What to Do When Your Child With ADHD Struggles with Math

While not all children with ADHD struggle with math, many do, either due to core symptoms of ADHD or due to underlying dyscalculia.

Core symptoms of ADHD can also cause problems for children learning math.  For example, difficulties with focus can cause children to become distracted by illustrations on a page, or to lose track of complex calculations or multi-step problems.  Or a child can become overwhelmed by a paper containing several math problems.

 ADHD can cause problems with learning math due to difficulties with certain executive skills crucial for doing math easily.  For example, working memory deficits can make it difficult for a child to readily recall math facts, even when they have learned, understood, and memorized them in the past.

Thankfully, there are some strategies that can be used to help a child who is having difficulty with math due to ADHD.

1)  Keep the page simple.  Teach your child to cover up all but the problem they are working on.  Sticky notes or index cards work well for this purpose.

2)  Take it one step at a time.  Review the steps to solving the problem.  Then, coach your child through multistep problems and calculations with questions like, "Ok, so what's the next step?"

3)  Allow the use of memory aids if the situation is not specifically learning/reviewing math facts.  Memory aids may include tables or a calculator.  If your child needs extra help learning their math facts, consider songs, flash cards, drill games, or computer games to drill the facts on a daily or nearly daily basis until they know them well.

4)  Use manipulatives to illustrate math concepts.  Children with ADHD often do better if they can concretely see what is going on in a math problem.  Unifix cubes, Cuisinaire rods, an AL  abacus, or ordinary countable objects such as coins, beans, or bottle caps can help your child visualize a calculation and also remind them that they are supposed to be doing math when their mind wanders.  Number lines can also be helpful.  Using real life situations to measure can also help a child grasp difficult things such as distance and time.

5)  Use graph paper to keep numbers lined up.  Particularly for problems involving place value, graph paper can help your student to focus in on the right numbers at the right time.  If a problem is written horizontally at first, encourage them to rewrite or at least visualize it vertically.

However, sometimes even when a student's ADHD core symptoms are well controlled, he or she may continue to struggle with math.  About 20% of students with ADHD also have a math  learning disorder, dyscalculia.  Unlike ADHD, dyscalculia does not respond to medication and is addressed solely with educational therapy.  Some additional strategies that can help students with dyscalculia include:

1)  Allowing use of manipulatives and fingers for counting for longer than normal.
2)  Using diagrams to illustrate math concepts and word problems.
3)  Using mnemonics for the steps of different kinds of math problems, or other concepts, like the order of calculations.


Reference:
"Dyscalculia." Learning Disabilities Association of America. Learning Disabilities Association of America, 2015. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.

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