I have known about dyscalculia for years now, I learned I had it when I found out two of my kids have dyslexia and dysgraphia and two others have dyscalculia, I have dyscalculia and dysgraphia which is the inability to write by hand legibly I struggled through 3rd grade with a mean nasty teacher who made me hate math even more. I was made the class idiot due to her. She would take every opportunity to humiliate me. I later learned partly because she had taught my dad who was her worst nightmare so she took it out on me. I found out by 5th grade, part of my problem in school was I needed eye glasses. I could not see the board, it was fuzzy all the time. It did not solve my math problems and I missed a lot of school from first grade through eighth grade. I had Rhematic fever at age six and was out for weeks. At age seven I got a serious kidney infection that nearly killed me. Again I missed weeks of school too sick to do any school work I was in the hospital both times. Back then school work was not brought to the hospital for kids. At age 10 I got scarlet fever and was home for 3 weeks. The fever was so high it destroyed memory cells, causing scar tissue. My parents nor I knew this. But all the piano lessons I had taken for 2 years were wiped out and I could not read a note. I seemed to get the German or hard red measles every year as well, inspite of having them before and inspite of having had shots. I have had them 3 times as an adult. My mom learned when I was fourteen I did not build immunity to those childhood diseases. We learned years later that her smoking while being pregnant with me probably contributed to that problem. I missed a lot and fell behind. I was put back from second to 1st grade when we moved. I hated being the oldest and dumbest kid in the class. In 8th grade I came down with the mumps, both sides, and then got a relapse. I had a real witch of a teacher. I hated her. She was another humiliator. I was sixteen, still counting on fingers and had no idea what fractions were. Or how to figure the problems, I loathed story problems. She liked getting me up in front of the class to make me do the problems on the board making me feel stupid. After I got done with the mumps and the relapse. I had missed a full month of school. She had sent school work home and mom helped me with a lot of the math. But what the teacher sent home was not what she was teaching my peers. They had gone from fractions to percent. The first day back she got me up to the board, knowing I had no clue what she was talking about. When she gave me a percent problem to figure out I stood there seething then I erased the board, turned and screamed NO I am NOT going to do it. All the class was laughing. I stomped out of the room. She came after me and grabbed hold of my arm, her talons cutting deep into my flesh. I bit her hard and drew blood and took off running for home a 9 mile walk. The school called a state social worker to go after me. He came driving up and tried to get me to go in his car. UH UH man I don't know who you are. I am not going with you anywhere. I kept walking. He said if I call your parents will you go. I said no because you can't call them they don't have a phone. He asked the address. I told him and he drove off. Twenty minutes he was back with my dad. The guy tried to get me to go back to school. I refused, I was sixteen and state law said I could quit school at sixteen or eigth grade, that was the last day I went to school for two years. The guy became a good friend of the family after that. My parents moved from White Salmon back to my home town of Trout Lake, Washington. I decided to go back to school on my own. I had to start as a freshman and I aced the all classes but math. I could not do the math at all. I didn't care. My sophmore year I was 19. I was told I had to take Algebra. Sheesh no way. Wasn't it bad enough trying to use numbers alone without mixing letter with it. Letters were for writing. I got A's in English, Spelling, Journalism, History, B's in Science, Civics. Home Economics I got D's because I told the "B" there I was NOT going to use a measing cup. My mom had taught me to measure with the eye. A pinch and a dash. I had the best bread in one class, the boys in P.E stole it not knowing who made it and ate it all. She gave me a D because I did not measure and had already learned to cook and bake from mom. I had no friends in high school and I didn't care. The first day of Algebra the teacher said are there any questions. I said yes, why do I have to have this stupid class. I don't see any purpose in it. He tried to explain and I didn't get it. I kept asking why to everything. Finally he threw his math book at me and ordered me from his class. Suited me fine. Needless to say I got a zero for that class. I then met my husband that summer and turned 20 and took my GED. I went to 1 year of college and wanted to be a psycologist that was in 1993. But the nasty "you gotta take algebra came up" and I told them no. YOU see I can do basic math fine. It might take me a bit and a calculator but I get by and yes I still use my fingers too. But math makes me have a splitting blinding headache and I get literally the urge to want to kill someone over it. I saw a counselor and a doctor and found out I do have dyscalculia and scar tissue from scarlett fever. Trying to use that part of the brain causes physical pain literally. Triggering other emotions of fight or flight. My heart beat gets fast, I get flushed and frusterated. They told me at SFCC I still had to take math so I said to heck with it and just stay home being a sometimes writer, mom, grandmother, wife. I have got by for 57 years without algebra, I can cook and I even homeschool my grandkids or some of them. I can tell time and I am not going into engineering or going to be a physisist or rocket scientist. So why do I need stupid math I don't and I am not going to take it. EVER?? They should waive and make exceptions for people like me especially at my age. They told me to be a psycologist I needed math. Bull! I asked why, they said so you can do your bills and expenses and taxes. I told them that is why people hire other people who can do those things for you. They said maybe someone would cheat me. Not if I hire my daughter in law or son in law both math experts. I felt abused and cheated and still do. But such is life. I get by without algebra. When I have balanced our check book I have made errors, always to my husbands delight in our favor. I just round it off. We make compensations and learn to work around our disabilitites. I wish the rest of society would do the same. I would still like to get my degree in psycology but not at the expense of my mental and emotinal or physical health. No thanks. So there went another dream like many others I had, by the wayside. I survived and still am. Boo to math.