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11/17/08
Dear Internationalmama,
We are totally on the same 'wavelength'. Here's my situation, and the reason why this information that you've 'revived' is so important. Dyscalculia (or Math Learning Disability) is not a number on a sub-set of test scores. Dyscalculia is a part of the brain that doesn't work correctly, -- or at ALL, for that matter. So the people who've made the tests, in their (how do we say 'afan' in English? You've got me thinking in Spanish now with that above posting.) attempt/desire/rush/eagerness/quest (i.e., 'afan', in Spanish) to 'weed out' the people who just haven't bothered to try to learn math from those with a "disability", have used testing methods that basically say, "You show me what you can do, and I'll tell you whether you have a Math Learning Disability or not." Hence, many dyscalculics who are truly dyscalculics DO get the disability accommodations and waivers that they need and deserve. However, many other dyscalculics have somehow 'learned too much math and coping strategies' to be able to "qualify" for the 'positive' math LD diagnosis. If the 'positive' math LD diagnosis were based on identifying a non-functional (or even under-functional) part of the brain, where the math processes take place (or 'parts' of the brain, as you've mentioned), then those already diagnosed as having a math learning disability would keep that 'LD' recognition, but additionally, those who have gone 'above and beyond' in somehow finding a way to do something almost impossible (learning math using only unimaginably primitive 'brain tools') would also be acknowledged as Dyscalculic. This would be a breakthrough for fairness and justice.

Here's what a psychologist from The UT Southwestern Medical School wrote about me, in a report on me. (This is not the psychologist who tested me.) The psychologist says, "Regarding the use of computer tests that Ms. *(Justfoundout) mentions, it is true that the gold standard tests for learning disorders do not measure brain processing directly. The computer tests that are being developed to measure brain processing directly have yet to be empirically validated and therefore cannot be used for ADA and DARS purposes."

Internationalmama, you're such an encouragement and inspiration. Thanks for taking note of the message I've been trying to put across for a long time here on the forum. I'm re-pasting the link from your posting. (If you'll highlight the link in your posting, and then click the square blue button that says 'url', right below the here, that will allow others to just 'click' on the link.) Great article, great pictures.
http://www.hospit...s/3465.pdf

The following link and partial quote is my English-language contribution to the forum, to 'bring up to speed' those who couldn't read Internationalmama's previous posting in Spanish. Please read this, everybody, because it's something that would revolutionize our 'getting testing for an LD' dilema.

HERE IT IS FOLKS. From ScienceDaily (Sep. 26, 2008) -

http://www.scienc...151007.htm

"... Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to study the brains of children with math difficulties, Ansari says that it becomes clear that children with developmental dyscalculia show atypical activation patterns in a part of the brain called the parietal cortex.

This research holds tremendous promise for people who, in the past, had simply accepted that they are 'not good at math.' Understanding the causes and brain correlates of dyscalculia may help to design remediation tools to improve the lives of children and adults with the syndrome.

A report of this research is forthcoming in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.

"We have some cultural biases in North America around math skills," says Ansari. "We think that people who are good at math must be exceptionally intelligent, and even more dismaying and damaging, we have an attitude that being bad at math is socially acceptable. People who would never dream of telling others they are unable to read, will proclaim publicly they flunked math.""

Please let the rest of us know whenever you find an update on the use of MRI's in determining dyscalculia. Thanks. - justfoundout