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Bear-hybrid — Dyscalculia
#bear #grizzly #math #mathematics #numbers #bearcomic #thebearminimum
Published: 2019-09-06 18:45:37 +0000 UTC; Views: 4310; Favourites: 199; Downloads: 0
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Comic #181: Dyscalculia is almost as common as Dyslexia but it is so unheard of that even auto-correct tells me it doesn’t exist
So I'm doing my part to raise awareness. Perhaps if this was more widely known about when I was in school I could have had some special tutoring… As it is I was thankful to scrape a passing grade. People tend to think you’re just dumb or not trying & so far this has cost me two jobs where the managers were unwilling to accommodate me with more time.You can also find The Bear Minimum at:
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Comments: 46
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I never knew this was a thing until very VERY recently. It explains so much from my childhood problems and well into my adult life. I wish I could enjoy math and numbers but it feels like pure hell.
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I absolutely never knew this was a thing but seeing this really made me think of myself so I did more research and while I can't be sure fully, I'm pretty sure this could be something I have and if I do boy would it have been so nice to find out about this years ago when I was struggling so hard in school because of math, because maybe then the right steps to help me would have been taken. Regardless it's still neat to learn about, I hope it gets more awareness. It could really help those who have it and are struggling at school, work, or other places. So thanks for making a comic on it ^^
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i have the same problem with understanding symbol-type things like music. Individually, i can understand each note, but when paired together i can't process a darned thing and have to play by ear. My high school music teacher used to hate waiting for me to mark my notes and would get berated by her when i took too long. IDK if it's an actual disorder like dyslexia or dyscalculia but i totally understand the shame and frustration you can feel when people don't want to be understanding.
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I'm pretty sure I have dyscalculia. I was also put in the 'dumb' kids math class, but I'm great at all my other subjects!
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Some time I hate math because of teachers, but that doesn't mean I hate math.
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I've discovered what is dyscalculia when I was 19. Before that, teachers said I was just lazy and didn't worked my maths enough. And they say that, in France, we're good at making DYS diagnosis, eh. Maybe it's true now, but 5 to 10 years ago, it wasn't the case at all. And still, people know more about Dyslexia than Dyscalculia.
Funfact : I love maths, and aside of numbers, I work quite well with maths logic. I just can't handle it when it involve numbers or equations (or sentences that are way too long).
For exemple, I love genetic ! And I'm building an online breeding game with a friend, and even if I never really studied programming, I can read my friend's programs and help him to correct it (specially when it's about genetic 
But I can't read a clock who doesn't have clear numbers on it (I hate clocks with roman numbers, and even more those who doesn't have numbers ! Who thought it was a good idea ?!), or do a substraction in my head. People always look at me funny when they see me struggling with numbers...
That's kind of frustrating, to have the logic but not the ability to handle numbers...
But not knowing about my dyscalculia allowed me to be stubborn and go into the scientist area in high school. I graduate, mainly thanks to non-maths-related matter (my best grade was in English 
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I'm the same - I just barely passed! I was in the "gifted and talented" class for EVERYTHING else, but numbers just don't go into my brain.
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I was in "special education" classes all throughout high school. I struggle with both math and reading comprehension. My classmates treated me like I had some sort of disease. That is, until we had a project involving art. Then my project would kick all of their asses! We all have our strengths and weaknesses. You are an amazingly talented artist, so focus on that skill and don't let the other stuff bring you down!
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if an employer fires you due to a disability, and refuses to offer accommodations, you can sue them. They deserve it.
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It's not called Dyscalculia anymore, at least not in the DSM-5. It's called Specific Learning Disorder with Impairment in Mathematics.
psychcentral.com/disorders/spe…
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Wait...there's actually a name for what I have?! This is amazing 0.o Thank you for doing this!
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I can empathize with that. I have ADHD/ADD but love learning, especially things like math and science, but my brain finds it difficult to focus, so people have to tell me a few times about something. It's infuriating, especially in work now. My boss could ask me to do something and I have to put 500% more focus into what they are saying so I can remember what they said and in what order. It's tiring and I loathe my ADHD/ADD
Thankfully I am not a hyperactive rubber ball like when I was a child, but concentration is still such a tiring thing for me to do. But like you have dealt with, people get fed up of trying and just stop bothering as they feel like they are just wasting their time :/
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WHoa, I might have that too... So sorry that some people just don't care that some people need more time to learn
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Oh my goodness. I never knew this was an actual condition. For more than 50 years it's just been,
"Oh well, you artistic types have trouble with numbers..."
For decades I've had to use strings of verbal mnemonics to recall even the simplest numbers correctly, if I can't write them down, repeat them back, and double check what I've written at least twice.
Again, your elegant linework and expressions add so much to the information.
Thank you for this.
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I also struggle with math and numbers, so I definitely get that. I wish people were more understanding about other people needing more time to learn things
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Definitely wondering if this is my issue. I constantly need to count on my hands, and more difficult mathematics I can't even begin to comprehend. Since I'm already being tested for dyslexia, might as well ask them to test for this too!
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OH mygoodnes same!!
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I have it too. Yup, counting numbers , calculator, and math tricks are also part of the arsenal. Curiosly once I associate certain math with another concept, it gets easier. I do not remember who, but someone told me to visualize math , artify math, so to speak. So imagine my suprise when at school i got matrices easier. The kicker? I was asking how do you "turn" in space a certain shape. Oh and BTW, I also had to gently correct the neurotypical relative that this is a "thing" and had to be diagnosed for it. As always , your mileage may vary.
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For me , it was like at some part of the process, the program had a memory error and crashed.
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My mom has Dyscalculia, and I think I may also have it to some degree. It's so frustrating. ;-;
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I was wondering what the math specific version was called.
I have a form of peripheral dyslexia myself; some type of alexia, but I'm not too sure which. It seems to lean more towards pure alexia with a sprinkling of both deep and neglect alexias, if that's even possible. I likely also had regular dyslexia to begin with, but once I started getting severe migraines around the age of ten my reading and math abilities started to get really strange. Fortunately, I don't experience the alexia symptoms all the time which suggests I do still have pretty good blood flow to the left side of my brain, but if something happens that would cause the flow to become restricted (usually dehydration) then I'll have a substantial increase in my amount of "reading hiccups". No matter the current state of my reading ability, I can always write and type fine (apart from periodically hitting the wrong key on the keyboard, but who doesn't?). It's when I proofread that I'll have varying amounts of trouble. As for math, my brain has developed a habit of substituting the wrong numbers in yet I can still come up with the right answer for the numbers that are actually there. This was particularly frustrating with long equations in precalculus class because the correct answer that I came up with made no sense to me until it straightened itself out and I could read the numbers properly again. I actually went through... I think it was four years of almost failed math classes before I realized in that precal class that that was what my brain was doing. And then I stopped using a calculator almost altogether because, obviously, if I was inputting the wrong numbers I was seeing, I was guaranteed to get a wrong answer. Of course, anytime we'd have to show our work, the bizarre inner workings of my mind would be put on full display. My teacher had even made a note on one of my papers like "This made absolutely no sense, but you somehow got it?" I've learned that the best way to cope with both of these is to read quicker, like a tick below skimming speed (if I don't give my mind time to read it wrong then it just doesn't surprisingly), and to stop obsessing over the numbers I think I see and trust that I probably did it right.
Sorry that ran on so long. But, I dunno, maybe someone else will see this and have an epiphany about their own reading/mathing troubles.
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Really good of you to raise awareness about this! My guardian gave me hell for being dumb and/or lazy regarding anything math-related. Doing well in most other subjects apparently meant I wasn't trying hard enough! Hopefully there'll come a day when people realize that treating students and employees like garbage really doesn't help—I have zero confidence when it comes to numbers these days and avoid any such tasks like the plague. I'm very sorry to hear you've suffered because of this, too. It's beyond unfair to be punished for a learning disability :c
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My freind has this and we didn't know there was a separate name for it! He's just been calling it dyslexia!
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I struggle with this and didn't know it was a thing either until recently; there needs to be more awareness! Thank you!
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I read your comics constantly but generally don't comment, today I'm going to. Because...Wow, I...didn't even know dyscalculia was a thing. I've spent my entire life being literally unable to do math without writing it out or using a calculator, getting left/rights mixed up constantly, and literally being unable to read an analog clock without counting out the time on the lines. This is eye-opening, and honestly such a huge weight off my shoulders I didn't even realize I was carrying, just knowing that my brain is apparently wired differently and it's just not me failing at these 'simple tasks.' So thank you, seriously so much, for posting this. <3
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My pleasure! It was such a relief when someone told me about it too!
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Ahh i had a classemate who had dyslexia AND dyscalculia.
Things were so hard for her during art history classes (we were both on becomming art teachers - we both ended up quitting though xD)
I have to be honest, before her i never really heard of dyscalculia either aaa. Good you're raising awareness tho!
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Lovely comic as always, I hardly ever comment but I always read <3
Do you find you ever read numbers backwards? I work in a shop where we do a little bit of everything so sometimes I'm on till. £3.45 can quickly turn into £5.43 or £4.35 if I don't pay attention!
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Oh yes very much so! Especially reading out the .cents part xD
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I completely understand! I've stuggled with math for years- simple adding and subtraction I've got it down but start throwing in other things and you've lost me. Even at a certian point I have difficulty reading numbers and saying the correct name. I hate going and getting my cars oil done because they'll ask for the mileage on my car. *I just helpless point or write it down before hand and hand it over.*
I dropped out of a college math course because the professor made it mandatory to walk up to board and solve problems infront of the class. Which i could have handled if they were already written out- but he'd instead announce the question and we'd have to write out and solve it. Even after I told him I had learning disability he'd want me to go up and solve questions. And get mad when id refuse. I dropped out soon after, Haven't really attempted any other math classes since then.
Literally yesterday I had a new coworker ask me to help sell a package deal to a client. I had to add the cost up real quick in my head and happened to blurt out quietly the wrong number in a panick in which the client heard and called me out on in front of the salon and started to mock me for it. I told him "look- I'm bad at math." And by that point my manager stepped in an saved me from the jerk.
In the end my manager told me i was technically right but since there was a percentage decounted to the package I was only off by a handful a dollars. Sort of made me feel better but yeah I'm not the biggest fan over math either.
I'm glad some awareness is getting spread!
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I always wondered if there was a dyslexia kind of thing with numbers. I always barely made a passing grade in high school and college in math. I get numbers mixed up when I look at them like if I see 47 Ill think or say 74 sometimes. In highschool, my private flute teacher asked me if I was dyslexic one time because I even read sheet music backwards sometimes.
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I actually have never heard of this before. Honestly I assumed dyslexia also encompassed numbers and didn't know there was a different thing for that. So, does that mean someone with dyslexia can do math just fine and someone like you with dyscalculia can read without issue?
My friend was telling me the other day about a women he was getting frustrated with because she was trying to tell him the money his business was supposed to put in her bank wasn't the same as what really went into her bank. Despite showing her on paper that the numbers matched she insisted they didn't- I wonder if she was possibly suffering from dyscalculia and the numbers just looked different to her?
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Perhaps! As for me I’ve always had A+ reading comprehension, just a little trouble with spelling and grammar for writing. No dyslexia for me! Just Dyscalculia
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That's interesting to know. Thanks for sharing!
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Reminds me a lot of another condition like that called Dysgraphia--like dyslexia but with writting rather than reading. I sadly have this condition and it makes typing or writing at times a pain, especially when I have to write/type fast.
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I have encountered the issue with needing more time than others to learn new systems. I almost got fired once because of it. I wasn't picking up on the training after only one repetition, and this was universally seen as me not listening or willfully ignoring instructors. It got so bad that I stopped asking for help because I felt pressured and stupid, which led to me making a counting mistake of over a hundred dollars at my till.
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Huh, I didn't even know that it was so unheard of, but probably only because one of my siblings has it. Everyone I mentioned it to up until now seemed to know what it was or maybe just guessed from context. Well, EXCEPT my sibling's grade school math teacher. She insisted my sibling didn't have it which was one of the reasons they had problems in school...
But I hope that people in the future will be more understanding of this learning disability.
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This is something, now that I know is a thing, I wonder if I have myself... As a kid, I struggled badly with math... I had to also be put into the "dumb kids" math. In high school, the stress of it all lead to panic attacks just thinking about going to math class. I had to excuse myself a ton Freshman year from that class to go cry and panic in the bathroom. To this day, I still struggle to deal with long strings of numbers and doing math in my head. I play it off and get my husband to do it, but I legit have no idea half the time.
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I've heard of it before! Thankfully I'm okay-ish with numbers, but trust me, I love my calculator too.
The last panel is a bit like a life lesson. Having patience with people who are willing to learn, but simply have a more difficult time doing so, is a trait few people have, but is very valuable to learn. I have so much respect for teachers who are always willing to come up with a new example, and will do their best as long as you stay motivated.
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I feel this so much. I used to get mocked for not being able to glance at a wall clock and give the time in a heart beat. It took me three years to tackle Algebra 2 in high school and I'm glad it's something I don't need to use on a regular basis in my day to day life :3
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I NEVER KNEW THIS WAS A THING. I honestly believe I used to have this as a kid. Math was always so difficult and I couldn't remember anything. Omg wow
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