Dyscalculia self test - teenager

Can you relate to “a day in the life of?”

Being a teenager can be really frustrating at the best of times but add on problems with Maths, timekeeping and other issues and life becomes unbearable and embarrassing. This isn’t a traditional Dyscalculia self test for teenagers but if anything rings true then it might be worth getting some help and there is help out there.

Dyscalculia self test - teenager

Morning - starts badly.

Alarm goes off. Fred opens his eyes and peers at the clock.  “Good I’ve got ages before school. I’ll lie in for another few moments.” 30 mins later, Fred is still in bed having lost track of time. “Fred get in the shower. Hurry up!” yells his mum.  He swears he’s only been in the shower for 2 mins when his mum bangs on the door “Fred you’ve been in there for 25 mins, you’re late for school…….again.”

Characteristics of Dyscalculia : Bad time keeping and estimating how long tasks take to complete

First Lesson - Things aren’t going to plan

Fred likes geography but time pressure in the test is making him panic even though he’s studied really hard.

“Why are there so many graphs? Nothing makes sense!” He then looks at the analogue clock and freaks himself out “Oh bollocks - I’ve only got 5 minutes to go and 10 questions to answer. Oh shit I’ve read the clock wrong, it’s ok, I’ve still got 20 mins left. Actually I’ve no idea what the time is. I can’t think straight.”

Characteristics of Dyscalculia : Telling the Time. Graphs and charts are hard to interpret. Can often see the bigger picture but miss smaller details.

Lunchtime : Embarrassing moment 1085...

Fred fancies Elly. It’s her birthday and Fred promises to buy her a cake. Fred’s in line to buy his lunch and Elly’s cake, he’s looking cool on the outside but on the inside... “Oh jesus I can’t work out if I have enough money to buy two things, I can’t put my lunch back or they’ll laugh at me. Oh no I’m next in line....” Fred gets to the cashier he doesn’t have enough money, Elly and her friends laugh at him and walk away in disgust.

Characteristics of Dyscalculia : Budgeting and recalling basic maths facts

Afternoon : The nightmare continues…

Fred was moved up a maths set as he was doing really well but the new maths teacher doesn’t explain things in a way he understands. “God this is all wrong. I’m so stupid.” He spills water on his work so that the teacher can’t mark it and see how badly he’s doing. Last week he hid his homework at the bottom of the wrong pile so the teacher couldn’t find it.

Characteristics of Dyscalculia : Math anxiety and avoiding tasks.

After School : Basketball practice, things should be looking up….

Fred loves basketball and is really good at it but he can never remember the set plays. “Fred what the hell are you doing over there. We have been over this a hundred times, after the 5th move you’re meant to be in the right hand corner at the back not the left front.”

Characteristics of Dyscalculia : Gauging speed, distance and remembering a sequence of instructions.

Dinner Time : Surely things have got to be better at home.

Fred promised to make his mum dinner to make up for being late to school but things don’t go to plan. There’s mess everywhere, he’s doesn’t have half the ingredients. “I’ve looked at the stupid recipe a million times but keep measuring everything wrong, I hate this.” Fred strops off hungry and tired and his mum’s annoyed because she’s left to tidy up again.

Dyscalculia issue : Planning problems, following written instructions, measuring.

Dyscalculia self test teenager

Dyscalculia can affect all areas of life and knock the confidence out of so many teenagers who simply start to believe they are stupid but we hope this Dyscalculia self test - teenager has been helpful and the first step in finding solutions. All brains are plastic and can be moulded and shaped throughout life so it’s never too late but the sooner you start the easier it is to grow the brain and change.

A very important first step in managing Dyscalculia is getting friendly with maths again. Many teenagers have learnt to hate the problems Dyscalculia brings into their lives, so they avoid the struggles. Turning a teen around to tackle their difficulties and helping them understand the importance of finding ways to cope and manage are essential.

If children don’t understand or practice the basics of maths they will suffer enormously later in life and turning this around once they’ve reached their teens can be tricky.

However if they exercise the right area of their brain, teenagers like Fred can flourish in maths and conquer their maths anxieties. Try sites like FABLES WORLD which teaches TIMES TABLES in a way that Fred can understand. So much maths relies on knowing tables and division - learn your tables and most math problems will be easier to solve.

End of Dyscalculia self test teenager