Corpal had the initiative to start a funding programme of assessing school-aged children with DCC for developmental dyscalculia. This is in collaboration with Dynamo Maths who have been excellent in performing the assessments but also providing detailed reports to the teachers and parents. The reports include a breakdown of the student evaluation and outcomes but also of recommendations that can be implemented to support the student. Our reports and assessments helped students receive better recognition and understanding of their condition by their schools and therefore more support. In addition, students that did not have an EHCP plan to start with, our detailed reports have strengthen their applications and have been successful in being granted funding for more structured support while at school. This programme was launched in November 2021 by Corpal. For more information reach out to [email protected]. We can provide a detailed structure on how we run the assessments and answer any further questions.

DYSCALCULIA SPONSORSHIP: UPDATE

All children deserve to have an equal chance of success.

It is a privilege to work with Corpal on this critical project to research the difficulties children with Disorder of the Corpus Callosum (DCC) face with numbers and maths. Mathematical skills are increasingly crucial if individuals are to thrive in today’s technologically data-oriented world of work.

As I continue to travel around the UK to assess children in primary schools with a diagnosis of DCC, my work has focused on understanding if children with DCC are at risk of developmental dyscalculia. I have gained insight into the children’s Number Sense Development, and these have been fascinating. As it rolls out to more children, this study will hopefully shed light on many aspects of children’s development. A bonus with the school visits has been the information sharing and meetings with the teachers, SENCo’s, and parents to understand the children’s level of support. All children deserve to have an equal chance of success.

Developmental dyscalculia can be recognised when maths difficulties are persistent, and your child consistently shows weak mathematical performance.

The British Dyslexia Association and SASC define dyscalculia as follows:

Dyscalculia is a specific and persistent difficulty in understanding numbers which can lead to a diverse range of difficulties with mathematics. It will be unexpected in relation to age, level of education and experience and occurs across all ages and abilities.

Mathematics difficulties are best thought of as a continuum, not a distinct category, and they have many causal factors. Dyscalculia falls at one end of the spectrum and will be distinguishable from other maths issues due to the severity of difficulties with number sense, including subitising, symbolic and non-symbolic magnitude comparison, and ordering. It can occur singly but often co-occurs with other specific learning difficulties, mathematics anxiety and medical conditions.

During the Assessment, the children engage with short, varied, novel tasks and whilst they work on these tasks, I closely observe their thinking, communication, and responses.

While it may be too early to draw firm conclusions, all children assessed so far receive additional support.

· Why are children struggling with basic maths?
· Can we intervene early?
· Do we need to raise the awareness of DCC amongst our teachers?
· How can teachers support children struggling with maths?

These are the crucial questions that the charity needs answers to so that they can help advocate for your children.

With the participation of more children in this project, Corpal can start understanding this significant mathematical difficulty and contribute to research for better outcomes for all children. Please contact Fiona at [email protected] for information to participate in this funded project.

Karima Esmail
Dyscalculia Assessor