"I was quite ashamed to tell people about it”
Dyscalculia: The complex maths learning disability that falls under the radar
From the age of six, Mia Bothwick had found herself behind in maths. She struggled with things from times tables to adding up.
After a teacher expressed concern about this to her mum, they discovered a condition called dyscalculia. At the time Mia was told that this wasn’t very common and she was the only person at the school who had this.
“A lot of teachers didn’t really know what it was until my mum brought in stacks of academic papers explaining it,” Mia says.
"I didn't get a lot of help at school because no one really knew about dyscalculia."
Mia was ten-years-old before she was formally diagnosed with dyscalculia. “I was quite relieved actually because I knew I had it but to have a diagnosis was good because we knew what it was and we could get some help.
“But getting help wasn’t the case really."
Mia felt began to feel very self conscious at school about her struggles with maths. "I was quite ashamed to tell people about it because I think there was this thing of - she might be using that as an excuse to not do maths.”
Dyscalculia is a specific learning disability that makes maths difficult to learn, understand and use. People with dyscalculia often struggle to grasp number concepts and solve maths problems.
Dyscalculia differs from other maths learning difficulties because of the severity of difficulty when it comes to understanding numbers and quantities.
New guidance from the Specific Learning Disability Assessment Standards Committee (2025) says difficulty to comprehend numerical information is the most commonly observed cognitive impairment in dyscalculia.
The Dyscalculia Network set up in 2019. This non-profit organisation offers both educational and workplace support as well as advocacy for people with dyscalculia.
Co-founder of the network and maths teacher, Rob Jennings, says: “There are loads of really good places to go for information on other neurodiversities but there's really nothing for maths. It’s almost like we take it for granted that being bad at maths is ok and kind of goes under the radar."
According to The Dyscalculia Network, research on the condition is around 20 years behind research on dyslexia.
With Dyscalculia Awareness taking place on 3 March, the network has been working to raise awareness of the condition.
Co-founder of the network and maths teacher, Cat Eadle, says: We’re raising the voices of people with dyscalculia and really trying to amplify the message what is dyscalculia, how can people with dyscalculia be best supported and what can we do to help that?”
Mia, who has struggled with dyscalculia since being at primary school, discovered The Dyscalculia Network through her stage show ‘I don’t have a maths GCSE’. The musical comedy focuses on her journey living with dyscalculia from school to adulthood.
“Making that show is really helpful to me because I guess it sort of heals my inner child in a way because I'm talking about something I’ve avoided my whole life,” Mia says.
She spoke about the fact that not many people are aware of dyscalculia when she is booking venues with many people learning about it from watching the show.
“It’s cool that people are learning about it through me but I feel like that shouldn’t be the case.”
Now, 27, Mia also has her own Instagram account dedicated to her experience with dyscalculia called ‘Dyscalculia Diaries’.
“I thought that if I made my own Instagram account then people could find it and hopefully see how I'm learning to live with dyscalculia and feel like they’re being heard.”
Mia has already received multiple messages from her followers asking for advice.
“It's really nice that they’re coming to me but it's just sad because I’ve had like a 15-year-old come to me saying their GCSE’s are coming up and they have no extra time which is exactly what I went through," Mia says.
“You have to fight for that support and unfortunately there is only so much you can do until schools start listening.”
At school, Peter Cherry was extremely gifted when it came to reading and writing but found himself doing extra maths classes in the special educational needs centre. Peter has never been able to pass a maths GCSE despite three attempts.
“I always struggled with maths and it was obvious for a long time that it was more than just finding it challenging and there was a bigger problem there,” Peter says.
"The real effect for me on dyscalculia was actually a few years ago when I lost my job during the pandemic and was looking for other jobs," Peter says.
"Around that time I realised the importance of maths GCSEs and it felt like I needed to retrain."
Peter found it "almost impossible" to get a job interview and consequently became very depressed and unhappy.
He then discovered The Dyscalculia Network online and had a Zoom call with someone from the network which he described as "completely life changing because all of a sudden they understood everything."
Peter is now in a senior position at as current job as an assistant director and is able to ask for support with this increased responsibility when it comes to numerical tasks such as handling invoices.
A lot of support surrounding dyscalculia focuses on multi-sensory work and visual reinforcements to aid understanding.
Rob Jennings from The Dyscalculia Network says: "The natural response is to try and help them work harder but in reality, they could be working twice as hard already just to keep up."
"We're almost setting them up for failure."
Whilst awareness of dyscalculia is increasing, many people have to resort to getting a private diagnosis from a specialist such as an educational psychologist.
Rob said that this assessment and diagnosis is "only half the battle". Although The Dyscalculia Network is working to change this by continuing to raise awareness of the condition and provide the support that is often missing in schools and workplaces.
“Our passion lies in helping people that really struggle with maths,” says Rob.
For more information about dyscalculia and maths learning difficulties: Maths Difficulties and Dyscalculia Guidance March 25
You can access The Dyscalculia Network for further support and resources here: Dyscalculia Network | Leading Support Network for Dyscalculia
Image credit: Unsplash
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