Advice centre for dyscalculia

Counselling, Assessment and Support

Our aim is to provide guidance to children, young people and adults experiencing significant difficulties in learning maths, to diagnose their specific strengths and weaknesses, and to provide them with expert, personalised support.

Teaching

As part of placements and seminars, students from the university provide individual and targeted support to children experiencing difficulties with learning arithmetic. The aim here is not only to provide the children with optimal support in learning maths, but also to give the students the opportunity to engage intensively with thinking and learning processes in a practical setting. Supervision of the support sessions by university lecturers helps to develop skills in analysing learning difficulties and in planning tailored learning, practice and support sessions.

Research

Further objectives of the counselling centre include research projects on learning difficulties in mathematics and how to overcome them. This involves providing empirically grounded findings for teaching, as well as publishing them for academic and educational purposes.

Services for affected parents, children and adults

• Initial telephone consultation
• Conducting diagnostic assessments for serious difficulties with learning maths
• Support provided by specially trained students and staff at the counselling centre

Services for teachers

• Consultations
• Opportunities for teacher training and information sessions for all types of schools on the topic of ‘Dyscalculia as an educational challenge’
• Qualification programmes

Services for students

• Support for children with maths difficulties (individually or in small groups) as part of teaching placements and courses
• Preparation of academic papers in the field of diagnosis and support for children with learning difficulties
• Qualified students have the opportunity to work at the counselling centre by taking on follow-up support roles; this support is remunerated in the form of assistant contracts

Diagnosis

Following a telephone consultation, during which an initial description of the current problem should be provided, a diagnostic interview will take place if necessary. This diagnosis is based on individual discussions regarding mathematical content.

A prerequisite for the diagnostic interview is consent for the child concerned to be video-recorded. The videos are used exclusively for research and teaching purposes and are subject to data protection regulations. They will not be passed on to third parties.

WHAT is being assessed?

• Consolidated counting-based arithmetic
• Difficulties in understanding place value
• Deficits in fundamental conceptual understanding

These difficulties affect various subject areas and can be observed, for example, through counting digit by digit, transposing digits or significant difficulties with word problems.

The following are not diagnosed:

Our diagnostic process is designed to identify opportunities for support. We therefore deliberately refrain from labelling conditions as ‘calculational disorder’, ‘dyscalculia’ etc. These terms imply an illness or a disability. Both theoretically (due to a lack of or unsuitable definitions) and practically (due to a lack of valid diagnostic methods; no empirically proven ‘therapeutic’ approaches), the use of these terms is unhelpful – if not dangerous.

HOW is the assessment carried out?

• A member of the counselling centre conducts an interview lasting approximately 30 to 60 minutes (with the child), during which tasks relating to various mathematical topics are set.
• The session is video-recorded and subsequently transcribed.
• Where appropriate, the diagnosis forms the basis of the support plan.
• Diagnostic guidelines can be found in the Downloads section.

The following are not assessed:

No tests are carried out with the children. Tests are largely of no use in designing support programmes, as they generally only identify problem areas but not the reasons for the difficulties.

Support

Who is the support aimed at?

• Children, young people and adults with fundamental and persistent difficulties in learning maths

What are the requirements for taking part in the support programme?

• For children and young people: parents must contact the advice centre
• A declaration of consent to the video recording of the initial assessment and support sessions
• Initial assessment
• Regular attendance at all support sessions

When, where and for how long does the support take place?

• Weekly support session during the term (10 support sessions in total)
• At the Karlsruhe University of Education
• Each support session lasts 60 minutes and usually takes place on Tuesdays between 4 pm and 6 pm
• Option to continue after the end of the semester, subject to agreement with the students

Who provides the support?

• Students as part of course modules (supervised by university lecturers) 

Support formats

• Specific support formats can be found on the MatheFest project website.

What are the parents’ responsibilities?

• Providing materials
• Maintaining contact and liaising with the support staff, in particular ensuring timely cancellation in the event of illness
• Accompanying the child to and from the support centre
• Giving consent for the diagnosis and support sessions to be video-recorded
• Attending the final consultation