one's life does require some math. I have difficulty with a number of things that are just unavoidable and I just do the best I can, which includes accommodations or having someone else do it.
Location: Island of Misfit Toys Posts: 620 Joined: 2007-10-25
I have worked in the automotive/ technical field most of my life. Now I am a commercial manager in a parts store. Not the best job for one of us. Everything has a part number, some very long. However I find that people with LDs are very good in the technical field.
I have also done well as a photographer/artist of course my art tends to be very logical and mechanically driven.
I remember Cher talking about her LD and mentioning how dialing long distance is a nightmare for her.
"I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused..."
Elvis Costello
Location: United States Posts: 195 Joined: 2008-01-08
The truth is that there are many good career options for people with Dyscalculia. The biggest stumbling block is usually getting through (or around) college math requirements.
I think that the most important question here shouldn't be "What can I do?" but rather, "What do I WANT to do?"
Listing careers without any math requirement at all is very difficult and probably impossible. However, here are a few ideas that I was able to think of. Most of these require a college degree and math of some kind.
Chef (measurements, temperatures)
Child Care Worker
Cultural Anthropologist (possibly statistics)
Editor / Proof-Reader
Educator (must pass certification test with math portion)
Florist
Journalist
Linguist
Make-Up Artist
Massage Therapist (dates)
Photographer (dates, budgets)
Public Relations (some form of math may be required)
Translator (numbers)
I thought about the previous suggestion of entrepreneur and because of the large amount of math involved, I don't recommend it. Here's an example of the math involved in running a standard business:
Invoices, Shipping costs, Purchasing, Inventory, Budgeting, Determining Price, Sales Tax, Cash Register or simular, Federal and Local Taxes.
I don't want to discourage anyone from their dream, it's just that I've worked for businesses and have experienced first hand how much mathematics is involved in running a business, let alone what it takes to make money with a business and not just break even every month.
I was going to put Interior Design, Event Planning and Catering on the list but then I realized that these also have a lot of math required. These types of jobs, like the jobs above where you work for yourself may not be a good fit if you have trouble sticking to a budget or keeping organized.
I'm tired now after all of that, but I hope that you can come away from this knowing that there are a lot of really good options as far as careers go. If you're interested in something not listed, just ask. Do a search for a local college and go to their website, choose the program and look and see how much math is required.
One quick reminder about college math requirements - if you've been diagnosed, there is help avaliable and in some cases, a course substitution can be offered in place of the math requirements. An example of this would be logic or personal finance instead of college algebra.
Since I was diagnosed, I was able to have the basic college math requirement waived and instead was allowed to have a LD-specific class for that instead - me and one other student. This class was not listed anywhere in the standard course descriptions and ended up on my transcript being labeled as the typical basic math students take. But the math class for my major - and my type of degree<B.A.> - could not be waived or substituted, I was required to take Statistics. The prof passed me because I tried <but was absolutely lost on the first day> and because he was kind and near retirement.
Hey David
There are a gazillion different career options for people with dyscalculia...i think someone nailed it when they said what do YOU want to do...not so much what can i do..
I am sure there are heaps of members here who have fulfilling careers, either based on university education - or not. I have 2 undergrad degrees and a Masters - done with minimal (no) maths ability - what dyscalculia does give you is the ability to think and problem solve laterally.
Good luck
C
I really second what caroline said about LD giving one the need to think to think differently. It requires me to be more creative, very patient and intuitive. Try to find ways the LD gives strength and helps others - this will allow you to help and love yourself.
I hope you don't mind me mentioning but you sound very negative in a lot of your posts, if this is really pulling you down at the moment then I think you should speak to someone you trust- perhaps one of your teachers?
There are many jobs out there and to be honest you never will avoid numbers completely but you will learn to adapt and cope- In fact I find that I have alot more to offer- My manager used to complement me on my 'out of the box' thinking -- My job now involves a great deal of numbers- not maths but lots of numbers and one mistake could cost me my job but I have been doing it for four years through sheer determination.
Location: northants, uk Posts: 18 Joined: 2009-06-17
i have been working closely with an organisation called 'working links' in the UK who are helping me to get back into work. their motto is 'changing lives, changing futures' and it really honestly seems like they may do the trick for me, even though i'm dyscalculic!
today i realised i really want to train to be a learning mentor. i will be able to relate to those with learning difficulties and both the student and i would be able to gain something from the experience!
anyway, in any job situation, if your employer is aware of your learning disability, they should give you help or tailor your tasks to things that you can do, as opposed to forcing you into something that will be above your skill level. it may take a long time to find a career that's right for you, but if there is a similar program in canada to the one i'm on now, it might be worth looking into.
some other things that might help you decide what career path to go down would be a psychometric test (try the myers-briggs type indicator) to see what kind of personality type you have, this can be really helpful when choosing a career because it will highlight your strengths and the qualities of your personality that come out when you are in a working environment. it will also offer some job suggestions tailored to your personality (e.g. for me, it listed mentoring, nursing, etc, because i am a 'supporter' type - i am best suited for 'caring' type roles).
there are also other questionnaires/surveys you can complete to see what skills you already have, what skills you can hone for job purposes, and what interests you have. these can all be incredibly helpful for finding a career.
just keep trying! you will find something that is right for you - and remember: do what you love, love what you do. it's not all about how much you earn. sometimes you can earn a relatively low wage but have a high job satisfaction, and that can be a greater reward in the long run. we all hate going to work from time to time (especially if we feel like our dyscalculia is making things harder for us) but we should all enjoy what we do and not put up with something simply because it pays well.
For those going to college/university, ask your adviser to have your schedule and major edited to compensate for your disability. In my case, I enrolled at Unity College for an education in wildlife conservation and zoology. Instead of having me major in wildlife conservation (lots of math), they suggested conservation law enforcement with a minor in zoology. They explained the majors are similar, except mine has more of an "application" rather than "research" feel to it.
David wrote:
A musical career. I imagine a lot of entertainers have dyscalculia, actually.
A musical career could work depending on the person's form of dyscalculia. In My Thirteenth Winter, the writer notes that she cannot read sheet music, and details when she suffered through piano lessons. I'm another example: I was in the school choir from elementary school until the 9th grade. For years I was able to hide my inability to read sheet music because I can pick up on pitch and tones. However, come the 9th grade midterm, the teacher had everyone perform solos with different songs we had never practiced before. I made a fool of myself standing before all of my peers, confused and lost, holding that sheet in my hands.
Now, please realize I did speak of exceptions. There's likely forum members who can read sheet music, either because it is like a language to them as it is to other people or they found ways around it. (I know there's tricks like "FACE" but they don't really register to me; hard to explain.) Likewise there are forum members who have found solutions to dealing with the sheet music problem.
A good inspiration is Jewel. She has a learning disability (dyslexia), and yet is a highly accomplished songwriter, poet and vocalist.
The best thing to remember is that dyscalculics are creative problem-solvers. That is something very important to remember ___________________________________
If you bring forth what is within you,
what you bring forth will save you.
If you do not bring forth what is within you,
what you do not have within you will destroy you.
A visual and/or creative designer
An actor
A writer
A social scientist
A historian
Related fields, etc., etc...
I'd second the advice that the best way to decide on a career is to decide what the best career is for you personally. What do you like the best? Regardless of how well you initially think you might do? Regardless of what someone says is right for you? Even following a what color is your parachute test might not help, because not everyone who registers as one personality is the same or has the same needs in their day to day lives.
The jobs above might be careers, but they are rarely jobs. You can be a fabulously gifted musician and still need to have a day job. Or maybe you're an award winning novelist...that doesn't mean you can afford to go to the dentist. And if you do have a day job, you may not have time to write much everyday, so maybe you can't afford to work as hard as you should. Or you can, but it takes a long, long time of stabilizing a career. Say you graduated with an MA or MS in history...that's not always enough to teach, be a librarian, or get you hired at a museum. You still need to build up your street cred as a historian or take further specialized study. So what do you do? Work a lot of volunteer jobs in museums. Find a journal that will take master's level writing. Find a client who wants your help researching. Continue schooling. Get a paraprofessional job (a job that pays less but doesn't need a law or library science degree).
Looking at it from that angle, you realize there isn't much difference between the struggle to create a stable life in one of these careers and the struggle you might experience in a career with arithmetic. Dyscalculics can be successful in careers with arithmetic, or even in math careers themselves. It all depends on:
*what subjects you're willing to struggle for, and how long
*what support you get for what career in & out of college
*friends and relatives who support you in your decisions
*what tools are available to you
*what realistic needs your life presents
*what companies are available to you
*whether the job/company you wind up in has a culture you like
Location: Island of Misfit Toys Posts: 620 Joined: 2007-10-25
tr3slunas brings up an excelent point...we tend to think differently, outside the box. We can ( and I assume many of us do) use this to our advantage in what job we choose. For example, I often share methods used to compensate for my LDs with my coworkers to help organize or simplify our jobs. It has gotten me praise from my bosses.
"I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused..."
Elvis Costello
Location: Texas USA Posts: 6102 Joined: 2008-05-25
12/26/09
Ever so often, someone will mention that the word 'dyscalculia' isn't even found in 'spellcheck', or that it isn't found in some lists of learning disabilities. It would help us 'educate' more people about 'what' dyscalculia is if the 'word' would even appear on more databases. For those who are trying to 'take on' this sometimes daunting task of 'informing' others about dyscalculia, I've thought of yet one more place where we could ask for our LD to be included.
On my college's website, there is a section where 'career & job search' options can be examined. It's true that, as an 'informed' dyscalculic, or as an 'informed' parent of a dyscalculic, we can 'figure out' which careers have less math, or need a lower level of math. But sometimes figuring this out is a bit overwhelming to 'newcomers' to the world of dyscalculia. I think that it would be 'nice' if these 'career options' websites would include a section especially for people with LD's, and that, for our assistance, they would include information about the level of math required. Of course, besides the 'level' of math, there's also the matter of the 'frequency' of math,... and the 'speed' at which the job requires that the math be accomplished. But, really, there are charts with vertical and horizontal columns, containing dots, and even different colored dots (for yet more information) that can hold this type of information, for example, to tell what 'advantages' and 'disadvantages' a particular model of car has. Even for buying ladies' nylons, the back of the package will indicate, not just Small, Medium, and Large, but also 'body proportions', using a chart.
I know that this is not a 'perfect solution', and that each of us has different 'causes' for our dyscalculia, and different 'severities', but I think that, if the world were more informed about dyscalculia, then employers could contribute information on what their jobs require, and this would allow people with LD's to make a more 'informed' choice when evaluating their particular skills and disabilities, along with what they 'want' to do.
Here's what I've copied from one of those 'career & job search' options websites. I think that it would be nice if these sites would actually include a section for people with LD's. - jus'
Job Success Skills (9)
Attitude, Professionalism & Etiquette (1)
Career Development (0)
Management & Entrepreneurial Skills (0)
Teamwork & Communication (8)
Edited by justfoundout on December 26 2009 03:37 PM
Good news: In my experience, the number of careers that do not require math vastly outnumber ones that do. I don't really think a list, per se, is very useful.
I find the bigger issue is many entry-level/low-paying jobs with few or no entry requirements have lots of simple arithmetic. Things like administrative assistant, cashier, and so forth. These are the kinds of jobs college students and people unsure of their career path seek out, and so for someone in one of those situations, things are going to suck.
I see a lot of hand-wringing on this site about failing in jobs that are not career building paths. As has been said already, the idea is to focus on what you enjoy and are good at. Once you get into a path of some kind, these problems go away. Picking from a list is not going to be able to help you get that path started, however.
I'm going to Emerson for Writing, Lit, and Publishing, and I only need to take one math class.
While I'm still nervous about that one class, I'm glad it's just that one. In the whole college, the only requirement to have to NEVER take a math class is to get a 550 on the SATs or pass 3 high school math classes. Unfortunately I didn't do either, but Emerson would be a good college for Americans to go to for people like us. (You have to be pretty strong in all other subjects to get in, though).
Location: Texas USA Posts: 6102 Joined: 2008-05-25
12/29/09
Dear toastydeath- The problems don't always just 'go away'. I'm still interested in a list of careers for dyscalculics.
I think that a list of careers and their math requirements would be useful to many dyscalculics, and newcomers to this site often ask about this. So, those of you who wish to continue contributing toward a list of careers that are more 'dyscalculia friendly' than other careers, please keep the ideas coming, especially here on this Thread.
Just so no one gets confused, the list that I've posted above isn't a list of careers, but rather, a list of Medical and Health videos that had a 'spot' for LD's, but no video posted and available in that spot.- jus'
Edited by justfoundout on December 30 2009 01:06 AM
Location: Texas USA Posts: 6102 Joined: 2008-05-25
1/2/09
I found a site that was 'new to me'. It's been online 'forever', and I'm probably the last one to have found it. But here on this forum, I can share my 'discoveries' without fear of ridicule,... and sometimes even get 'thanked' for sharing. This is a site with templates that are easily downloadable, and apparently all free. I'll give the link to the 'Home' page, then to the page of Business Cards, and then to the Business Cards template that I liked best, and that I've downloaded to my computer. The Business Cards are supposed to be printed out onto special, already cut or perforated, blank, sheets of printable Business Cards. But, in the past, I've had fun printing onto just a blank page of heavy paper (or card stock, if my printer would handle it). Then, I'd cut the 'cards' apart with either large scissors or else a 'photo scrap-booking' type paper cutter. I think that, even though this doesn't make a 'professional' business card, it still beats writing my name and number on a scrap of paper.
I've been a professional software developer for many years. I stink at college computer classes because they like to torture you by tying math into it, but in the real world you rarely deal with math when your programming.
Location: Texas USA Posts: 6102 Joined: 2008-05-25
2/5/10
Thanks for that input, dmyze. I'm so glad that you found something you were good at and stuck with it. Yes, a long (long) time ago, when I was taking my first computer class, I had to learn to program in DOS. As I looked at my flow chart, and saw how ridiculous it would be to actually 'use' what I'd created, I started laughing out loud. This happened as my teacher was standing over me at my desk. I could hardly talk because, as I'd started to explain what it was supposed to 'do', I'd seen it's problem. The teacher was a very serious woman, so she remained rather stoic, but she did give me a huge compliment. She said that I should continue taking computer programming classes. I think that the real 'gift' is the part about seeing 'where you're going' when designing a program. Only, unfortunately, yes, along the way, some very twisted people "decide to torture you by making it math". And, honestly, I even enjoyed learning 'hex'. It was like an alphabet to me,... like a language. I'm okay with Boolean Algebra, too. It's really too bad that the computer courses are taught the way they are.
So, can we keep you in mind for when we try to do a little special programming for dyscalculics? - jus'
