Giftedness and Dyscalculia appear to be mutually exclusive but they’re two distinct notions that can co-occur in an individual, creating a paradoxical phenomenon. Giftedness is typically associated with exceptional abilities and academic achievement while dyscalculia is generally a learning disorder characterized by difficulties with math comprehension and processing. Holistically, dyscalculia affects an individual’s ability to understand and process math concepts. It is often characterized by difficulties with number sense and memorization, math fact fluency, understanding math concepts and relationships, visual-spatial skills, organization, and time management. However, dyscalculia is primarily a learning difficulty defined by issues with arithmetic comprehension while giftedness is frequently connected with remarkable abilities and academic accomplishment. Dyscalculia has a comprehensive impact on a person’s comprehension and processing of mathematical ideas. Problems with number sense and memorization are frequently associated with it. The co-occurrence of giftedness and dyscalculia is examined in this article along with its effects on education and methods for helping those who are affected.

The wide gap of underachievement is often masked because the student’s giftedness in other areas may overshadow their struggles with math. Teachers and parents might assume that the student is simply not trying hard enough or lacks interest in math rather than paying attention to the learning difficulty. The underachievement gap is sometimes concealed since a student’s aptitude in other subjects may compensate for their arithmetic difficulties. Gifted students with dyscalculia always feel ashamed, anxious, and concerned about their math difficulties which can further impede their overall academic performance. Nevertheless, these exceptional students with dyscalculia face unique challenges, including Inconsistent performance, excelling in other subjects but struggling in math which always leads to inconsistent grades and performance, Frustration and anxiety and loss of confidence. This felling of anxiety further impedes their learning and overall academic success. Students with dyscalculia who are neurodiverse and extraordinary have particular difficulties, such as: uneven performance, inconsistent grades, inability to grasp mathematical ideas which can later contribute to emotional instability. Dyscalculia can have impact on organizational abilities which make it challenging to complete homework and arithmetic assignments.

According to research, 3-6% of people have dyscalculia; this frequency is higher in people who have arithmetic anxiety (Devine et al., 2018). However, 5–10% of people are thought to be gifted (Silverman, 2013). Although case studies indicate that the co-occurrence of both conditions is not well-documented (Trott, 2017). Gifted students with dyscalculia frequently have extraordinary aptitude in other areas, such language arts, science, or social studies. But there can be a large accomplishment difference if their arithmetic skills are below grade level (Assouline & Lupkowski-Shoplik, 2012). Underachievement, frustration, and a decline in motivation might arise from this discrepancy. For educators, the co-occurrence of giftedness with dyscalculia poses a special problem. Differentiated education is necessary for gifted dyscalculic students to address both their areas of strength and weakness. Teachers need to understand that these children’ arithmetic difficulties do not sum up their cognitive ability. Moreover, let’s take a closer look at a case study of giftedness and dyscalculia coexisting in Nigeria, a well-known country in Africa. Teachers can use a variety of tactics to help gifted kids with dyscalculia. Since Nigeria is known as the “Giant of Africa,” let’s look at a nonfiction case study.

In Nigeria, a nation also known as the Gaint of Africa. Someone has firsthand experience of giftedness and dyscalculia coexisting during their formative years. Sadly, no professionals, parents, or educators were aware of the child’s academic demands in the early phases of his academic development since there was a lack of clarity in the early 20s regarding learning impairments, particularly dyscalculia. The child’s early development included walking, speaking, and doing unthinkable things. Before the parents knew it, the child had developed a sizable vocabulary that was significantly above his age. The parents were shocked and surprised, and in some cases, delighted that their child was responding to developmental milestones. Early on, they saw it as a huge accomplishment because, in contrast to their boy’s progress, their child’s age peers had not yet responded to such rapid developmental milestones. Due to the child’s quick mental, intellectual, and social growth, they were aware that they weren’t like other kids their age. Everyone in the neighborhood was enthralled with the child’s unusually quick development and his peculiar trait and gesture, which even got them talking. Because of the child’s outstanding cerebral growth at an early age, everyone loves to interact with and admires him, but no professional has been able to provide information on the child’s nature or his giftedness.

Before anyone knew it, the boy developed a strong desire to attend school and would always follow his older brother there. He would be overflowing with excitement and energy when his older brother returned from school, always grabbing hold of his bag, and the following day, when his older brother left for school, he would be sobbing with desire to go to school too. The parents began debating how to get him ready for school in their own room. He isn’t old enough to attend kindergarten, much less nursery school, but because of his intelligence and what the neighborhood are saying, “Please take this bright boy to school,” which validates what the parents have been talking about privately—that is, the young boy’s extraordinary uniqueness. They took the youngster to school without any additional delay because it is uncommon for a child to not cry on their first day due to a variety of factors, including novel structures, changes in the surroundings, and strange atmosphere. On his first day of school, this boy showed no signs of missing his home; in contrast to other children who often weep and act out on their first day of school, the young boy never did; instead, he was so full of energy and peaceful. He connected with the teacher and other students as though he had known them for a longer period of time, which made the teacher adore and respect him even more. The boy’s parents had no idea that he would struggle in math. Shortly after moving from nursery to first grade, the youngster began to struggle in mathematics. He found other courses to be rather engaging and easy, but math always seemed to be tough for him. It is a huge issue that is accompanied by anxiety, trembling, and confusion. Nonetheless, this young child’s situation and that of other pupils who struggle with math are not helped by the conventional African educational system. The subject Math is pictured alongside with a cane meaning Math teacher always brings in cane to class whenever he’s coming to tutor the students. If a student forgets a calculation or gives an incorrect answer, they will be seriously whipped and give them a harsh spanking. This led to a math phobia, with 60% of people today experiencing arithmetic difficulties, primarily in Africa, attributing their problems to the unpleasant tutors and teachers’ attitudes toward the tough subject. Additionally, the child began to acquire a phobia of math during this time, to the point where his system becomes chaotic and his readiness to learn drops to zero anytime, he sees a number. There were certain signs, such as delayed time identification I mean, he has trouble telling what the clock indicates; it took him a while to realize what time it is. For the child, anything related to numbers develops into a severe fear. The parent believed that they had to step in and help the child grasp math by sitting with him. They tried this, but it ended in failure. Additionally, the father used to believe that his child was absent minded. At one point, he even began teaching him numbers using a cane to help him focus. Little did they know that the root cause of all of these problems was a learning difficulty known as dyscalculia.

His brothers have always been a great helper and rescuer when it comes to home lessons. His two brothers are both excellent math students, and they never move far from the area where their brother is receiving arithmetic instruction. Their goal is to whisper and offer any responses to the questions posed, when their brother is asked a question that he is unable to answer, they will answer it for him by whispering the answer behind the teacher’s back, keeping the teacher in the dark. His brothers’ tremendous assistance and support lessen the cane stroke that. The boy would never want to have home lesson without his brothers. Anytime Math lessons want to take place the boy will always want them to be around him because he so well trusts their strategic positioning telling him the answers, they always find a good position and corner around where they can whisper the answer to him so quickly. They siblings have taken it as a great job too, they aren’t far away from where the lesson will take place so as to tell their brother the answers to any questions that will be asked , the presence of the siblings always relives the anxiety and fear of this boy from being beaten. The boy would never want to have home lessons without them. Whenever math lessons want to take place, he will always want them to be around him because he so well trusts their strategic positioning in telling him the answers; they always find a good position and corner around where they can whisper the answer to him so quickly. At this junction let me tell you that the young boy in this story is the writer of this article, I faced a lot of childhood trauma and difficulty in arithmetic just  because the educational system doesn’t understand a peculiarity in a condition called dyscalculia and there’s no enough knowledge from parents , teachers and the involved stakeholders about dyscalculia as at the time. No one knows how to handle a child that is gifted and have such a learning difficulty. My knowledge about the condition has helped a quite number of students, parent in Africa most especially in Nigeria just because I had a first-hand experience of the condition and I know how to perfectly manage it. I think it’s not much to say I make myself as a sacrifice to help others. Let us conclude the story of how I thrive despite the difficulty in Math co-occur with my gifted abilities.

So, whenever my siblings are not around during the home tutorial, mathematic will be tough that day and the beating of that day will be enormous and triple because no one is around to provide the answer. The most shocking thing is whenever it comes to other subjects, I am always an “A” student. This has been the dilemma of a young gifted boy who had a difficult in math alongside his giftedness, the climax of it all is that when I got to high school, the challenges were aggravated to the extent that it becomes so unbearable, the school system wasn’t helping matters too, they have a trend then and that’s the trend of beating unserious students in quote, I mean math teacher will beat students who perform below average mercilessly when I mean mercilessly I mean it, the education system then absorbed this policy of beating not knowing they are not helping at all, this policy scared a quite number of students who had deficiency in math even till date.

In addition, the grand finale of the cinematic beating was during the final examination when distribution of scripts will be delivered to students, Pupils will be judged based on their scores, the teacher will sternly instruct everyone to be on a straight line and starts flogging 60% of the entire class just because they’ve failed the subject Mathematics. The question is will the beating solve the dyscalculia? No, but he made it worse and a quite number of students develop phobia, anxiety, and even lose interest in Math the more.  That has been how most people were trained in Africa as Mathematics subject is concerned. If a poll or survey was to be conducted majority of potential students’ loose interest in math early just because of the high level of negative reinforcement that was attached to it, such as: excessive beating, scaring students with cane while coming to class and other related factors.

At the end of the day, I scale through just because I am resilient and I focus more on the area of my strength and I am thriving in my chosen field till date but other students might be so unlucky to scale through while majority will end up patching things up. The greatest challenge then was that the system never had a term called learning disabilities in their dictionary. This approach has done more harm than good to potential students who ordinarily needs some guidance, love, and gentle correction in knowing Arithmetic but harsh wins the game approach has damaged a quite number of young talented and gifted students who only have deficiency in math and not in other subjects. Where should we also put the educational system that made math subject a prerequisite for the next phase of academic journey most especially in our universities now a days. Will students with dyscalculia have hope with these general norms? I hope the system can be fixed in accommodating the peculiarities of the neurominorities, and neuromajorites.

APPROPRIATE STRATEGIES IN SUPPORTING GIFTED LEARNERS WITH DYSCALCULIA

Differentiated education:

 Teachers should use tactics for differentiated education, which entail adapting their methods to meet the various learning needs of their pupils. This could involve making arithmetic ideas more approachable for bright kids who struggle with dyscalculia through the use of visual aids, practical exercises, and technology-based therapies. A distinctively differentiated math education that uses technology and multimodal methods to customize arithmetic instruction to each student’s requirements.

Utilize A Strength-Based Strategy:

Enhancing and growing the student’s strengths in other domains can increase self-assurance and drive. Math can become less scary and more approachable by being incorporated into science projects or art projects, for instance. Using a play-based approach to instruction can also be very beneficial to students. It can help them acquire concepts of difficulty through play, which greatly increases motivation and engagement.

Assessment and Comprehensive Evaluation:

The initial stage involves accurately determining whether giftedness and dyscalculia coexist. Thorough psychoeducational evaluations can assist in the diagnosis of dyscalculia by identifying particular problem areas and guiding focused therapy.

Parental Involvement:

Because some parents will be harsh with a child when it comes to arithmetic, especially at the child’s immature age, parents of gifted children with dyscalculia should exercise additional patient and caution when working with them. I still clearly recall my brothers being my rescuer whenever my dad was teaching me math. They would always whisper the solution to me behind my father’s back to spare me from being scolded for a basic math problem that I was unable to solve. However, in identifying and closing the achievement gap, parents are essential, and they should be aware about dyscalculia by taking an active role in their kid’s education, speak up in favor of the resources and assistance their child needs, and gently handle dyscalculia without negative reinforcement, instead math tutoring should be implemented.

Specialized Individualized Education Plans (IEPs):

 It is imperative that each student have a specific IEP that is based on their individual strengths and shortcomings. This arrangement should cover allowances like extra time for math exams, calculator use, and other ways to show that you understand mathematics.

Strong Support System:

There’s high need of parent-teacher collaboration by making room for peer support groups, counseling programs, and honest communication between parents and teachers, these can all assist students in better navigating the obstacles they face in school. Therefore, offering emotional, physical, psychological, and academic assistance are essential. Neurodiverse students ought to have a lot of time accommodations, such extra time, or the use of calculator in assisting their knowledge in completing arithmetic calculations.

Flexibility in learning grouping:

 Assign students to groups according to their skills and needs, which enables specialized instruction and differentiation. Learning centers ought to be included as well. Create learning centers that accommodate a range of learning capacities and styles, giving students the freedom to choose how they want to study. Technology integration for education needs to be implemented. Utilize technology to create dynamic and captivating learning experiences, such as math software and applications.

Collaborating with specialized educators:

 It is important to work with specialists like gifted education specialists, neurominority advocates, special educators, and other professionals to create an inclusive community culture that will support and nurture a child’s academic, emotional, intellectual, and physical needs for them to flourish rather than perform below expectations. Participation in a communal culture that addresses dyscalculia as well as giftedness to support gifted children who may have one or more comorbidities of which dyscalculia might be one.

Relevance to culture and neuroscience-based tactics:

To boost motivation and engagement, provide culturally appropriate arithmetic examples and situations. You should also employ techniques based on brain research, such as enhancing math learning through movement and exercise.

Peer mentoring:

 This will allow for the freedom of the child; the child will feel free to interact with other students in a positive way without feeling threatened or afraid. It is advisable to link up students with stronger math skills with those who are weaker to create possibilities for mentoring and support. Resources for virtual learning could help with this as well, students with dyscalculia can benefit from extra support and practice through virtual learning, which makes use of online resources like Universal Design for Learning (UDL). By incorporating UDL principles, all students can have different avenues for representation, expression, and interaction.

Conclusion

The paradox of giftedness and dyscalculia shows the contradiction between dyscalculia and giftedness by emphasizing on the complexity of learning and the demand for tailored assistance. There is urgent need for a paradigm shifts just to put the peculiar nature of any students in this continuum in proper consideration and check. Recognizing and addressing this co-occurrence will make any child is battling with dyscalculia and this will allow for maximization of the full potential of gifted individual with dyscalculia by bridging the achievement gap. The educational system should not go untouched some reformation, readjustment should be done to foster more inclusive and supportive educational environment that values diverse abilities.

References:

Assouline, S. G., & Lupkowski-Shoplik, A. (2012). The impact of giftedness on math achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104(2), 394-404.

Bryant, D. P., Bryant, B. R., & Porterfield, J. (2017). Mathematics interventions for students with learning disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, 40(2), 107-118.

Devine, A., Soltesz, F., & Szucs, D. (2018). Developmental dyscalculia: A review of the literature. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 59(3), 257-269.

Hall, J. (2015). Differentiated instruction for students with dyscalculia. Teaching Exceptional Children, 47(6), 432-438.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). (2004). 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq.

Lerner, J. (2013). Learning disabilities and related disorders: Characteristics and strategies. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Silverman, L. K. (2013). Giftedness and gifted education: An overview. In J. A.There was a problem generating a response. Please try again later.

Trott, M. (2017). Dyscalculia and giftedness: A case study. Gifted and Talented International, 32(1), 35-44.