For most of the journey of my life I thought that I only had Dyslexia, with this information in mind I used to believe that ALL my challenges in life/work/academia were due to this.

I remember that when I was completing my BBA in Marketing and Management, I literally struggle with Accounting 102. The famous ‘T Account’, the core, basic and mandatory classes for me was and stillbeing an iconic memory in the story of my life as a student. I had to take the class not twice, neither tree, nor four times, but FIVE times… 😕 Five times is equal to two years and a half… 😲

Today I can share with you my story with out felling shame, frustrated, angry, nor resentment but to be honest it was not easy, nor fun. Little did I knew then this type of challenge have little nor anything to do with Dyslexia but rater with Dyscalculia.

The concept of number and what do they represent is hight challenge for a Dyscalculic person!

This includes the concept of time 🕦.

For me “las Primas” the three cousins dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia are basically the same but in reality they are not.
Yes!, they all are neuro-dysfunctions or neuro-asymmetry of the structure of the brain.

Nobel Price Winner in biologist Dr. Gerald Edelman, used to describe the brain as a rainforest. He said and I quote. “the brain is in non sense like anykind of instrumental machine like a computer. Each individual’s brain is more like a unique rainforest, with growth, decay, competition, diversity and natural selection.”

On the other hand, I like to describe the brain as a city with multiples components, working in harmony to create, to contribute to the experience of life. Your brain as any city needs order, structure, streets, avenues, irrigation system, electrical power, communication, and more. A neuro-dysfuntion brains is in disorder or what we call @typical (or a typical).

Maybe is easier if I describe it in a simpler way; try to see the brain 🧠 as your house 🏡 a very well organice home; or maybe as an office/workplace/school/kitchen/city; or any other place that creates, need and demands efficiency, structure and organization.

A very well organize system can be described as highly efficient, this helps to minimizing time and cost related to some or all the processes involved in the use of what ever you need to do in or on it.

Let’s imagine for a moment, and please keep in mind that this is just a way to describe it, not necessarily the way it is. But lets say that the refrigerator is not in your kitchen, let’s say is on the garage; or your cabinet or file is not in your office. It does’t mean you could not cook, nor work on your desk but just means it will take longer to access everything you need for you to get things done.

Well something like this is what happens when you or someone you love have Dyscalculia. Yes of course you can do your accounting 🧾 📖 but takes more effort to accomplish it. Because of this asymmetrical type of brain the job need to be outsourced to other regions of the brain. For example in the dyslexic brain, the reading process that is typically done in the left side of the brain, need so be complete in the right side of the brain.

Dyscalculia is a Neurological abnormality in the brain structure, the parietal cortex, in particular the intraparietal sulcus (IPS). This area is crucial for the role in symbolic and non-symbolic numerical representation as well in the arithmetic processing and spacial attention. Affecting and creating serious difficulties in the mathematical skills and understanding of numerical concepts.

This of course created a challenge that if you know how to deal with it can become a blessing; BUT only IF YOU KNOW HOW TO COMPENSATED!
The way I see it is like a person who have no sight, but in the process other senses becomes stronger and highly reliable. The same happens with this Dyscalculia and other neurodivergence’s.

I believe that one of the greatest advantages of Dyscalculia and Dyslexia is created by the need to used the right side of the brain to get things done. I am not sure if I can explain this in a simple idea, specially if you have a what science call a typical brain, but I will do my best. Tools as MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging) and CT scans (Computed tomography) have been used in different ways to see how the brain 🧠 works and is organized. It turns out that a typical brain do most of the reading in the left side, but in a neurodivergent brain this organization are not in place and the work need to be finished on the right of the brain.
This of course creates a time delay, the information need to travel further and much more; BUT the benefit is a 3D understanding of the information.

For me is like 280° vision/memory/understanding of the
time/information, maybe I can not see, nor understand the details of numerical information as an accounting does, but is like if I can literally see the information floating around me. Is more like a feeling rather than seen the information ℹ️. Like a full body awareness of the time and space of what that information is and represents for me and my brain… 🧠

Very cool isn’t it 😃!!!

I promise you that for the next season of Neurodiversity I will give you more tools and ideas on how to make the most of your brain or the neurodivergent in your school/workplace or others but for this post. I just want to give you a brought overview of what Dyscalculia is…

For the moment just remember that Neuroscience is just at the beginning and humanity is just at dawn of understanding the beauty and power of the human brain.