Quali Sample

Polytechnic University of the Philippines
San Pedro Campus
CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND
Introduction
Learning is a key process in human behavior. All living is learning. If
we compare the simple, crude ways in which a child feels and behaves,
with the complex modes of adult behavior, his skills, habits, thought,
sentiments and the like—we will know what difference learning has made
to the individual. There is no general agreement on the definition of
learning, how learning takes place and what constitutes reasonable
evidence that learning has taken place. Some says, it is observable
changes in behavior, while other says that, it means acquiring new
knowledge, and for others, it is the creating of disequilibrium (Grouws,
1992).
Mathematics is considered an essential part of general education
and has become a required subject in the curriculum across instructional
levels; in addition to general education, learning mathematics involves
the basic knowledge at facts, skills and procedure. It contributes to more
specialized education of various professionals like scientists, accountants,
engineers and other professions which rely heavily on accurate
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measurements and computation in order to understand better the studies
they are conducting (Diao, 2014).
Some children have trouble in understanding the meaning of the
language or vocabulary of mathematics. Math disability affects a Childs’
ability to learn mathematics in all of the different areas because of the
limited research base on math disability. As the curriculum becomes more
demanding, a math disability is manifested in different ways. Nowadays,
the students must mastered the language of mathematics including terms
and symbols, retrieving basic facts quickly, and solving word problems
seem to persist across grade levels and require extra instruction to
reinforce learning (Morin, 2014).Some experts state one of math disabilities
that is called Dyscalculia.
Some students are having a hard time to perform in school because
they have a learning disability like dyscalculia. According to Guillemot
(n.d), dyscalculia is a broad term that includes many different kinds of
difficulties in learning mathematics. Dyscalculia is also used for naming
general difficulties in learning basic Mathematics; likewise, it is a specific
learning disability affecting the normal acquisition of arithmetic skills. The
genetic, neurobiologic, and epidemiologic evidences indicate that
dyscalculia, like other learning disabilities, is a brain-based disorder.
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However, poor teaching and environmental deprivation have also been
implicated in its etiology because the neural network of both hemispheres
comprises the substrate of normal arithmetic skills. In addition, dyscalculia
can result from dysfunction of either hemisphere, although the left
parietotemporal area is of particular significance (Shalev 2004).
Ho (2013) shares his teaching experiences; he noticed that some of
his students seem to have tremendous difficulties in doing math. So, he
started to conduct some research, and he found out that some of the
students were having the signs of dyscalculia. Ho compared the problems
they were encountering to the reported symptoms described in the
others’ research papers; he learned that the descriptions in most of the
published research papers so far were not detailed enough; moreover, no
remediation worksheets were suggested. He even had headaches in
teaching these children who have dyscalculia, hence, he started to
document their problems and how he tacked their problems. Eventually,
he became interested in finding a way not only to help these struggling
children but also their frustrated parents. Ho made progress in his research
and gained various insights in teaching the children. He also produced a
workbook based on his teaching experiences with those children who
have dyscalculia.
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This study aims to determine the nature and predictors of
dyscalculia, what intervention program can be done to help the students
who are dealing with dyscalculia. It will also determine the impact of this
study to the Mathematics Education.
Conceptual Framework
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development was a comprehensive
theory about the nature and development of human intelligence, first
developed by Swiss developmental psychologist Jean Piaget (1896-1980).
His theory emphasized that a children progress should be a series of four
critical stages of cognitive development. Each stage is marked by shifts in
how kids understand the world. The four developmental stages of Piaget’s
model and the processes by which children progress through them are:
The child is not yet able to conceptualize abstractly and needs concrete
physical situation. As a physical experience accumulates, the child starts
to conceptualize, creating logical structures that explain their physical
experiences. Abstract problem solving is possible at this stage. He
proposed that during the development stages, the child experiences their
environment using whatever mental maps they have constructed. If the
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experience is a repeated one, it fits easily – or is assimilated – into the
child’s cognitive structure so that they maintain mental “equilibrium”. If
the experience is different or new, the child loses equilibrium, and alters
the cognitive structure to accommodate the new condition. In this way,
the child constructs the complex cognitive structures.
Figure 1.1 Piaget’s Cognitive Development
The students with a math disability may have trouble because of
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delays in cognitive development, which hinders learning and
processing information. This might lead to problems with understanding
relationships between numbers, solving word problems, understanding
number systems and using effective counting strategies (Great Schools
Staff, 2016)
Johnsen (2014) emphasized in his research that basic cognitive
production involved in solving mathematical problems displays a
varied picture, involving executive functions, sequential and
simultaneous processing, arousal/attention areas, automation and
cognitive integration.
de Castro et al. (2014) stated that the consequence of having a
mathematical disabilities have a different subtypes of numerical
processing disorders that can occur and might be a symptom of several
disorders, including the disorder in the general cognitive processes, such
as working memory, verbal ability and spatial vision errors in the
development of neural systems dedicated to number transformation lastly
the deficits in quantity representation when reading numerical symbols
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Figure 1.2 Children with dyscalculia vs. Children without dyscalculia
This picture comes from findings that were published by Landerl et
al. This bar graph shows the differences of Children with dyscalculia to
Children without dyscalculia in terms of Dot Counting, Number Naming
and Number Comparison. “Children with dyscalculia have greater
difficulties with different tasks. The blue bars are the speed of responses
(how fast you can answer a question) for children with dyscalculia and
the purple bars are the speed of responses for children without
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dyscalculia. (A.) During the dots counting task, children with dyscalculia
are slower at counting dots when they are more than 10. (B.) During
number naming, children with dyscalculia are slower at naming two-digit
numbers (number larger than 10). (C.) In the number comparison task,
children with dyscalculia are slower at choosing the bigger number.” This
implies that children with dyscalculia find their number tasks difficulty than
children without dyscalculia.
According to Gurganus (2010), “cognitive abilities of symbolic
thinking, temporal-sequential organization, verbal memory and rate of
language processing are language abilities directly related to
mathematics tasks.”
Without developed skills, children fall behind because they aren’t
able to integrate new information as they are taught it. The sad truth is
that most students move on to the next grade before they have mastered
the basic academic skills like reading, writing and math because they
haven’t developed cognitive skills (Oxford Learning, 2016).
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Videos
Main topic/ Methods

Objectives
Common
Predictors of
dyscalculia
Intervention
Program/s
Impact to
Mathematics
Education
Figure 2. Conceptual paradigm
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This conceptual paradigm presents the variables of the study. These
variables will summarize the gathered videos to determine the common
predictors and what intervention program can be implemented. This
conceptual paradigm will also determine the impact of dyscalculia to
Mathematics Education.
Purpose of the Study
This study aimed to gather selected videos that deal with
dyscalculia to better understand its nature and causes. Specifically, it
aimed to answer the following questions:
1. How may the gathered selected videos be summarized in terms of:
1.1 Main topic/Objective; and
1.2 Methods?
2. What are the common predictors/causes of dyscalculia?
3. What are the recommended intervention programs/activities/strategies
can be done to help students with dyscalculia?
4. What are the common themes in relation to mathematics education?
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Scope and Limitation
The researchers delimit the study to the common predictors/causes
and natures of dyscalculia. The researchers used the purposive sampling
as sampling technique in gathering videos. The gathered videos used in
this study were taken from the social site “YouTube” with a range year
from 2009 to 2016. The researchers considered the following criteria in
selecting the videos: content, technical quality and the knowledge ability
and experience of the speaker/s about dyscalculia. The researchers used
audio visual, transcription and interview as an instrument to triangulate
the narratives of the gathered videos; also, the posts in the forum and the
interview to the person who is not an expert but knowledgeable about
the study.
Significance of the Study
This study, ‘Empirical Narratives from selected videos dealing with
Dyscalculia’, looked forward to provide beneficial result of the following:
School Psychologist. The collected data will help the school psychologist
to know the nature of dyscalculia and to distinguish students that
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have this disability. Likewise, this study can give awareness to them.
School Administrator. The data gathered in this study will help the school
administrator in improving and creating not only their school
program but also their learning activities for the person with
dyscalculia who needs special care. Also, they can be aware if
their students have this kind of disability. Furthermore, this study will
inform them on how to motivate the person with dyscalculia.
Teacher. This study will give them knowledge that not all students who are
not good in math are rubbish because some of them just have this
kind of disability. In the same manner, this study will help the
teachers to understand the students who have dyscalculia.
Students with Dyscalculia. This will serve as a motivation for the students
with dyscalculia to strive harder in order to conquer their disability;
likewise, this will help to improve their mathematical skills.
Students. This study will give them knowledge about dyscalculia. They will
learn the possible causes of this disability, in how to identify if
someone has dyscalculia; likewise, it will give awareness for the
students if they have this kind of disability.
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Future Researchers. The proposed study will serve as a future reference
and guide for researchers to make further improvements that is
related to Dyscalculia.
Definition of Terms
The following terms were defined conceptually and operationally in
accordance with the study:
Cognitive Development–Cognitive development is intellectual
development (Hildebrand, 2010). In this study, it refers to the
progress of a person’s brain when he’s engaging in mathematics.
Dyscalculia– Developmental dyscalculia is a severe and persistent
learning disability that concerns mathematical skills (Visscher et.al,
2013). In this study, it refers to the difficulty in mathematics.
Intervention Program –An intervention is a deliberate process by which
change is introduced into peoples' thoughts, feelings and behaviors
(Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, n.d.). In this study, it refers to the
activities that can be done to help students with dyscalculia.
Learning Disability– Learning disability is a neurologically-based processing
problem that can interfere in learning basic skills of reading, writing,
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or math (Ramachandran et.al, 2013).In this study the word disability
is used for the difficulty of students in learning.
Mathematics – Mathematics is the science that deals with the logic of
shape, quantity and arrangement. Math is all around us, in
everything we do. It is the building block for everything in our daily
lives, including mobile devices, architecture, art, money,
engineering, and even sports (Hom, 2013). In this study, it refers to
the subject that the dyscalculic students struggled with.
Narrative–A narrative or story in its broadest sense is anything told or
recounted; more narrowly, and more usually, something told or
recounted in the form of a causally-linked set of events; account;
tale; the telling of a happening or connected series of happenings,
whether true or fictitious (Denning, 2000). In this study, it will serve as
the data of the researchers.
Video–Video is an audio visual material consist of image or sounds to
understand the study (Creswell, 2012) .In this study, this will serve as
the researchers’ tool to identify the nature, predictors, experiences
and interventions about dyscalculia.
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter discusses on how the gathered documents can be
summarized in terms of main topic/objectives, purpose, methods, findings,
and conclusion/recommendation. It identifies the common predictors of
dyscalculia and the intervention programs that can help the students with
dyscalculia.
Dyscalculia
Shalev&GrossTsur (2001), dyscalculia, also known as ‘number
blindness’ or acalculia is defined as a “cognitive disorder manifested by
disturbance of arithmetic ability” as cited by Bauer (2011).It is a disability in
which one has difficulty understanding numerical concepts. The literal
definition comes from Greek and Latin; ‘dys’, meaning badly, and
‘calculia’, meaning counting (Messenger, Emerson, & Bird, 2007).
Westwood (2008) stated that dyscalculia is a term referring to a
wide range of life-long learning disabilities involving math. It includes all
types of math problems ranging from an inability to understand the
meaning of numbers, to an inability to apply mathematical principles to
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solve problems.
The two learning disorder dyscalculia and dyslexia each have a
prevalence of about 5 % among primary-school pupils, a fairly constant
figure internationally (Kaufmann et.al, 2008).
There is a general agreement that around 5-8% of pupils suffer from
dyscalculia Geary (2004). On average, each class of 30 children will have
approximately two or three pupils who are affected by it (Hannell, 2005).
Dyscalculia is a condition that affects the ability to acquire
arithmetical skills. Dyscalculic learners may have difficulty understanding
simple number concepts, lack an intuitive grasp of numbers, and have
problems learning number facts and procedures. Even if they produce a
correct answer or use a correct method, they may do so mechanically
and without confidence. (Department for Education and Science, 2001).
According to the Learning Disabilities Association of Minnesota
(LDAM) (2005) pupils with dyscalculia may have complications computing
and calculating problems, identifying patterns in numbers,
comprehending ideas and the language of mathematics, and mastering
methods and facts of mathematics. They may also have difficulty with
problem solving skills and understanding spatial representation concepts
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as cited by Bauer (2011).
Common Predictors/Cause of Dyscalculia
Developmental dyscalculia is a specific learning disability affecting
the normal acquisition of arithmetic skills. Genetic, neurobiologic, and
epidemiologic evidence indicates that dyscalculia, like other learning
disabilities, is a brain-based disorder (Shalev, 2004).
University College London (2011) stated that having a difficulty in
mathematics may have a neurocognitive disorder to interfere the
acquisition of basic numerical and arithmetic concepts according to a
newspaper.
Nagavalli(2015) explained that the factors which cause learning
disability in mathematics are difficulty in processing language, visual –
spatial confusion, not remembering math facts, inability to estimate, and
Emotional blocks to think.
Chakravarty(2015) told that the causes of dyscalculia in children
are still not clear. But, experts have some clues. Here are some of the
factor that may cause mathematical disorder (1) genes (2) brain
development (3) alcohol abuse (4) low birth weight and (5) brain injury.
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Morin, (2014) cited that some of the possible causes of dyscalculia.
First the genes and heredity that a child with dyscalculia often has a
parent or sibling with similar math issue, so dyscalculia may be genetic.
Second the brain development, researcher make use of the modern brain
imaging tools to study the brains of people with and without math issue
and the study have found difference in the surface area, thickness and
volume parts of the brain, those areas are linked to learning and memory,
setting up and monitoring tasks and remembering math facts. Third is the
environment, dyscalculia has been linked to exposure to alcohol in the
womb, prematurity and low birth weight may also play role in dyscalculia.
Lastly, the brain injury studies have shown that the injury to certain parts of
the brain can result in what researchers called acquired dyscalculia.
Dyscalculia makes it hard to understand or make sense of number and
math concepts because it is a brain-based condition. Some kids with
dyscalculia work hard to learn and memorize basic number facts but still
they can’t grasp the basic number concepts. They know what to do but,
they don’t know how to do it in a math class. In other words, they miss the
logic behind it.
Math involves a wide range of cognitive skills, including intelligence,
working memory, receptive language and spatial understanding
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(Butterworth et. al., 2011)
Shalevet. al (2011) have estimated that 66% of mothers, 40% of
fathers, 53% of siblings and 44% of second-degree relatives of a child with
dyscalculia have dyscalculia themselves, with prevalence within families
almost 10 times higher than expected in the general population.
Jordan (2010) stated that there are up to 10% of students that are
diagnosed with a learning disability in mathematics. But, many learners
struggle in mathematics not knowing that they have this kind of learning
disability. Early number competencies are important for setting children’s
achievement path in mathematics. The roots of mathematical disability
are that they are weak in number sense. Children with dyscalculia are
characterized by deficits in recognizing and comparing numbers and in
counting and enumerating sets of objects.
Great Schools Staff (2016) stated that the students with a math
disability may have trouble because of delays in cognitive development,
which hinders learning and processing information.
Ranpura, (2000) said that since the fundamental causes of
dyscalculia remain unclear, the evidence suggests that dyscalculia is a
developmental problem associated with the a part of the brain’s cortex in
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the inferior parietal lobe. The root of the problem may lie in the
evolutionary history of the human cortex. The part of inferior parietal lobe
that seems to be responsible for representing numbers lies adjacent to a
part of cortex that is responsible for touch sensation in the fingers.
Intervention Program
James (2014) Dynamo Math is a successful intervention and
remediation program to support children with a range of learning
challenges such as working memory impairments, information processing
and auditory and visual processing difficulties. It supports children with
specific learning difficulties and children with general learning difficulties.
The Program has identified areas of needs and 22 dyscalculia and co-
occurring difficulties and it is within this context that Dynamo Math
addresses the needs of children who struggle with math. Irrespective of
the nature of the learning difficulty arising from dyslexia, autism, Down
syndrome, ADHD, dyspraxia, if a child is struggling with early math then this
comprehensive program is an excellent foundation tool for acquiring
number sense and numeracy proficiency.
Several early intervention programs for children with learning
difficulties exist. For example Mathematics Recovery (Wright,
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2003),QuickSmart Numeracy (Bellert, 2009) and Numeracy Recovery
(Dow, 2005).Mathematics Recovery involves 30 minutes a day of
individualized assessment-based instruction for low achieving children
aged 6 to 7 years. QuickSmart Numeracy targets students in the middle
school years and is effective in building up fluency and confidence in
basic arithmetic and in strategy use. Number Recovery targets 6 to 7
years-old children and involves 30 minutes instruction per week over a
period of approximately thirty weeks. These programs give attention to
such fundamental skills as counting, numeral recognition, grouping,
solving simple addition and subtraction problems, and place value.
According to Wilson (2010), the best approach to remediating
dyscalculia would be to “(a) identify the areas where the child has a
difficulty, and (b) try and target an intervention at these areas.” The
learner’s difficulty might be due to basic mathematical abilities, such as
understanding the meaning of numbers (which could be remedied by
strategies emphasizing on understanding), or memorizing mathematical
facts (which may be helped by drill-type interventions).
Chandler (2010), on the other hand, espouses the following
intervention strategies namely repeated reinforcement, use graph paper,
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apply reasoning, estimating, concrete over abstract and encourage
questions.
Cunningham (2014) stated that there aren’t specific therapies for
kids with dyscalculia. But you may want to explore educational therapy.
This type of therapy helps kids with different kinds of learning and attention
issues develop strategies for working around their issues and dealing with
frustration. An educational therapist may be able to help your child get
better at working with numbers. Kids with dyscalculia may have trouble
reading and articulating the language of math. In these cases, speech
therapy could be helpful. Kids with dyscalculia may also have trouble with
visual-spatial skills. For example, they may struggle to judge distances
between objects. If this is the case for your child, you might want to
explore occupational therapy. Children with dyscalculia may be dealing
with other issues that emotional therapy can help with. For example,
ADHD and dyscalculia often co-occur. So it may be recommended that
your child try therapies to address aspects of his ADHD. These kinds of
therapies may lessen some of your child’s anxiety about school and make
it easier for him to perform in class. The same may be said
for psychological counseling if dyscalculia takes a toll on your child’s self-
esteem or causes anxiety or stress.
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Educational interventions for dyscalculia range from role learning of
arithmetic exercises. The long-term prognosis of dyscalculia and the role
of remediation in its outcome are yet to be determined (Shalev, 2004).
According to (Wilson, 2014) there are two experienced teachers
with created an intervention to dyscalculia called beat dyscalculia,
having previously co-authored a similar program called beat dyslexia
which is used in schools nationwide. Beat dyscalculia is a highly structured,
multi-sensory numeracy program that can be used to teach math to
children of all ages and abilities but it is specifically designed as an
intervention program for children in Key 1 and 2 who are struggling with
the core curriculum. It is particularly effective for those with dyscalculia,
dyslexia and autism. It also has been used with children in Key 3 who are
working below the expected level.
Synthesis
The review of related literature just cited provided a wider view
about dyscalculia, its cause and intervention programs needed.
Dyscalculia is a term and condition that affects the ability in
developing arithmetic skills also know as number blindness.
Shalev&GrossTsur (2001), Westwood (2008), Department for Education and
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Science (2001) and Learning Disabilities Association of Minnesota (2005)
expressed their knowledge about math learning disability—called
dyscalculia. They pointed out that dyscalculia is a learning disability
wherein people have difficulty in grasping mathematical concepts.
Unfortunately, dyscalculia has received less scientific study than the
other learning disabilities; this might be because few people were
affected by dyscalculia, or it might be the result of a cultural attitude that
math proficiency is not as important as reading proficiency. According to
some studies, approximately less than 10 % of the entire populations have
this math learning disability. Kaufmann et.al. (2008) and Geary (2004) had
proven it on their own researches. Furthermore, Hannel (2005) stated that
each, class of 30 children; approximately 2 or 3 children were affected by
dyscalculia.
Several researchers had revealed the predictors of dyscalculia in
their studies. And according to them, Dyscalculia is a cognitive disorder
that interfere the concepts of math. Shalev et.al. (2004), University of
College London (2011), Nagavalli (2015) and Chakavarty (2015) gave
their own predictors of dyscalculia and they came up with similar results
that dyscalculia is caused by genetics and brain abnormalities.
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To understand better the children with dyscalculia, it is important to
observe them when they are estimating, attempting to follow movement
patterns or to control motor sequences and interacting socially with other
children.
The best approach to remediate dyscalculia is to identify the
students’ difficulty and plan an intervention at this area. Now that we are
in era of technology, many researchers are making an intervention to
help people with dyscalculia. Dynamo Math (James 2014), Mathematics
Recovery (Wright, 2003), QuickSmart Numeracy (Bellert, 2009) and
Numeracy Recovery (Dow, 2005) are some of the successful interventions
which had made to enhance the mathematical skills of the dyscalculic
people. In places like Philippines, where computer-based interventions are
unavailable yet, special intervention like time and effort are advisable to
give to the dyscalculic people so they won’t be ashamed of their learning
disability.
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CHAPTER III
Research Methodology
This chapter discusses the research design, research participants,
instruments, data gathering procedure, and data analysis of this study.
The steps and procedures written below are the operational framework
which is important for the generalization of the study.
Research Design
This study used descriptive research design. Descriptive research
design describes what exists and may help to uncover new facts and
meaning. Descriptive research design is a scientific method which
involves observing and describing the behavior of a subject without
influencing it in any way.Many scientific disciplines, especially social
science and psychology, use this method to obtain a general overview of
the subject (Shuttleworth, 2008).
According to Moen (2006), narrative research is stories of
experience being shaped through discussions with the research subject in
a dialogue. A number of data collection methods can be used, as the
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researcher and the research subjects work together in this collaborative
dialogic relationship. Data can be in the form of field notes, journal
records, interview transcripts, one’s own and other’s observations,
storytelling, letter writing, autobiographical writing; documents such as
school and class plans, newsletters, and other texts, such as rules and
principles and pictures. Also, one of the main characteristics of narrative
research is the collaboration process between the researcher and her or
his research subjects. Within this approach, the research subject is
regarded as a collaborator rather than an informant guided by the
agenda of the researcher.
Participants of the Study
This research used purposive sampling. The researchers set certain
criteria in selecting the videos on YouTube. The criteria that the
researchers used were the brilliant content, good technical quality and
the people in the videos who shared their knowledge and experience
about dyscalculia. Purposive sampling also known as judgment, selective
or subjective sampling is a sampling technique in which researcher relies
on his or her own judgment when choosing members of population to
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participate in the study (Dudovskiy, 2016).
Instrumentation
The researchers collected different documentaries about
dyscalculia, and used three instruments, namely, transcription, audio
visual, and interview. Transcription is a practice central to qualitative
research, yet the literature that addresses transcription presents it as taken
for granted in qualitative studies (Davidson, 2009). Audiovisual materials
consist of images or sounds that researchers collect to help them
understand the central phenomenon under study. A qualitative interview
occurs when researchers ask one or more participants general, open-
ended questions and record their answers (Creswell, 2012).
Research Phases and Data Gathering Procedure
The study followed two stages, namely, preparation stage and
administration stage. The phases and stages are indicated below:
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Table 1
Phases of Data Gathering Procedure
Preparation Stage:
Phase 1 : Criteria Making
Phase 2 : Selection of Videos Based on Given Criteria
Administration Stage:
Phase 3 :Collecting of Data
Stage 3.1:Narratives and Interview
Stage 3.2:Triangulation
Phase 4 : Analyzing of Data
Stage 3.1:Coding
Stage 3.2:Interpretation of Coding
Preparation Stage:
Criteria Making or also known as Phase 1 of Data Gathering
Procedure was the first step of Data Gathering Procedure. The researchers
enlisted the possible criteria in gathering reliable videos. The researchers
categorized the criteria and came up with three criteria, namely: videos’
brilliant content, good technical quality and the people in the video who
shared their knowledge and experience about this study. Phase 2 was
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selection of gathered videos based from the given criteria. The
researchers searched the internet to gather the possible videos based
from the three criteria. As the researchers gathered the videos, they strictly
considered the criteria set to lessen or deduct videos that are irrelevant to
the study. From more than a million of videos, the researchers gathered 17
reliable videos that passed the three criteria.
Administration Stage:
The next step was collecting of data or Phase 3 of the procedure.
During the phase, the researchers watched the gathered videos and
made a narrative out of each video. The researchers watched the
gathered videos several times to better understand the information and
content of the videos. After that, the researchers consulted a
knowledgeable person from Malayan College of Laguna who assisted a
research from Philippine Normal University about dyscalculia to verify the
researchers’ knowledge. The researchers moved on to the next stage.
To prove that the gathered data were reliable, the triangulation
was conducted. This was Stage 3.2 of the Phase 3. According to
Encyclopedia Britannica (2010), the term triangulation originates from the
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areas of shipping and construction and refers to the attributes of a
triangle.
The narratives of the gathered videos, posts from Facebook, and
interviews with the expert were observed first and were followed by the
triangulation of instrument.
Triangulation of the three took place to determine whether the
data is reliable. These data were triangulated again using the
triangulation instrument.
The next phase was the Analyzing of Data. Coding was conducted
by determining the least and most common theme shown on the
gathered videos. The data were applicable for the next stage of data
gathering procedure. Upon data completion, the researchers interpreted
the coded word from the Coding. The inputs were the compilation of the
least and most common theme shown in the videos and also the
suggested improvement to resolve the least common theme shown in the
videos.
Data Analysis
This study used coding as statistical treatment of a qualitative data.
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Saldaña(2009)A code in qualitative inquiry is most often a word or
short phrase that symbolically assigns a summative, salient, essence
capturing, and/or evocative attribute for a portion of language-based or
visual data.
Coding process is a qualitative research process in which the
researcher makes sense out of text data, divides it into text or image
segments, labels the segments, examines codes for overlap and
redundancy, and collapses these codes in themes (Creswell 2012).
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CHAPTER IV
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA
This chapter contains the presentation, analysis, and interpretation
of the data gathered. This study will aim to gather selected videos dealing
with dyscalculia to better understand its nature and causes. . Specifically,
it will aim to answer the following questions.
Dyscalculia is a condition that affects the ability to acquire
arithmetical skills. Dyscalculic learners may have difficulty understanding
simple number concepts, lack on intuitive grasp of numbers, and have
problems in learning number facts, and procedures. Even if they produce
a correct answer or use a correct method, they may do so mechanically
and without confidence (Department for Education and Science, 2001).
This explains that having dyscalculia, can affect the skills of a person to
perform different mathematical concepts. A person can also have a
difficulty to remember procedures when performing mathematical
equations.
Research Question #1: How may the gathered selected videos be
summarized in terms of:
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1.1 Main topic/Objective; and
1.2 Method
The videos that were enumerated, discussed the nature of
dyscalculia, its common predictors, intervention program and the
experiences of the speaker on the videos about dyscalculia. Each video
was consisted of different content which had given information, for the
researchers to gain knowledge about dyscalculia. Under the YouTube
classification, majority of the videos were in the field of education. The
videos were ranged from year 2009 to 2016.
Figure 3
Quantities of the videos per year
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Quantities of the videos per year
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Table 2
Criteria of gathered videos
The videos were ranged from 42 seconds to 12 minutes and 29

seconds. These videos discussed dyscalculia in the form of narrative,
question and answer and descriptive.
Video Classification Year Time Objective Method
Video 1 Education 2009 2:08 minutes UD Narrative
Video 2 Science and Technology 2012 11:02 minutes DCI Narrative; Question and
Answer
Video 3 Education 2012 7:45 minutes UD Narrative
Video 4 People and Blogs 2015 12:29 minutes SE Narrative
Video 5.1 Education 2015 00:43 seconds AQ Question and Answer
Video 5.4 Education 2015 1:27 minutes AQ Question and Answer
Video 6 Non Profits and Activism 2015 11:15 minutes SE Narrative
Video 7 Education 2016 4:37 minutes DC Narrative
Video 8 Education 2016 1:03 minutes UD Descriptive
Legends:
UD – Understanding Dyscalculia SE – Sharing Experiences about Dyscalculia DC – Dyscalculia’s Causes
DCI – Dyscalculia’s Causes and Interventions AQ – Answering Question/s about Dyscalculia
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In the table above, majority of the testimonies and videos were
recent and in the form of question and answer. This implied that the
videos wanted to enhance and answer the common questions regarding
dyscalculia.
Research Question #2: What are the common predictors/causes of
dyscalculia?
Several studies were conducted about dyscalculia since this
learning difficulty named. Generally, the common causes of dyscalculia
are brain abnormalities and difficulty in Math concepts. Also, Genetics
have a great impact for the inheritance of dyscalculia to offspring. In the
discovery of dyscalculia, the researchers found out that there is a brain
abnormality in the left or right parietal brain of dyscalculics; in addition,
the brain activates in a different way when they’re doing number tasks.
According to Morin (2014), the researchers are using modern brain
imaging tools to study the difference between the brain of people with
and without math issues. And they found out that it has a difference in
the surface area, thickness and volume parts of the brain. Those areas are
connected to learning and memory, setting up and monitoring tasks and
remembering math facts.
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“One of the things that we now know, this is a

very recent discovery, is that dyscalculics have
abnormalities particularly in both left and right parietal,
and maybe particularly in the left in older dyscalculics.”
“So they have abnormal structure and also, the

brain activates in a different way when they’re doing
number tasks.”
Video 2
Math disability has something to do with the brain’s structure and
function when people encounter numbers, because their brain reacts
differently compare to the person without this disability. Ranpura, (2000)
said that, since the fundamental causes of dyscalculia remain unclear,
the evidence suggests that dyscalculia is a developmental problem
associated with the part of the brain’s cortex in the inferior parietal lobe.
The root of the problem may lie in the evolutionary history of the human
cortex. The part of inferior parietal lobe that seems to be responsible for
representing numbers lies adjacent to a part of cortex that is responsible
for touch sensation in the fingers.
Dr. Jorg-Tobias Kuhn said that, it has been found

that dyscalculia is a neuro developmental disorder that
means the brain plays a latch role in dyscalculia.
Children with dyscalculia have a structural abnormality
in their brains in number processing areas and they also
have functional operations in the activation patterns in
the brain that is the brain reacts differently to numbers
when they have been process.
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Video 5.6
Researchers from Philippine Normal University described dyscalcullic
as students who are confused with numbers. They associated it with
dyslexia. And in the latter part of their study, they had come up with a
result that socio-economic status was also a factor of this disability.
Dyslexia is almost the same with dyscalculia. According to Gray
(2008), dyscalculia is a mathematical equivalent of dyslexia and more
common than its literacy counterpart, which can affect between 2.5
percent and 4.3 percent of the children.
“Yung una physiological cause ay yung sa brain,

na kapag pinanganak ang bata. May mga findings na
nakakaapekto minsan yung naging structure ng brain
dun sa performance ng learning sa mathematics.
Katulad ng, kapag binabasa niya ang number 6 ang
basa ng bata ay 9, minsan naman kapag babasahin
niya ang 4 ang basa niya ay 9. Isa sa mga symptoms
na tinitignan sa dyscalculia ay yung dyslexia. Yun yung
basic cause, pero dun sa research na ginawa naming
napatunayan naming na posibleng hindi lang yung
dyslexia ang naging cause ng dyscalculia. May mga
findings kami na nakuha na yung social-economic
status ng bata ay posibleng nakakaapekto sa
dyscalculia. Sigurado dahil may brain disability na yung
bata, may dyscalculia na yung bata, lumalala pa dahil
walang proper treatment dun sa dyscalculia. Syempre,
ditto sa Philippines wala naman tayong dinedetect
talaga kung may dyscalculia ang bata.”
Expert
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The researchers were confused on which side of the brain affects
the ability of the child to perform arithmetical skills. University College
London (2011) stated that, according to a newspaper, having a difficulty
in mathematics may have a neurocognitive disorder to interfere the
acquisition of basic numerical and arithmetic concepts.
“Is it in the left side of the brain or in the right

side?”
Video 6
Certain people with dyscalculia shared their experiences about
their math learning disability and cited some instances, like they were not
good in arithmetic and have least learning mathematics, even estimating.
Nagavalli (2015) stated, that the factors which cause learning disability in
mathematics are difficulty in processing language, visual – spatial
confusion, not remembering math facts, inability to estimate, and
Emotional blocks to think.
“They are very bad at learning arithmetic, at

least learning it in the normal way.”
“They're very bad at estimating, using estimating

strategy.”
Video 2
Furthermore, researchers shared their experiences that young
children have difficulty in recognizing numbers/symbols; they struggle
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measuring things; find hard to follow procedures or steps; and they have
difficulty in the domain of spatial relation.
Jordan (2010) stated that, there are up to 10% of students who were
diagnosed with a learning disability in mathematics. But, many of them
were struggling in mathematics without knowing that they have this kind
of learning disability. Early number competencies are important for setting
children’s achievement path in mathematics. The roots of their
mathematical disability are their weakness in number sense. Children with
dyscalculia are characterized by deficits in recognizing and comparing
numbers, as well as in counting and enumerating sets of objects.
”What are some of the presenting problems that

individuals will have when they have dyscalculia of you
we’ll clearly young children you will see record of
difficulties with recognition of numbers and symbols just
like in reading. Children without difficulties are looking
at identifying letters and matching them with cells
recognizing numbers, recognizing symbols in math
domain of things that learning disabilities present within
children with dyscalculia.”
“Children with dyscalculia, learning disabilities in

math will often struggle with measurement something.”
“They use numbers in sequence, something that’s

also difficult for many students with learning disabilities
in math; falls within the domain of spatial relation.”
“It’s difficult for these students with dyscalculia

learning disabilities in math to follow formulas very
often. They have difficulty scoring games in bowling
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alley and you figure out how to score rolling even

sorting strategies.”
Video 3
People with dyscalculia struggle to simple math concepts, number
facts and find hard to remember directions. They have difficulty in
grasping mathematical concepts. Dyscalculia is a condition that affects
the ability to acquire arithmetical skills. Dyscalculic learners may have
difficulty understanding simple number concepts, lack an intuitive grasp
of numbers, and have problems learning number facts and procedures.
Even if they produce a correct answer or use a correct method, they may
do so mechanically and without confidence. (Department for Education
and Science, 2001).
“We just really struggle with even basic math

concepts.”
“Another area that is really hard for us with

dyscalculia is directions.”
Video 4
There are several signs to know if a child has dyscalculia. One of the
common sign is they use their finger or sticks in counting. Children’s
knowledge of counting principles and unessential features of counting,
sensitivity to violations of these principles and features emerge during the
preschool years and mature during the early elementary-school years
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(LeFevre et. al., 2006)
Dr.Jorg-Tobias Kuhn answered that, there are

several signs that can be detected that points possibly
to dyscalculia. One sign is that children with dyscalculia
often use their fingers when doing a very simple
calculation; that is they do not calculate freely, but
they need some help using objects so that they can
count, for example, their fingers. Second indicator of
dyscalculia is that children with dyscalculia have
problems in remembering mathematical facts that is
very difficult for them to memorize. Simple things like 3 +
5 or 8 + 7, which you and me find usually very simple to
remember, but often children with dyscalculia have to
recalculate this simple equations 3 + 5 is what? Again
and again and they cannot memorize them so that’s
another indicator of dyscalculia.
Video 5.5
People with dyscalculia have conflict in recognizing and assessing
temporal component like time in Analog clock. They tend to wait until the
small hand reaches 12. Telling the time tends to be a particular area of
difficulty in dyscalculics. Concepts such as 60 minutes in an hour and 12
hours etc. are quite difficult to grasp. A number of strategies may need to
be used. Manipulation of a clock or other hands on activities are often far
more effective than just worksheets (Chinn, 2012).
“A lot of dyscalculic people struggle with time. A

better reading time, estimating time may be
completely unable to do so. And I'm one of those.”
Video 6
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The number sense of the children includes a possible natural
understanding of the exact quantity of small collections of objects and of
symbols that represent quantities which people with dyscalculia
struggled.Children with dyscalculia viewed some number symbols as
inverted that cause to be an alphabet symbols.According to the Learning
Disabilities Association of Minnesota (LDAM) (2005) as cited by Bauer
(2011) pupils with dyscalculia may have complications in computing and
calculating problems, identifying patterns in numbers, comprehending
ideas and the language of mathematics, and mastering methods and
facts of mathematics. They may also have difficulty with problem solving
skills and understanding spatial representation concepts.
“Some of dyscalculia finds it hard to make sense

of number and basic number concepts of math.”
“They might struggle to recognize number symbol

and might see number 2 as Z.”
Video 7
Dyscalculic student have hard time in knowing and writing
mathematics facts and concepts. This implies that they prefer in addition
rather than multiplication. Developmental dyscalculia is a specific
learning disability affecting the normal acquisition of arithmetic skills.
Genetic, neurobiologic, and epidemiologic evidence indicates that
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dyscalculia, like other learning disabilities, is a brain-based disorder
(Shalev, 2004).
“They might still have trouble recognizing and

writing numbers. Now, they have difficulty learning and
remembering basic numbers facts like 3 plus 4 equals
7.They might mix up the math symbols like confusing a
plus symbol with a multiply. They’ll use their fingers to
count instead of other strategies. They might struggle
with concepts like greater than or less than, or larger or
smaller, or before or after.”
“Signs that they are struggling are they can’t

apply simple math to everyday life including money
handling.”
Video 7
There is a possibility that maybe dyscalculia is inborn; even they
undergo many tests to determine if the children have math learning
disability. Morin (2014) stated that studies of dyscalculia show it’s more
common in some families. Researchers had found that a child with
dyscalculia often had a parent or sibling with similar math issues. So
dyscalculia is may be genetic.
“Sufferers are born with a sort of numerical

blindness and although many cases go undiagnosed.”
Video 8
Genetics is one of the causes that some researchers are looking
why dyscalculia is inheritable. According to Shalev et.al. (2001), family
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member of children with dyscalculia are 10 times more likely to be
diagnosed also with dyscalculia than are member of the general
population.
“We don’t know all of them. One of them is this

abnormalities seem to be in some cases inherited. One
of things we do know is that, there are particular
genetic abnormalities that seem to affect numbers
more than other cognitive abilities.”
Video 2
As shown in Facebook page (Dyscalculia Forum), they presented a
diagram showing the different predictors of dyscalculia namely:
spatial/temporal, measures, numbers, calculations, counting and
memory. Each cause enumerates some examples that deal with
dyscalculia.
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Research Question #3: What are the recommended intervention
programs/activities/strategies can be done to help students with
dyscalculia?
Several early intervention programs for children with learning
difficulties are existing nowadays. These programs are giving attention to
their Math number concepts such as counting and solving. Special
intervention like time and efforts can also help the children to overcome
their fear of math.
The best intervention program for dyscalculics is to have a special
intervention to enhance their weakness. According to Wilson (2010),the
best approach to remediate dyscalculia would be to: (a) identify the
areas where the child has a difficulty, and (b) try and target an
intervention at these areas. The learner’s difficulty might be due to basic
mathematical abilities, such as understanding the meaning of numbers
(which could be remedied by strategies emphasizing on understanding),
or memorizing mathematical facts (which may be helped by drill-type
interventions).
“So time is a very good diagnostic here.”
“What you need is special kinds of intervention.”
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“What you have to do is you have to have

special interventions that target the particular
weakness.”
Video 2
Researchers suggested the computer based program as an
intervention for dyscalculia to help children to do many task in a given
time.
“The computer based program has another

advantage which would be the children can usually do
more practice task within a certain time frame; that is
they can do many task, they get feedback, they learn
and this usually can be handle more efficiently in a
computer based setting than a classical setting. So, this
would be another advantage of computer based
intervention.”
Video 5.4
Moreover, the proposed intervention program enhances the
children’s learning while the dyscalculic children are enjoying.
Dr. Jorg-Tobias Kuhn said that, you can do

several things with dyscalculia; you can help children in
different ways. One example would be to actually offer
them a computer based intervention that is the
children receive the computer program, or play the
computer program in which they can learn basic thing
in which they have deficits. For example, number
processing, relating numbers to other numbers,
calculation, transcoding of numbers, that is hearing
and writing numbers, and so on. So that is basically
good news that dyscalculia can be tackle.
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Video 5.10
Past research suggested that multi-sensory structured can be an
intervention program to children with dyscalculia; because in this
program, math should be taught step by step for the children to
understand and make use of their senses. According to (Wilson, 2014)
there are two experienced teachers who created an intervention to
dyscalculia called ‘beat dyscalculia’, and previously co-authored a
similar program called ‘beat dyslexia’ which is used in schools nationwide.
Beat dyscalculia is a highly structured and multi-sensory numeracy
program that can be used to teach math to children of all ages and
abilities; but it is specifically designed as an intervention program for
children in Key 1 and 2 who are struggling with the core curriculum. It is
particularly effective for those who have dyscalculia, dyslexia and autism.
Also, it has been used with children in Key 3 who are working below the
expected levels.
“The research that has been done suggest that a

multi-sensory structured approach can be help kids with
dyscalculia. A structured approach means math should
be broken into smaller chunks or skills and once
understood, built on. So we build on the skills that we
know. Multi- sensory means that the child will be helped
by using their sense of sight, hearing, touch and
movement to understand math and math concepts.”
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Video 7
The expert whom we interviewed suggested to have a dyscalculia
screener first before doing an intervention program, because how can
you help a person with dyscalculia if you don’t know who have it.
Moreover, he stated that if parents notice that there child has the
symptoms of dyscalculia; they should give them a special help to. Another
intervention, the teacher should do activities that can help them to
improve their mathematical skills.
“Suggested na makakuha ng dyscalculia

screener kasi hindi ka pwedeng mag intervention
program basta-basta. Wala pa akong alam na
screener ditto sa Pilipinas, sa ibang bansa pa lang siya
available. Kung intervention, una talagang dapat
gawin, ay makakuhang dyscalculia screener o kaya
psychologist na expert sa dyscalculia. Pag may parents
o teacher, lalo na pag naobserve nila yung bata na
may possible symptoms ng dyscalculia pwedeng
isuggest nila sa parents na tutukan ang kanilang mga
anak. Iba kase ang mga turo. Ang mga dyscalculic
hindi naman sila necessary bobo sa math. May mga
dyscalculic students kami na kita na okay naman ang
performance sa klase yun nga lang medyo hindi nila
maenhance yung skills nila sa mathematics kasi nag
dyscalculic students sila. Yung intervention program
siguro dapat mag-isip sila, yung mga math teacher.
Maliban sa observation sa bata, kung may dyscalculia
ba talaga o wala. Pwede mag set ng mga activities,
lalo na visual yung mga dyscalculic, yung kinocorrect
nila halimbawa pag ang pagkakasulat ng bata sa 4 ay
parang 9, dapat medyo magduda na tayo kasi baka 9
talaga ang nakikita nila dun sa 4. Dapat ang attention
ng teacher kinocorrect niya, tapos pag nagbibilang
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ang bata, yung kunwari pa isa isa siyang nagbibilang

or pa sticks or counting hands kahit na college or high
school. Mag set/suggest yung teacher ng isang activity
na tuturuan yung mga students.”
Expert
There are interventions that can help the children with dyscalculia
which will always take time and effort. So, the parents should not be
worried to their child. Chandler (2010), on the other hand, espouses the
following intervention strategies namely: repeated reinforcement, use
graph paper, apply reasoning, estimating, concrete over abstract and
encourage questions.
Dr. Jorg-Tobias Kuhn answered that, the

important findings in dyscalculia research is that meta-
analysis have shown that the children with dyscalculia
can be helped. There are interventions that seemingly
worked and helped most of the children with
dyscalculia which is good news for the parents of
children with dyscalculia that is something can be
done. However it takes time and effort and it’s not a
problem that can be solving within a few weeks.
Video 5.1
Once you discover that a child has symptoms of dyscalculia, an
action and programs should make to help them. Educational
interventions for dyscalculia range from role learning of arithmetic
exercises. The long-term prognosis of dyscalculia and the role of
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remediation in its outcome are yet to be determined (Neurol, 2004).
“Early interventions usually have better outcome

than late interventions, especially when you think about
preventive programs. For example, in the last
kindergarten year, when you discover the child has a
problems with counting or problems in understanding
single numbers; you should basically focus on this and
help the child by doing very simple training programs
that will pay off in the end.”
Video 5.2
Through an intervention program like time and effort given by
people around a person who have dyscalculia can also help the
dyscalculic to be motivated and have courage to conquer his fear in
math little by little. Cunningham (2014) stated that there aren’t specific
therapies for kids with dyscalculia. But you may want to explore
educational therapy. This type of therapy helps kids to develop the
different kinds of learning and attention issues for working around their
issues and dealing with frustration. An educational therapist may be able
to help your child get better at working with numbers. Kids with
dyscalculia may have trouble reading and articulating the language of
math. In these cases, speech therapy could be helpful. Kids with
dyscalculia may also have trouble with visual-spatial skills. For example,
they may struggle to judge distances between objects. If this is the case
for your child, you might want to explore occupational therapy. Children
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with dyscalculia may be dealing with other issues that emotional therapy
can help with. For example, ADHD and dyscalculia often co-occur. So, it
may be recommended that your child try therapies to address aspects of
his ADHD. These kinds of therapies may lessen some of your child’s anxiety
about school and make it easier for him to perform in class. The same may
be said for psychological counseling if dyscalculia takes a toll on your
child’s self-esteem or causes anxiety or stress.
“That intervention still can help, but they take

more time and that is it takes longer. It takes more effort
to help these children, but they can still be helped. But
one should be clear that this problem is not taken out
within a few weeks, it usually takes months and
sometimes years to cope with the dyscalculia.”
Video 5.3
Research Question#4: What are the common themes in relation to
mathematics education?
Table 3 describes the distribution of frequency and percentage of
the gathered videos. The most common theme shown in the gathered
videos is the experiences of dyscalculia; however, the least number of
presentations was shown for intervention programs.
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Table 3
Themes of the gathered videos
Theme Frequency Percentage (%)

Dyscalculia 99 29.73
Intervention Programs 34 10.21
Common Predictors 53 15.92
Experiences of Dyscalculia 147 44.14
Total 333 100
From the gathered videos, we categorized the coded words into
four themes which are: Dyscalculia, Intervention Programs, Common
Predictors and Experiences of Dyscalculia. Based on table 3, more than a
quarter of coded words of the gathered videos described as Dyscalculia.
Intervention Programs was often shown on the gathered videos that
results to get the least frequency among the four themes. Less than a
quarter of the coded words of the gathered videos described as
common predictors and the highest frequency among the four themes
was Experience of Dyscalculia which was shown frequently on the
researchers’ gathered videos. It implies that Genes and heredity have a
great impact and possibility to inherit the learning disability to their
offspring.
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Some literature supported our knowledge about dyscalculia.
According to Amanda Morin, (2014) there are some possible causes of
dyscalculia which are: genes and heredity, brain development,
environment and brain injury. Researchers have found that a child with
dyscalculia often has a parent or sibling with similar math issues. So,
dyscalculia is may be genetic. They are using modern brain imaging
tools to study the brain of people with and without math issues.
Furthermore, their study found differences in the surface area, thickness
and volume of parts of the brain. Those areas are linked to learning and
memory, setting up and monitoring tasks and remembering math
facts. Dyscalculia has been linked to exposure to alcohol in the womb.
Prematurity and low birth weight may also play a role in dyscalculia.
Researchers show that injury to certain parts of the brain can result in what
researchers call “acquired dyscalculia.”Shalev et.al. (2011) had estimated
that 66% of mothers, 40% of fathers, 53% of siblings and 44% of second-
degree relatives of a child with dyscalculia have dyscalculia themselves,
with prevalence within families almost 10 times higher than expected in
the general population.
In the post below, a daughter who graduated in college and made
her parents proud because she finished her studies with flying colors even
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though she was diagnosed with dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia. She
is truly an inspiration to other people with learning disabilities.
“Our daughter graduating MA Hons with a 2:1 in

Philosophy and Film Studies from Dundee University
after being told by first secondary school she’d be
lucky to get C’s in her GCSEs. Diagnosed with dyslexia,
dyspraxia and dyscalculia she’s now off to do a post
grad diploma in Teaching English as a Foreign
Language at Edinburgh Uni!.... She wants to help others
reach their potential and has shown such
determination and perseverance over the years…..we
are SO proud of her and hope her achievements will
encourage others who find they have been written off
by education…..never give up”
This post from the forum had received positive comments. People
congratulated her for her magnificent achievements. She had just proven
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that, even if you have learning disability, this wouldn’t stop you if you are
eager to learn.
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CHAPTER V
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter presents the summary of the study in which the
conclusions and recommendations are drawn on its findings.
Summary
The objective of the study is to gather videos from Youtube that
deals with the nature, common predictors and intervention program in
dyscalculia.
The descriptive research and purposive sampling were used to
gather videos from Youtube. Three instruments were utilized, namely,
transcription, audio-visual, and unstructured interview for the document
evidences respectively. The instruments were triangulated and placed
together with the narratives of eight different videos, the post on the
forum on Facebook, and the interview with the expert. This method is
known as triangulation. The triangulated responses were summarized using
coding, the result that can give an impact to the mathematical
education.
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Findings
Based on the gathered data, the following were the findings of the
study.
1. The gathered selected videos were summarized the following:
1.1 The Main Topic discussed the nature of dyscalculia, its common
predictors, intervention program and the experiences of the speaker on
the videos about dyscalculia. Each video was consisted of different
content which had given information, for the researchers to gain
knowledge about dyscalculia. Under the YouTube classification, majority
of the videos were in the field of education. The videos were ranged from
year 2009 to 2016.
1.2 The Methods used in the videos to discuss dyscalculia was in the
form of narrative, question and answer and descriptive. Majority of the
testimonies and videos were recent and in the form of question and
answer. This implied that the videos wanted to enhance and answer the
common questions regarding dyscalculia.
2. The discovery of dyscalculia. They found out that there is a brain
abnormality in the left or right parietal brain of the person with
dyscalculia and the brain activates in a different way when they’re
doing number tasks.
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Math disability has something to do with the brain structure and brain
function. Their brain reacts differently when they encounter numbers
compared to the people without this disability.
Dyscalculic students are the people who are confused with numbers.
They associated it with dyslexia and in the latter part of the study they
concluded that socio-economic status was also a factor of this
disability. Dyslexia is almost the same with dyscalculia.
Researchers are confused on what side of the brain affects the ability
of the child to perform arithmetical skills.
Persons with dyscalculia shared their experiences about math learning
disability and cited some instances, like; they were not good in
arithmetic and other simpler math topics and even estimating.
As added, they shared their experiences that young children have
difficulty in recognizing numbers/ symbols. They struggle measuring
things, find it hard to follow procedures or steps, and have difficulty in
the domain of spatial relation.
People with dyscalculia struggle with simple math concepts, number
facts, and find it hard to remember directions. They also have difficulty
in grasping mathematical concepts.
There are several signs that a child has dyscalculia. One of the
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common signs is they use their fingers or sticks in counting.
People with dyscalculia have conflict in recognizing and assessing
temporal component like time in an analog clock. They tend to wait
until the small hand reaches 12.
The number sense of the children includes a possible natural
understanding of the exact quantity of small collections of objects and
of symbols that represent quantities which people with dyscalculia
struggled. Children with dyscalculia view some number symbols
inverted that caused them to see alphabet symbols.
Dyscalculic students have a hard time in knowing and writing
mathematical facts and concepts. This implies that they prefer
addition rather than multiplication.
There is a possibility that dyscalculia maybe inborn. This means they
have to undergo different tests to determine if the child has math
learning disability.
Genetics is one of the causes that some researchers are looking at. This
means that the dyscalculic pass their learning disability down to their
future family.
3. The best intervention program for dyscalculia is to have special
attention to enhance their weakness.
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Researchers suggest the computer-based program as an intervention
program for dyscalculia to help children do more tasks in a given time.
As added, the proposed intervention program enhances the
dyscalculic children’s learning while they are enjoying.
Based on the past research, they suggest that multi-sensory structure
can be an intervention program with children that has dyscalculia
because in this program they are taught math step by step for them to
grasp it and make use of their senses.
The interviewed expert suggested having a dyscalculia screener first
before doing an intervention program to know who among the
students has the disability and who needs help. He also stated that if a
parent has noticed that their child has the symptoms of dyscalculia
they should give special help to their child. Another intervention, the
teacher should do activities that can help them improve their
mathematical skills.
There are interventions that can help children with dyscalculia, which
will always take time and effort. So the parents should not be worried
about their child.
Once you discover that a child has symptoms of dyscalculia, you
should make and action and programs to help them.
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Special intervention like time and effort around the people with
dyscalculia also help them to motivate and to encourage people with
the same disability to conquer their fear in math little by little.
4. The most common theme shown in the gathered videos is the
experiences of dyscalculia; however, the least number of presentations
was shown for intervention programs.
From the gathered videos, we categorized the coded words into four
themes which are: Dyscalculia, Intervention Programs, Common
Predictors and Experiences of Dyscalculia. More than a quarter of
coded words of the gathered videos described as Dyscalculia.
Intervention Programs was often shown on the gathered videos that
results to get the least frequency among the four themes. Less than a
quarter of the coded words of the gathered videos described as
common predictors and the highest frequency among the four themes
was Experience of Dyscalculia which was shown frequently on the
researchers’ gathered videos. It implies that Genes and heredity have
a great impact and possibility to inherit the learning disability to their
offspring.
In a post from a forum on Facebook a daughter who graduated in
college and made her parents proud because she finished her studies
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with flying colors even though she was diagnosed with dyslexia, dyspraxia
and dyscalculia. She is truly an inspiration to other people with learning
disabilities. It had received positive comments. People congratulated her
for her magnificent achievements. She had just proven that, even if you
have learning disability, this wouldn’t stop you if you are eager to learn.
Conclusions
In the light of the findings, the following conclusions were drawn:
1. The gathered videos help the researcher to be informed about
dyscalculia. This implies that the videos want to enhance and answer
the common questions regarding dyscalculia.
2. Researchers still have difficulty in identifying which side affects the
child’s mathematical ability. In addition, Dyscalculic people have
hard time in recognizing and counting math concepts. Another cause
of dyscalculia is Genetics. It implies that Genes and heredity have a
great impact and possibility to inherit the learning disability to their
offspring.
3. As soon as you discover or diagnose that your child has a dyscalculia,
you should give them a special intervention to conquer their
difficulties. Also, Intervention programs should be enhanced so that it
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could help many people who are experiencing Math learning
difficulty (dyscalculia).
4. The most common theme shown in the gathered videos is the
experience of dyscalculia. It implies that the predictors of dyscalculia
have great impact in the life of the children. On the other hand, the
least common theme shown is the intervention programs. It implies
that the past researchers gradually providing intervention programs
based from the discovered causes of dyscalculia.
Recommendations
In the light of the conclusion of this study, the following
recommendations were given:
1. Conduct a seminar that can orient the parents about dyscalculia and
can help them on how to guide and lessen their child’s difficulty in
math.
2. It is very important that educators recognize the characteristics of
dyscalculia early so remedial actions can be taken to help these pupils
achieve success in mathematics. Professionals, school tutors, and
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parents should also be advised to assist children appropriately.
It is important to have a special education with a professional teacher
familiar with dyscalculia and the strategies needed for remediation.
3. Parent guided intervention with the help of assistive software also can
help dyscalculic children to improve their understanding in math.
4. Improve a dyscalculia screener that can help people to identify who
has this disability.
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Appendices
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Appendix A
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Understanding Dyscalculia at Western (Video 1) 2009
My name is Daniel Ansari, an Assistant Professor in Department of

Psychology and Canada research chair in Developmental Cognitive
Neuroscience, Dyscalculia is a specific learning difficulty in the domain of
Mathematics. It is when you struggle with Math in everyday situation such
as calculating a tip when you are in a restaurant or knowing how much
change you should expect to get back from a cashier. Very few people
know what is it and yet it is just as common as dyslexia and can have a
significant impact for people affected by. While there has a lot of
information about how the adult brain process numbers. Little was known
about how children solve Mathematical problems and what sides of brain
mechanism are involved. My research really started to explore perhaps for
the first time, how it unfolds over developmental time and how eventually
helps children who are affected by this disorder. Study that we're currently
conducting is looking at what brain areas involved when you calculate.
Another thing is to understand how brain function and brain structure
interact with one another as we learn as we develop because of we
address it separately and this growing trend with this new imaging
technologies to be able to combine what we know about brain structure
and what we know about brain function. I was attracted to US Senate
because of its research excellence and its positive environment research
is awesome, particular to the neuro-imaging facilities at the robot
research institute. This type of equipment is absolutely critical to my
research. It findings stuff out. It is making discoveries. It’s answering the
questions. The ultimate goal of my research is to better understand what
causes developmental dyscalculia, how it unfolds over developmental
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time and how we can eventually help children who are affected by this
disorder.
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Numberphile (Video 2) 2012
Well I've been particularly interested in the past few years in

dyscalculia, which is a congenital condition that affects somewhere 3 to 6
per cent of the population. And what it means is that they are very bad at
learning arithmetic, at least learning it in the normal way. And it seems to
be a lifelong condition. We've met a lot of adults who have this condition,
adults who are very successful in other walks of life. Walks of life that don't
depend very much on being good in math. I mean they could be
filmmakers, TV producers. They could be even science journalists. They are
not going to be terribly good at doing the math for physics. Well it's like
dyslexia in the following way, that it's something that you're meant to learn
at school and that unless you have special help, you're not going to learn
it at school. It's not exactly the same as dyslexia, though it often called
dyslexia for numbers, because dyslexia is a problem in reading. But in fact
it's really a problem of language, dyslexia. So you have a particular
problem with analyzing the symbols. And that is really want prevents you
from linking letters with sounds particularly for orthography, where the
relationship between letters and sounds is not particularly consistent.
Brady Haran: What is the difference between someone who has

dyscalculia and someone who just being rubbish at math?
Dr. Butterworth: The difference between those two is that lots of reasons
for being rubbish at math. My own excuse is that I didn't have a very good
math teacher at school. And I didn't like him. I've had to try desperately to
make up for that since. For example, you might miss a lot of lessons. And
since math is a cumulative subject unlike history, then if you miss a lot of
stuff it's very hard to catch up. Dyscalculia can occur in people with high
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intelligence, good memories, who go to school every day, have a very

supportive background. And yet they're unable to do what anyone else in
their class can do. So there's a difference.
You can do spot a dyscalculic in some different way. For example, they
have a great difficulty in remembering telephone number. So they often
are they going to use the same pin when they shouldn't, for lots of
different activities. They're very bad at shopping. So actually, one of the
first developmental dyscalsulics that we came across was in prison
because of shoplifting. Why did he shoplift? Because he was too
embarrassed to go to the counter, because he didn't know how much
money to give. He didn't know whether he was getting the right change.
So shopping is an area which is really difficult for dyscalculics. They also
have trouble with time. It's not that they can't estimate intervals. It's just
that they don't know the numerical sign of it. We know that there's a
particular part of the brain that seems to be involved in very simple
number tasks.So for example, here in the parietal lobes of the brain, this is
the back of the brain, the left parietal and right parietal. We know that
these areas are critical for just enumerating the numbers of objects in a
set. One of the things that we now know this is a very recent discovery is
that dyscalculics have abnormalities particularly in both left and right
parietal, and maybe particularly in the left in older dyscalculics. So they
have abnormal structure and also, the brain activates in a different way
when they’re doing number tasks. Now why should they have abnormal
structure or abnormal activations? Well, there are number of possible
reasons. We don’t know all of them, one of them is these abnormalities
seem to be in some cases inherited. One of things we do know is that
there are particular genetic abnormalities that seem to affect numbers
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more than other cognitive abilities. So abnormalities in the X chromosomes

seem to have an effect on parietal lobe development and also in
numerical abilities. So individuals with a number of different X
chromosome condition like turner syndrome, where you have only one
complete X chromosome or fragile X syndrome they seem to have a big
effect on your ability to do even very simple number tasks.
Brady Haran: How do you diagnose this? How do you make the decision
yep that person go the problem?
Dr. Butterworth: Well, in this study that we just published, we used two
criteria. One is you’ve got to bad at arithmetic. And it’s important to note
that it’s got to be -0 it’s timed arithmetic that’s critical here. Because
there’s a difference between somebody who answers the question,
what’s 5+3 with 8, and the individual who goes 5+3 while counting their
fingers and answered it slow. So time is a very good diagnostic here. And
we also looked at the ability to just enumerate sets. So how many dots are
there on the screen? Now, how good you are at this, even kindergarten in
one of our studies is a very good predictor of how much difficulty you’re
going to have in learning arithmetic
Brady Haran: What is it about counting dots? Counting dots seems to be it

just because it’s a good, easy, dependable test? Or is here something
more to it that I’m missing?
Dr. Butterworth: it’s a very dependable test. So if you’re bad at it at five,

you’re bad at it at six up until eleven. In our longitudinal study, that as far
was gone so far. So it’s a very stable indicator so that’s one reason. The
other reason is because it links to the kinds of things that might be
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inherited, the kinds of things that other species are able to do.
Brady Haran: What do we do with someone who got it, then? Are there
drugs they can take? Is there something that can be done? Or are they a
basket case?
Dr. Butterworth: They are not basket case, but like dyslexia what you need
is special kinds of intervention. So if they are not very good at
enumerating sets, it means that they don’t have a very good sense of the
number of objects. So what you have to do is you have to have special
interventions that target the particular weakness. So you’re given lots of
practice at enumerating sets, linking that enumeration with the symbols
that we used for sets. And in fact, you can relate the number of dots to
how long it takes you. So unsurprisingly, you might say the more dots then
are, the longer it takes you to give the right answer. But there’s a very
reliable result, which were known for at least fifty years, which is that up to
about for dots, you’re very accurate and you’re pretty fast. And
thereafter, it takes you about an extra quarter of a second for each
additional dot. And this is sometimes called the counting or estimating
large other range. And that suggests that are actually two processes at
work here. And we know actually from recent mirror-imaging studies that
we’ve done that there are in fact - there’s a separate part of the brain
that does the subitizing range from the estimating range.
Brady Haran: At how many dots does it become reasonable for someone
to make a mistake? Because I feel lot of pressure with the dots. And if you
put up 30 or 50, that would take me a long time to count.
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Dr. Butterworth: Right, this is a very fair point. If you give people unlimited
time and you tell them that they have to be accurate, they’ll just count
them and they’ll be pretty good at counting them. If you give them
limited amount of time, then they can count them up to a point. So for
example, this is from children. So it’s taking them seven seconds to get to
eight dots. But if you gave them less time to do it, then of course they
have to estimate. And it look as though for big numbers, you use a
somewhat different process that when you’re gone doing an exact
enumeration.
Brady Haran: What do I do for big number?
Dr. Butterworth: Well, you make an estimate which is based on extracting

various visual properties form the stimulus. And there’s how some brilliant
work done by Marco Zorzi’s lab in Italy, where they’ve modeled how this
might work. But for numbers up to about 9 to 10 for some people, it might
be a bit more. There’s a way in which you kind of can enumerate even if
you’re not verbally counting.
Brady Haran: I feel like when I’m doing it, like when you showed me the six
I counted three and then I kind of made a little split and counted another
three and added them together. Is that a normal thing? Is everyone doing
that? Or are some people counting them one by one?
Dr. Butterworth: Dyscalculics will count one by one. This is one of the
interesting things about dyscalculics. They're very bad at estimating, using
estimating strategy. You can do it with three and three, we've done some
work on this but you won't do it on three and four. So you won't say,
there's a group of three, there's a group of four. It doesn't give you any
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advantage. For reasons we don’t fully understand having two visually

separable groups of the same number is an advantage. But having two
visually separable groups of different numbers, for reasons I don’t
understand, doesn't give you any advantage.
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What is Dyscalculia? (Video 3) 2012
Hi I’m Dr. Sheldon H. Horowitz here at the National Center for

learning disabilities welcome to the next of our “ask the expert series”.
Today will be talking a little bit about learning disabilities in math also
known as dyscalculia. Let me begin by saying that there is no single type
or single presentation of dyscalculia math learning disabilities present
differently in different people each person will have a unique presentation
but there are some commonalities and well talk about what learning
disabilities and look like in a moment. We know that learning math or
dyscalculia impact people differently in different ages and different
stages of development. We also know that there’s any visual spatial
component that’s very important to the learning disabilities in math area
and that it’s not just the numbers for concepts underlying numbers that
individuals with learning disability in math have but also the language
processes. The language of math that creates problems for their
individuals so when we talk about dyscalculia we’re talking about specific
learning disabilities in math. What are some of the presenting problems
that individuals will have when they have dyscalculia of you we’ll clearly
young children you will see record difficulties with recognition of numbers
and symbols just like in reading children without difficulties looking at
identifying letters and matching them with cells recognizing numbers,
recognizing symbols in math domain of things that learning disabilities
present within children with dyscalculia. There’s a fluidity and flexibility with
numbers also presents in these children think about it as a number sense
they have a sense as to help numbers donate and there’s a piece of
math and the math disabilities problems that we see in children that has
to do with their ability to visualize when you think about numbers for you
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think about quantity most competent math users all come competent
math performers will actually have some sort of a math number line or
numerical number line, a mental number line if you will but they can
superpose upon their thinking so he’ll know for example that when you
think about 1,2,3 and 4 and four somewhere here and one is somewhere
here. Numbers aren’t in relation to each other and children with learning
disabilities in math those with dyscalculia often have difficulty is visualizing
what that math mental number line looks like and how it looks like and
how it works counting something that these children also struggle with not
just in counting of numbers the one of the 2,3,4,5 but the procedures
involved with counting and the principles that underlying how it is that
math happens counting happens now they often have to develop the
estimating and doing laughs if you look at a group of pennies on the
table they may have difficulty in estimating how many there are on the
table without actually counting them out and doing that mental math
doing those kinds of approximations that help you get to answer more
quickly those are things that children with dyscalculia learning disabilities
in math will often struggle with measurement something that becomes
difficult overtime not just measurement in terms of the length, the size but
of something but also weight looking at the area approximate in time and
measuring time, measuring temperature and then as certainly as they get
older being able to manipulate it measure using money working with
numbers often very difficult as students more into the early not just adding
and subtracting but I’m just adding a set of numbers work so tens or work
twenties workout thirties work how groups of numbers and quantities
related to each other patterns another area of weakness for many
students with learning disability in math so for example the ability to count
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by two’s discount by five count by tens being able to distinguish patterns

in the ways that they use numbers in sequence something that’s also
difficult for many students with learning disabilities in math falls within the
domain of spatial relations these are individuals who sometimes struggle
tremendously reading maps or following route or even knowing left or
right finding ways to apply that left right dynamic for understanding in
what it is sometimes just very simple kind of way even as they get older. I
certainly up through middle school and high school grades very often it’s
difficult for these students with dyscalculia learning disabilities in math to
follow formulas very off they have difficulty scoring games bowling alley
and you figure out how to score rolling even sorting strategies if you have
to organize things in a particular way these are the kinds of things in a
particular way these are the kinds of things that look for when we talk
about learning disabilities in math one of other dynamics we talk about
learning disability in math is that is there is a general sense of learned
helplessness in many students they just don’t know what to do they wait
for someone help them so we get out from London the problems that are
experiencing they often look in the classroom like passive learners wait for
someone to rescue them and don’t quite know how to problem solve
themselves if they’re having weaknesses and areas of math learning very
often they can often hold on to remember and retrieved and pay
attention to the kind of things that they’re learning memory problems they
will experience in math learning domain metacognition award that talks
about how students reflect on what it is that they know what they know
about themselves us learners metacognition is also an area within the
math learning disabilities domain that’s also problematic last but not the
least we also need to think about anxiety, anxiety and stress in the math
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area could be enormously problematic just like reading can be for

children or to select save have other kinds of learning disabilities anxiety
often particularly in the area of math.
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AN ADULT WITH DYSCALCULIA (MICHELLE EXPERIENCE) (Video 4) 2015
Michelle: Hi! I’m Michelle and today want talk about dyscalculia. I’m an
adult in many 40’s and I didn’t even know I had this until about 3years
ago and the way I discovered it is because I’m married to a counselor
and there were certain things it just up so that he did a little bit of research
and discovered this and together we looked into it more but what I think
to find out when wherein 40’S is sure made a lot of things make sense and
I was kind of relieved in a way that there as a name for it, but in the same
time I felt like this is as good as it gets, this is it, so a little bit about with
dyscalculia is actually a math disability and those of us that have this. We
just really struggle with even basic math concepts like for example if
someone words to say what is 7+5, I would imagine most people could tell
you what is it just right off the bat, and for me , it would take me a while
even right now I’m like what is simplicity and I would go 7 8 9 10 11 it’s 12.
7 + 5 is 12 and that seems probably crazy but people with dyscalculia we
count ones even though to if you were to try and figure out sometimes
tables. We, even break it down like let’s say it’s a 7 x 4. Break down into 7
+ 7 + 7 + 7 and so it kind of takes away what 7 x 4 is even supposed to be
about. It is really still adding and trying to figure out there have I can
induce some, when mostly very elementary but I can figure out,
dyscalculia also affects so many thing as you can imagine as an adult, it
affects budgeting, it affects your bank accounts, number seems can get
transposed and the way we finally looked into this was because I kept on
balancing my bank accounts over and over again which can just
seemed like oh she’s an irresponsible adult but really it was devastating to
me. Devastating because I was trained so hard to do it right. Even though
you to having a nap probably going to find a different. I’m still trying find
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the way that work for me but even though finding an app, where was
plugging in everything that I was doing with my bank account but if you
happen to transpose numbers when you’re plugging that in that isn’t
going to work and on so even with that I’m still trip struggling to try and
figure out what is a way that will work for me because this is something
that I am going to deal with on a daily basis I have dealt with this my
entire life but I don’t want it to be something that makes me feel bad
about myself. It just part of what I almond a struggle that I get to
overcome but really it really is a challenge and there’s a lot of times 1 rely
on other people for certain things like how much are we going for the tip
of my friends. You know things like that they kind of tell me things like that
so another area that is really hard for us with dyscalculia is directions and
anybody who knows me knows it is ridiculous with directions and the
direction thing when I found out that was printed dyscalculia. I was so
thrilled because at least there was a reason why I can’t because I really
can’t, I really can’t and I am so grateful that I live in a time where I can
use a GPS that actually talks to me and says turn here, turn here, turn
here, turn here, and then when they’re certain cities where the GPS
doesn’t work I am I don’t know sometimes I figure it out by the address but
it’s not always it’s really, it’s really kind of weird there’s certain times where
dyscalculia disability really shows up and I don’t understand why and then
there’s other times I’m able to do it and I don’t know why it’s very
inconsistent and so it’s really hard to, like plans because I really can’t so
those are a couple of areas that it affects my life is very weird is seen
things especially like for example we’re playing a game or I need to
provide needed to plan for something and I count the number of people
out there and all count let’s say I count 6 and if I trust that their 6 and I
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counted 6 they usually there really are the amount that I counted but
when I look at it looks like there’s 5 it doesn’t look like 6 and so then I tell
myself and prefer for 5 and then realized oh really was 6 should have
trusted what I just counted and so that shows up a lot so what I’m realizing
I really need to be authentic with this part of myself and share it with
people especially with adults because we were raised I was raised in the
80’S when I graduated in the 80’s and we were raised in a time where you
had a class with people with severe mental disorders and class with
everybody else and I didn’t fit into either one of those and so nowadays
there’s at least IP’s and kids are getting more individualized attention and
that’s pretty awesome and so if you’re a parent watching us and you are
doing something with my kidded canon tested because then they
actually will be able to teach them in a different way because for those
of us who never got these concepts when we were young and then just
trying to figure out as an adult how to do this. It is such a challenge and it
really is a daily struggle and so sometimes it just shows up in really odd
waves like the other day I went to work because I only have a part-time
job 2 days a week the rest of time I do massage therapy and other things
whatever regular job two days a week and I showed up for that job and
they said oh you don’t work today and I was sure I had looked on the
schedule and I was sure I was scheduled to work and I get there and I
look on their schedule and no I’m not scheduled to work which seems like
just yeah you must have had an oversight but it really was the way I saw it
I wrote it down it was in my calendar so would you know that doesn’t
that’s not a big deal but that’s just an example. I thought I was supposed
to work today this is weird, how this isn’t adding up there’s thing like that
all the time don’t add up and so but the one that emotionally affects me
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is my bank accounts when I overdrive that because I really am trying to

be responsible when that happens that is very upsetting these other little
things. It’s just think it’s a quirk that’s really weird the bank account being I
need to figure out a way to make that work and maybe it’s just going to a
caste system. I’m still trying to figure it out and if anybody has things that
work for you let me know so anyway those are a few ways that
dyscalculia affects me and I really want to reach out to adults and form a
community of adults we just need to realize that we have so much worth
of potential and this is just a small part of who we are and actually even in
doing research about dyscalculia usually we have a very high intelligence
in other areas with right brain thinking , creativity, we excel with English.
Different things like that so it’s not like we’re stupid or not. We just have this
weird quirk that really affects life because we live in a society everything,
everyday, finding directions is ridiculous because it’s all about numbers
trying to add up, how much money when you we’re going to the store
and I can’t tell you how many times I would get to the check out and find
out that I didn’t have enough money because I hadn’t calculated it right
in my mind that when I figured out , ok using calculator with each item as
I’m going through the store to try and get my head and that’s what I’m
realizing that I’d like other people to come peace with. It’s so much better
to just share with people hate I have this learning disability with you know,
it’s kind of like dyslexia so that they don’t look at you and think what is
wrong with you. It doesn’t make sense to train hide it my whole life. I was
hiding that I had this I didn’t know that I had it. I just know something was
not like everybody else and so I would do all these work around and try
and you know it’s my personality or different things I could compensate
think happens but the older I get where we’re having to deal more with
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budgeting you know money, it actually shows up a whole lot more than it
ever did as a kid and it just does because this is a part of daily life so
anyway I just wanted to share that with you and as I learn more about it. I
want to share more about it. I just really want to help people believe that
they are so amazing. This is just a small part of which we are those of us
that has this disability.
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"Is dyscalculia curable for children?" (Video 5.1)2015
Dr. Jorg-Tobias Kuhn answered that the important findings in

dyscalculia research is that meta-analysis have shown that the children
with dyscalculia can be helped. There are interventions that seemingly
worked and helped most of the children with dyscalculia which is a good
news for the parents of children with dyscalculia that is something can be
done. However it takes time and effort and it’s not a problem that can be
solve within a few weeks.
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“How can I benefit from an early diagnosis” (Video 5.2) 2015
Dr. Jorg-Tobias Kuhn answered that the good thing about

discovering early symptoms or risk factor of dyscalculia is that an
intervention will be more fruitful and will result on better outcomes. Early
interventions usually have better outcome than late interventions
especially when you think about preventive programs for example in the
last kindergarten year when you discover the child has a problems with
counting or problems in understanding single numbers you should you
could and you should basically focus on this and help the child by doing
very simple training programs that will pay off in the end.
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“What can I do if my child is diagnosed late with dyscalculia?”(Video 5.3)

2015
Dr. Jorg-Tobias Kuhn answered that if you discover a dyscalculia

later on that is if the child is for example in the second or third or fourth
grade of elementary school. The point would be that interventions still can
help but they take more time and that is it takes longer it takes more effort
to help this children but they can still be helped but one should be clear
that this problem is not take out within a few weeks it usually takes months
and sometimes years to cope with the dyscalculia.
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“Can computer games help my child with dyscalculia?” (Video 5.4) 2015
Dr. Jorg-Tobias Kuhn answered that computer based programs

have an advantage that they can really help children keeping their or
them motivation to learn. Today children grow up with computer, that
play usually with computers that plays computer games and computer
based learning obviously has an advantage that it can be integrated into
a frame work in which children can be motivated to play and actually
learn so this is the advantage of computer based learning. However in
learning therapies for example or dyscalculia therapies you have different
advantages for example a person can ask a child how did you arrived at
that solution? How did you calculate this? What did you do? You cannot
obviously do this with the computer obviously, but you can do this in a
classical learning therapy. The computer based program has another
advantage which would be the children can usually do more practice
task within a certain time frame that is they can do many task, they get
feedback, they learn and this usually can be handle more efficiently in a
computer based setting than a classical setting. So this would be another
advantage of computer based intervention.
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“How do I know if my child has dyscalculia?” (Video 5.5) 2015
Dr. Jorg-Tobias Kuhn answered that there are several signs that can
be detected that points possibly to dyscalculia, one sign is that children
with dyscalculia often use their fingers when doing very simple
calculations that is they do not calculate freely but they need some help
using objects they can count for example, their fingers. A second
indicator of dyscalculia is that children with dyscalculia have problems in
remembering mathematical facts, that is its very difficult for them to
memorize facts. Simple things like 3 + 5 or 8 + 7, which you and me find
usually very simple to remember, but often children with dyscalculia have
to recalculate this simple equations 3 + 5 is what? again and again and
they cannot memorize them so that’s another indicator of dyscalculia.
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“What causes dyscalculia?” (Video 5.6) 2015
Dr. Jorg-Tobias Kuhn answered that it has been found that

dyscalculia is a neuro developmental disorder that means the brain plays
a latch role in dyscalculia. Children with dyscalculia have a structural
abnormalities in their brains in number processing areas and they also
have a functional operations in the activation patterns in the brain that is
the brain reacts differently to numbers when they have been process.
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“How do I talk about dyscalculia with my children?” (Video 5.7) 2015
Dr. Jorg-Tobias Kuhn answered that parents can explain dyscalculia

to the children by saying that they obviously have problems in
mathematics which they know usually the children as well as the parents.
But in addition the important thing is that there are no impairment in
general cognitive abilities there usually no impairment in intelligence so
this is a good news because it means children with dyscalculia are not
stupid but they just have difficulties in mathematics only.
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“Will my child have problems with learning on general?” (Video 5.8) 2015
Dr. Jorg-Tobias Kuhn answered that when dyscalculia is been

diagnosed the advantage would be that the child has no general
problems with learning that problem exist in learning mathematics and
applying mathematical concepts but there are no difficulties in learning
other areas. So this basically is good news because many parents and
also children think that dyscalculia implies problems with general learning
which isn’t true. It is a problem that focuses on mathematics exclusively.
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“What can I do if my child has school anxiety?”(Video 5.9) 2015
Dr. Jorg-Tobias Kuhn answered that some children with dyscalculia

generalize the anxiety in mathematics to all other paths of school as well
that is they start to be afraid to go to school, and their performance starts
to drop in other areas of school as well. For example in English or in Writing
in that case when the child develop a general anxiety or general
problems with going to school this problem should be take out first in that
case you should not start with the dyscalculia intervention but instead
parents should contact school psychologist or other specialist that focus
on this kinds of problems like school anxiety and take out this problem first
and when it has been tackled or when the problem has been solved the
next step would be to focus on dyscalculia intervention.
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“How can children with dyscalculia be helped?” (Video 5.10) 2015
Dr. Jorg-Tobias Kuhn said that you can do several things with
dyscalculia; you can help children in different ways. One example would
be to actually offer them a computer based intervention that is the
children receive the computer program or play the computer program in
which they can learn basic thing in which they have deficits. For example
number processing, relating numbers to other numbers, calculation,
transcoding of numbers, that is hearing and writing numbers and so on. So
that is basically good news that dyscalculia can be tackle.
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A World without Numbers (Video 6) 2015
A colorblind person does not explain what they see, they have
been others tell them they're on able to see. It’s hard to explain my life to
you because I’m unaware how it is to live your life and I've only lived mine
but I’m aware of at least is that I have difficulties to view the world rather
differently in the majority. We are good people who do that and clear
minds colors dyscalculic. The word dyscalculia originates from Latin word
means better counting and we are! Dyscalculia enable lesson is disabled
us at anything math-related. We're not tell people that I have dyscalculia
and now it influences my understanding of numbers or the lack of that
exactly they always tend to ask me. So how many percentages of the
world’s population have said that? For you guys wrote it down!
Dyscalculia, the percentage of the population with developmental
dyscalculia is estimated to be between three to six percent or one in
twenty individuals that is similar percentage to that for dyslexia. If the one's
this room have heard about dyslexia disability in reading and writing, and
understanding languages. So it is rather than read something someone in
my life who actually has heard about it before. A lot of dyscalculic people
struggle with time a better reading time estimating time may be
completely unable to do so and I'm one of those. O has absolutely no
sense of time, how fast it goes. I learned to read the analog, look
somehow when I was 18 and I still struggle with translating the analog
clock to the digital and vice-versa. Is it in the left side of the brain or in the
right side? These questions I get rather often when I told people that
understand dyscalculic. I’m quite open about my diagnosis and so
people in work relations where could occur as problem if they did not
knew about my world without numbers the question is not only just
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amongst the most frequently asked they also amongst the most hurtful.
Question like these makes me a concept disability. I don’t know about
you guys but don’t identify myself more with my brain that my right foot,
my thumb and my heart. It was a big thing getting the paper which told
academic research that I'm terms that I'm rightfully bad at numbers
because it made me feel like I again was a part of the group where I
wanted to be the most average. So how to go to about navigating in a
world where everything originates from math because that is what we do
everything in this worlds problem of systems in order to run and even
though I live in this bubble with no numbers still live on the same planet as
you guys need to figure out how to never get it. I know it takes, isn't she
lovely and superstition by Steve Wonder to get from my home to school so
these are the short morning by the ride playlist in order to ensure, I'm on
time in class. I know that yellow in general me for something is on sale
achieving a normal. So everything in my shopping basket had a yellow
label on it in order to keep some hard check out my special student
budget. I remember my birthday because everyone else remembers the
terrible 911 event and therefore that number seem to stick. There are no
systems in which numbers I remember in which I don’t. I remember my
childhood best friend parents’ phone number because that was the
number of press every day. When I was a child in order to make plates but
I don’t remember my mom's birthday or her age. It would be more than a
year to remember the pin code to my credit card on bad math days that
number can vanish completely from my memory. I compare my disability
with everyone else's name relation to the second or third language. When
you speak with your mother tongue you don’t think of grandma but when
he writes a read with your second or third language this is something you
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have to think more carefully about anything intoxicated in math. I still

questioned whether I'm frightfully dyscalculic if I'm just plain stupid
because that is the feeling you have when you have penny get set with
the more thought of going shopping or someone asks you play a game
that includes a pair of guys you forget about the size of your shoes. When
you're hyperventilating or sweating trying to read bus schedule as fast as
possible without people noticing that I have no clues of what I'm looking
at. It is like following a recipe ending up cooking we had food. It is taking
the bus the wrong direction the everything that has the slightest amount
of math and dyscalculic people has to think of twice. I’m not able to
count how many times I've cried about this ridiculous condition because
I'm not even able to count but I’m still given a life and I have decided
that I don’t want to spent it on being focused or what I'm not able or
disables me or what I'm not capable of doing. I want to focus on what I'm
able to and maybe what I'm able to because of my condition. I have
tricked in to why i like people, who are my friends? Who do admire? What
they're giving to my life and what did I give to them. It is hard for everyone
to tell why people like them but it’s me why we like others an it’s obvious
to me why I like my friends. I learned something from them. I learned from
surrounding the people that are different to me because I believe that
learning understanding happens in the gap between you and I call
personality. I don’t think we learn by surrounding us with people that
identical to ourselves and I don’t like you because you're just like me. I like
because I see something on you. I wanted to fit in the box of average but
in retrospect didn’t want to be average. I just wanted to be able to
control why when I spoke out from the mass and I wanted that to be the
lack of math abilities doesn't really have that expects to it. I’m certain that
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dyscalculia is not my personality but I cannot run away from it being part
of my personality. I have a piece of paper with my diagnosis written on it
somewhere hidden in a locker but it doesn't hit my dyscalculia in the
same locker. There's a huge difference and what you've write in your diary
hidden underneath in your bed and what you post on Instagram, twitter
and Facebook. Everything that we think people admire about us in
movies and likes about us we put off and we think we are, what a shame
somewhat embarrassed as we put somewhere hurtful. Somehow these
two police are dragging as apart what happens if one day we'll
completely detached from each other. There will be no human, personal
and individual. A clever friend of mines over that we compare our
interstates with everyone out of state. Her grandmother has told to depths
of the concepts is not something new I just see a certain increasing
danger in having split lives. Everything that we put online is very fragile
and can crash in time and what we have on the other side is very hurtful
and I don’t want to be either all them. The way but my surprising
interesting is the jigsaw puzzle of friends and family, personality and
opinions and histories and scarce and lovers and dreams. All of its shape
us my hope is that dream but almost every strand braid bracelet in there
selves and the people around us determine what they like about us and
not. In undertaker huge amount of energy to hide and enormous of
smurfscollection you have at home so why not find someone who finds
that side or your interesting. Of course as with diagnosis on at weirdness
has a deep in identifying the possible pieces that fit in the jigsaw puzzle of
personalities that we encourage you go through your headaches your
secrets , review them and figure if they put in that boy merely because
you that everyone would put them in that category. I want you to
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embrace that witnesses whether it’s a sudden last of running a Ironman or

passion for plans and obsession with system or anything you want color
turquoise embrace it but remember that these are just a small puzzle
piece an entire creation of you they will never be only you. I may not
have any sense of numbers are in relation to any relationship but
identifying that exact piece of me has helped me to constantly strived to
look for the bigger picture because in the end , it's not a single puzzle
piece that matters. It is the end assumes the bigger picture. Thank you for
your time!
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What is Dyscalculia- Math Dyslexia- Simple explanation and solution

(Video 7) 2016
Marianne Mullally: Have you got a minute to find out about

Dyscalculia? Dyslexia is with learning difficulties associated in reading,
spelling and writing but dyscalculia is difficulty with math. Some of
dyscalculia finds it hard to make sense of number and basic number
concepts of math. There hasn’t been as much research done on
dyscalculia as on other learning issues but researchers are finding that it is
just as common as dyslexia. So that’s about 10% of the population. The
research that has been done suggest that a multi-sensory structured
approach can be help kids with dyscalculia. A structured approach
means math should be broken into smaller chunks or skills and once
understood, built on. So we build on the skills that we know. Multi- sensory
means that the child will be helped by using their sense of sight, hearing,
touch and movement to understand math and math concepts. To ensure
your child understand what he been taught that should be able to talk
through or explain what they’ve done to solve the math problem both
dyslexia and dyscalculia affects the child’s ability to understand math
words. Here some signs of dyscalculia from different age groups. Keep in
mind that the older child gets, the more obvious dyscalculia becomes. So
for the preschoolers and kindy kids, they might have trouble learning to
count or they might skip numbers when counting. When the kids the same
age don’t, they might count really quickly but when counting with
objects, they want to identify the object by the correct number. They
might struggle to recognize number symbol and might see number 2 as Z.
They might struggle to connect a number with real life like knowing that 2
means a quantity like 2 biscuits or 2 cats or 2 of anything. Preschoolers
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might finds pattern difficult like smallest to largest or tallest to shortest. They
might avoid games using numbers with the dice or counting games.
When kids are in primary school, they might have these signs. They might
still have trouble recognizing and writing numbers. Now have difficulty
learning and remembering basic numbers facts like 3 plus 4 equals 7. They
might mix up the math symbols like confusing a plus symbol with a
multiply. They’ll use their fingers to count instead of other strategies. They
might struggle with concepts like greater than or less than or larger or
smaller, or before or after. Left and right will be confusing and I have
trouble telling the time particularly with a clock with hands. If they read a
digital clock, they might struggle to understand it. For example if it’s 11:35,
they weren’t know how long it is until 12 by the end of primary school,
children are doing time, decimal, fraction, percentage, geometry,
algebra, area and volume. So for high school children, school math have
become complex and I’ll be lost in Math class. Signs that they are
struggling are they can’t apply simple math to everyday life including
money handling. They are trouble things like ingredients in a recipe or
liquid in a bottle because of their left and right confusion, I struggle with
directions or finding their way around using a map. Technology Google
has alleviated this issue so you might not notice them struggled. When
shown a graph, high school kids might not understand it. They might find
learning to drive difficult once again because of the left and right
confusion and estimating distances and speeds. If your child is struggling
with math, the online math scores will help resolve your confusion.
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Playground(FB) (Video 8) 2016
There is a disorder which nearly no one knows about: dyscalculia.

It’s similar to dyslexia but it affects mathematical language
comprehension. For example: having difficulty memorizing multiplication
tables, inverting numbers and signs or having problems deciphering
analogue clocks. Sufferers are born with a sort of numerical blindness and
although many cases go undiagnosed. It affects around 6 % of the
population. Dyscalculia can turn a number game into a mighty
headache.
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Appendix B
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R- researcher
E- expert
R: Ano ang perception/knowledge about Dyscalculia?
E: Yung perception kasi, hindi perception siguro yung knowledge ko na

lang about Dyscalculia. Yung una physiological cause ay yung sa brain
na kapag pinangnak ang bata may mga findings na nakakaapekto yung
minsan na naging structure nang brain dun sa performance ng learning
sa mathematics. Katulad ng kapag binabasa niya ang number 6 ang
basa ng bata ay 9, minsan naman kapag babasahin niya ang 4 ang
basa niya ay 9. Isa sa mga symptoms na natinitignan sa dyscalculia ay
yung dyslexia. Yun yung basic cause pero dun sa research na ginawa
namin napatunayan naming na posibleng hindi lang yung dyslexia ang
naging cause ng dyscalculia. May mga indings kami na nakkuha na yung
social-economic status ng bata ay posibleng nakakaapekto sa
dyscalculia. Sigurado dahil may brain disability na yung bata, may
dyscalculia na nag bata lumalala pa dahil walang proper treatment dun
sa dyscalculia syempre dito sa Philippines wala namaan tayong
dinedetect talaga kung may dyscalculia ang bata.
R: May na encounter na po ba kayong dyscalculic student?
E: Well, hindi basta basta nadedetect ang dyscalculia. Ang kadalasan na

ginagawa ay dinadala sa psychologist ang bata para malaman kung
may dyscalculia ito o kaya naman may tinatawag na dyscalculia
screener, yung ginamit naming ay yung Butterworth screener yun ay
isang computer program na 15-30 minutes ang time ng bata para
sagutan. May mga question dun na tungkol sa pagbibilang ng bata
haalimbawa kapag nagbibilang ba ang bata ay isa isa ba nilang
bibilangin or by group yun ang possible na question dun. Kung ang
pagdetect ng dyscalculia siguro through symptoms meron naman akong
naencounter lalo na sa high school. Nung nagtuturo ako ng high school
may mga ilang bata ako na kapag nagbibilang talaga nagamit ng
kamay sa pagbibilang kahit na high school na sila na dapat kapag
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nagbibilang ay mabilis na tapos kapag nagsosolve sila binibilang talaga

nila nagamit pa ng sticks. Tsaka dun sa findings na nakuha naming sa
research meron talagang dyscalculic students.
R: 3 to 6 per cent ba ang result?
E: Probably, ganun kasi pag nagtest kami doon ng forty na bata may
lumilitaw na less than ten.
R: Ano po yung test na ginamit niyo?
E: Yung computer na gagawin nila may series nang question sa computer

– software siya naka headphone yung bata habang tinatanong ang
bata binabasa din nila yung tanong tapos binabasa pa yung English
tapos kapag nasagot ng bata next slide naman. Meron din sa program
na yun kapag sinagutan ng bata yung halimbawa hindi pa niya
nasasagutan hindi pa sya nagpoproceed minsan sa next slide. Tinitignan
ng sreener yung pattern na ginagwa ng bata, recognition so ano yung
may time na mabillis matatapos yung bata pero may lilitaw na
dyscalculic pa din tapos na dedetect din ngn program na yun kung
nanghuhula yung bata sasabihin niya dun sa result.
R: May alam po ba kayong Intervention Program?
E: Suggested na makakuha ng dyscalculia screener kasi hindi ka

pwedeng mag intervention program basta basta. Wala pa akong aalam
na screener ditto sa pilipinas, sa ibang bansa pa lang siya available. Kung
intervention una talagang dapat gawin makakuha ng dyscalculia
screener o kaya psychologist na expert sa dyscalculia. Pag mya parents o
teacher lalo na pag naobserve nila yung bata na may possible symptoms
ng dyscalculia pwedeng isuggest nila sa parents na tutukan iba kase ang
mga turo ang mga dyscalculic hindi naman sila necessary bobo sa math,
may mga dyscalculic students kami nakita na okay naman ang
performance sa klase , yun nga lang medyo hindi nila maenchince yung
skills nila sa mathematics kasi nag dyscalculic students sila. Yung
intervention program siguro dapat magisip sila ng yung mga math
teacher maliban sa observation sa bata kung may dyscalculia ba talaga
o wala. Pwede mag set ng mga activities lalo na visual yung mga
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dyscalculic yung kinocorrect nila halimbawa pag ang pagkakasulat ng

bata sa 4 ay parang 9, dapat medyo magduda na tayo kasi baka 9
talaga ang nakikita nila dun sa 4. Dapat ang attention sa teacher
kinocorrect niya tapos pag nagbibilang ang bata yung kunware pa isa
isa niya nagbibilang or pa sticks or counting hands kahit na college or
high school mag set/suggest yung teacher ng isang activity na tuturuan
yung mga students.
R: Ano po ang impact ng dyscalculia sa Math Education?
E: Well, malaki kasi pag ka napatunayan na prevailing talaga yung

phenomenon na dyscalculia. Ibig sabihin kaya hindi natuto yung bata
hindi dahil sa curriculum o teacher kung hindi sa dyscalculila itself.
Malaking bagay naa maintindihan natin yung dyscalculia para
makapagset tayo ng intervention program para maicorrect yung
education sa mga batang may dyscalculia.
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Appendix C
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Personal Information
Name Ramachandra C. Torres
Mailing Malayan Colleges Laguna, Pulo-Diezmo Road, Cabuyao, 4025,
Address Laguna
Tel. No. (049) 520 8975 loc. 1131
Mobile No. 09323567509
Email Address rctorres@mcl.edu.ph
Educational Attainment
Ongoing Degree Doctor of Philosophy Major in Mathematics Education
Status Dissertation Writing
Institution Philippine Normal University – Taft
Degree Obtained Master of Arts in Education Major in Mathematics

Date Graduated 2012
Institution Tarlac State University
Degree Obtained Bachelor of Secondary Education Major in

Mathematics
Date Graduated 2009
Institution Tarlac State University
Work Experience
Designation Assistant Professor 3
College/Department College of Arts and Science/Math Department
Period Covered 2015-present
Designation Instructor
College/Department Tarlac State University - College of Education
Period Covered 2010-2014
Designation High School Teacher

College/Department Central Luzon Doctors’ Hospital EI – Basic Education
Period Covered 2009-2010
Research Papers Served as an assistant in a study of Dr. Edilberto De Jesus entitled

“Towards Evolving Model of an Intervention Program for Dyscalculic Students”
Underlying Factors of Math Avoidance Syndrome
Development and Validation of Integer Boggler as an Instrument

For the Improvement of Skills in the Operations on Integers
Organization Mathematical Society of the Philippines
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Appendix D
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JASON JOEL ABELLA EUGENIO
Address: B3 L31 Ma. Aurora Heights Subd.Brgy. San

Antonio San Pedro City, Laguna
E-mail Address: jasonjoeleugenio@yahoo.com
Contact Number: 09755013795
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND ACADEMIC YEAR

TERTIARY
Polytechnic University of the Philippines San Pedro Campus
Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education 2013 - Present
Major in Mathematics
Brgy. United Bayanihan, San Pedro City, Laguna
SECONDARY
San Pedro Relocation Center National High School

2009 - 2013
Old Tenant, Brgy. Langgam, San Pedro Laguna
ELEMENTARY
Langgam Elementary School 2003 - 2009

F. Benito St. Brgy. Laggam, San Pedro Laguna
PERSONAL DATA
Birth Date : July 11, 1996 Weight : 65 kg
Birth Place : San Pedro Laguna Religion : Roman Catholic
Gender : Male Citizenship : Filipino
Civil Status : Single Mother’s Name : Gemma B. Eugenio
Height : 5”6’ Father’s Name : Diosdado A. Eugenio
I hereby certify that the above information is true and correct.
JASON JOEL ABELLA EUGENIO
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REINCY KAYDY GAN BUERANO
Address: Block 4 Lot 36 Villa San Pedro Subdivision

Magsaysay San Pedro City, Laguna
E-mail Address: reincy.buerano@gmail.com

TERTIARY
SECONDARY
Sampaguita Village National High School
Molave St. Calendola Village, San Pedro City, Laguna 2009 - 2013
ELEMENTARY
Sampaguita Village Elementary School
2003 - 2009
Pitimini St. Sampaguita Village, San Pedro City, Laguna
PERSONAL DATA
Birth Date : September 26, 1997 Weight : 50 kg
Birth Place : Manila Religion : Roman Catholic
Gender : Female Citizenship : Filipino
Civil Status : Single Mother’s Name : Carolyn G. Buerano
Height : 5”2’ Father’s Name : Ronald U. Buerano
REINCY KAYDY GAN BUERANO

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NEIL JOHN MADERAZO BULUS
Address: Block 48 Lot 3 Mt. Carmel St. Southern

Heights 1, Brgy. Langgam San Pedro City, Laguna
E-mail Address: neiljohn.bulus@gmail.com

TERTIARY
SECONDARY
Sampaguita Village National High School
Molave St. Calendola Village, San Pedro City, Laguna 2009 - 2013
ELEMENTARY
Langgam Elementary School 2003 - 2009

F. Benito St. Brgy. Laggam, San Pedro Laguna
PERSONAL DATA
Birth Date : June 01,1997 Weight : 47 kg
Birth Place : Pasig City Religion : Roman Catholic
Gender : Male Citizenship : Filipino
Civil Status : Single Mother’s Name : Amor M. Bulus
Height : 5”6’ Father’s Name : Ferdinand M. Bulus
NEIL JOHN MADERAZO BULUS
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Polytechnic University of the Philippines

San Pedro Campus

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Learning is a key process in human behavior. All living is learning. If

to the individual. There is no general agreement on the definition of

learning, how learning takes place and what constitutes reasonable

evidence that learning has taken place. Some says, it is observable

changes in behavior, while other says that, it means acquiring new

knowledge, and for others, it is the creating of disequilibrium (Grouws,

Mathematics is considered an essential part of general education

and has become a required subject in the curriculum across instructional

levels; in addition to general education, learning mathematics involves

the basic knowledge at facts, skills and procedure. It contributes to more

specialized education of various professionals like scientists, accountants,

engineers and other professions which rely heavily on accurate

measurements and computation in order to understand better the studies

they are conducting (Diao, 2014).

Some children have trouble in understanding the meaning of the

language or vocabulary of mathematics. Math disability affects a Childs’

ability to learn mathematics in all of the different areas because of the

limited research base on math disability. As the curriculum becomes more

demanding, a math disability is manifested in different ways. Nowadays,

the students must mastered the language of mathematics including terms

seem to persist across grade levels and require extra instruction to

reinforce learning (Morin, 2014).Some experts state one of math disabilities

that is called Dyscalculia.

Some students are having a hard time to perform in school because

they have a learning disability like dyscalculia. According to Guillemot

(n.d), dyscalculia is a broad term that includes many different kinds of

difficulties in learning mathematics. Dyscalculia is also used for naming

general difficulties in learning basic Mathematics; likewise, it is a specific

learning disability affecting the normal acquisition of arithmetic skills. The

genetic, neurobiologic, and epidemiologic evidences indicate that

dyscalculia, like other learning disabilities, is a brain-based disorder.

However, poor teaching and environmental deprivation have also been

implicated in its etiology because the neural network of both hemispheres

comprises the substrate of normal arithmetic skills. In addition, dyscalculia

can result from dysfunction of either hemisphere, although the left

parietotemporal area is of particular significance (Shalev 2004).

Ho (2013) shares his teaching experiences; he noticed that some of

his students seem to have tremendous difficulties in doing math. So, he

students were having the signs of dyscalculia. Ho compared the problems

they were encountering to the reported symptoms described in the

others’ research papers; he learned that the descriptions in most of the

published research papers so far were not detailed enough; moreover, no

remediation worksheets were suggested. He even had headaches in

teaching these children who have dyscalculia, hence, he started to

document their problems and how he tacked their problems. Eventually,

he became interested in finding a way not only to help these struggling

and gained various insights in teaching the children. He also produced a

workbook based on his teaching experiences with those children who

This study aims to determine the nature and predictors of

dyscalculia, what intervention program can be done to help the students

study to the Mathematics Education.

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development was a comprehensive

theory about the nature and development of human intelligence, first

developed by Swiss developmental psychologist Jean Piaget (1896-1980).

His theory emphasized that a children progress should be a series of four

critical stages of cognitive development. Each stage is marked by shifts in

physical situation. As a physical experience accumulates, the child starts

to conceptualize, creating logical structures that explain their physical

experiences. Abstract problem solving is possible at this stage. He

environment using whatever mental maps they have constructed. If the

experience is a repeated one, it fits easily – or is assimilated – into the