Hi all Found the forum doing some research on the web, decided I might as well pop in and say hello and see what resources are out there!
I have ALWAYS struggled with and hated math, from basic addition all the way up to algebra. I was homeschooled, and so struggled through high school math mostly because I could take as much time as I needed to get through a worksheet or test. Long hours of crying in frustration because I just didn't understand why I didn't understand it!
I'm 23 now, and in college. The COMPASS tests put me in remedial math (shocker...), so I started off with Math 100, and an awesome teacher who finally was able to explain things enough for it to make some sense. But still, I'd be staring at the test trying to figure out what 7x6 was, and run out of time. I explained to him, as best I could, what happens in my brain when I'm trying to do math equations, and he immediately suggested I get tested for Dyscalculia.
So, I started doing some research, and here I am. Reading the list of potential symptoms is almost like looking in a mirror - I probably have 95% of them. Poor sense of direction, EXTREMELY poor time management, you name it. Especially being able to do a math concept one day, only to have it be completely gone the next.
My next step is to try to get tested and work through the Dean's office to get some help getting through my remaining math classes. I have to get through Math 131, despite the fact that I'm a theatre major and will NEVER use it. I could probably struggle through and pass the classes on my own, but grades would be poor, and I'm trying to keep a 3.90 GPA to graduate Summa Cum Laude.
I started out with Math 100 too as that was where I was placed according to pre-college testing. But failed several times before going to Disabled Student Services and asking to be tested. I had worked with many people with various disabilities and read up on LD before self-referring.
Like you, I struggled with basic addition and especially subtraction < as well as many other things> and spent many nights with frustrated parents - who had their own issues- trying to help me and not understanding why I didn't get it. My mother thought and still contends that I just wasn't interested.
I recall a few times my dad - the math person in the family - ended up doing my subtraction homework for me after countless tears and battles and parents yelling at each other.
I was born very prematurely and spoke very late and was in Special Ed. for Speech and Language but the LD was never caught.
I want to take the time to congratulate you on your GPA, too - that's awesome. Once I was in appropriate basic <very> math classes at my university and had my accommodations, I was on the Dean's List.....I know what hard work college is in general and to have high academics also.
I wish you the best for your testing - do you know when you will be tested?
Edited by RottieWoman on May 23 2012 02:54 PM
Location: Texas USA Posts: 6101 Joined: 2008-05-25
5/23/12
Hi Serenity_Rose. Suma Cum Laude is good. Like it-<thumbs up> And, as you've said, your math teacher is absolutely 'awesome'. You can't imagine how much misery most of us have been forced to endure from math teachers who knew nothing of math learning disabilities. Your math teacher, who suggested you be tested for dyscalculia, deserves a medal.
I hope that your testing goes well. There's even a new reason to encourage all U.S. dyscalculics in school to get tested. The government has reduced the number of semesters that a student can receive from 12 down to only 9. This means that those who have been told to keep taking math, and failing it to show a 'good faith effort', are actually being cheated out of funding that they will need to finish their college Bachelor's degree. Do the math. (pun intended) 9 semesters of college classes is just barely enough to fit in all the classes for a Bachelor's degree. It leaves almost no wiggle room for dropping a class or for re-doing a class that won't transfer from one college to another. If a student has to keep re-taking a developmental math course, there will come a time, at the end of years of college classes, where the Pell Grant has run out, leaving the student with no degree and no way to pay to finish the classes needed for a degree. In the case of many, there would also be student loans to pay back, without the benefit of having a degree.
Yes, get tested and get those math credits substituted with Logic if at all possible. Best to you. - jus'
I'm an older college student also at 37. I started college in the fall of 2010 and I thought I wasn't college material so for me this whole college thing was an experiment. I had been afraid of the math I would have to do. I also never finished high school because I quit in the 10 grade so I never took a lot of math classes and for years I was scared to even try taking my GED test. I had attempted to take GED classes before but I ended up quitting those also because of the math and not understanding it. In the fall of 2009 I turned 35 and I went through a depression because I felt like my life was going no where and I would never have a good job because I didn't have a degree. I decided that I would once again try for my GED only this time I would study on my own.
I did that for a few months and then I came to the math section of the book I bought and I couldn't understand it. It is almost like trying to read a foreign language I can't speak for me. So I decided to once again try to go to classes and get help. I went in for the placement testing and when I finished the lady told me that I could take the practice GED test. I tried that and I thought for sure I would fail.
I passed it and I was told I could actually go for the test the next week. I took the test the following week thinking I would fail for sure because of the math section. I waited a couple of weeks to get my results expecting to fail and when my results came in I passed all the sections. I was shocked. I went in for classes and ended up with my GED by the end of the month.
I really wanted to go to college and I decided that I wasn't going to let my fear of math keep me down anymore. I went in for my first semester and I made a goal of getting a C or better in my math class. Of course I started at intro to algebra level, which is remedial math. I worked really hard and learned all the things I couldn't learn in elementary school in 16 weeks and I ended up with a B and a 3.5 GPA for my first semester.
When I took the COMPASS test I made it into Honors English and pre algebra. I am now done with my English courses and I'm on the second half of my two regular Algebra classes. I actually have to retake this one because I dropped it this past semester. I couldn't keep up and I was taking Into to Bio Chem as well and that killed me and I need that for my degree. I already have the math I need for my degree but it's what they call a capstone course, meaning it doesn't transfer to other schools as a math course. I need to finish the beginning algebra and then go on to one more class of intermediate algebra and then I will be done until I transfer to the university I want to go to.
I'm thinking of going to the ACCESS office at my school and trying to get tested before my next class. I believe that I have dyscalculia. My problems have always been in fractions. I can't seem to remember how to do them. Algebra is not easy either. I have a friend that helped me get through my first math class by sitting with me and doing my homework with me side by side to learn how to do linear equations. I have managed to make two B's and an A in the math classes I have finished so far. I don't know how I did it I just worked really hard and looked at the examples in the book to make sure my homework problems looked like the examples. All of my math professors have commented on how hard I worked and they saw that I was really trying to get what they were teaching. It's not easy for me and now that I've found dyscalculia I know why.
I have a 3.7 GPA right now and I'm also in PTK the Honors Society at my school and the Honors program. When I finish I will be a graduate of the Honors program. No thanks to my math skills though. LOL
You know the funniest part is that I read and write at well above college level. I know I'm not stupid, but I spent my whole life thinking I was math retarded and I would never be able to really do anything with my life. Had the dyscalculia been caught years ago maybe I wouldn't have been beating myself up for so long.
Location: Texas USA Posts: 6101 Joined: 2008-05-25
6/7/12/
Hello again Noni. I'm sorry that I'm just now seeing this last post of yours. Funny thing,... I joined PTK, too, right at the end of my AA degree. I wanted to wear the pretty golden-colored Honors scarf at graduation, and did! Good going on that 3.7 GPA. Fantastic on getting your GED and pushing ahead to college. - jus'
Found the forum doing some research on the web, decided I might as well pop in and say hello and see what resources are out there!