Dyscalculia at work
Dyscalculia can affect the way you process numbers and maths in the workplace, as well as other areas of your work-study and everyday life. A diagnosis can provide clarity, and a workplace needs assessment can provide practical solutionsand potential reasonable adjustments to help you thrive. If you’re looking for assessments or tests for dyscalculia, explore some common questions.
Needs assessments
If you know or believe you have dyscalculia, our one-to-one online needs assessments aim to understand how you currently learn and work, then create personalised strategies and recommend assistive technologies that will help you excel in the workplace.
Diagnostic assessment
Our diagnostic dyscalculia assessment can provide you with a clear and concise diagnostic report. We offer in-person or remote video assessments – appointments available within the next two weeks.
What is dyscalculia?
Dyscalculia is a specific learning difficulty (SpLD) caused by a neurological difference, meaning a difference in the way the brain works between dyscalculic people and non-dyscalculic people. Dyscalculia is a specific and significant difficulty in processing numbers and maths. It is noticeably different to general challenges with numbers and maths that can be experienced by the wider population, as well as other neurodivergent people.
Around 6% of the population are estimated to be dyscalculic, often experiencing severe difficulty with:
- Counting skills
- Magnitude processing (estimating how many items you can see)
- Arithmetic (adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing)
- Transcoding number words (such as writing down a number someone has said to you)
- Digits and quantities
- Spatial number representation (interpreting linear scales like timelines or graphs)
- Working memory
- Attention
Not all dyscalculic people will experience all of these things, all of the time, because we all have individual differences which impact the ways our brains work. Many dyscalculic people develop their own coping strategies, which can mask these difficulties at work, in their learning or in their social lives.
We don’t have as much research about dyscalculia as we do about dyslexia, but studies have observed that dyscalculic people are more likely to have one or more other neurodevelopmental conditions like ADHD or dyslexia. There is also research to suggest that there are dyscalculia subtypes with more or less severe symptoms.
What we can say confidently is that with the right strategies and support, dyscalculic individuals can work successfully with numbers and maths.
Dyscalculia in the workplace
Specific learning difficulties such as dyscalculia are considered a disability under the Equality Act 2010. Putting in place reasonable adjustments and support for employees with dyscalculia is essential to ensure you meet your legal requirements as an employer, but also offers a strategic opportunity to increase employee productivity, retention and wellbeing.
We offer guidance for organisations on:
- Reasonable adjustments for employees with dyscalculia
- Communication & disclosure
- Strategic advice and inclusion audits
- Training across the organisation
Our expert-led services take the pressure off managers and HR, whilst meeting legal obligations and improving retention, wellbeing and performance
How is dyscalculia in the workplace covered by the Equality Act 2010?
A diagnosis of dyscalculia is recognised as a disability under the Equality Act 2010, and as such, employees with dyscalculia have rights and protections in the workplace. Under the Equality Act 2010, employers are under a legal obligation to make reasonable adjustments and to not discriminate against employees with dyscalculia.
How can I support dyscalculia in the workplace?
Employers can offer diagnostic assessments, workplace needs assessments and coaching for employees with dyscalculia.
- A diagnostic assessment will assess if there is a diagnosis of dyscalculia.
- A workplace needs assessment will explore potential reasonable adjustments to support an employee with dyscalculia.
- Follow-on coaching can help to embed the strategies and recommendations discussed in the workplace needs assessment.
As an employer, you don’t need to offer the full suite of services, and our workplace needs assessments can be offered with or without a diagnosis of dyscalculia. The solutions can be tailored to you and your teams, and allow your employees with dyscalculia to feel supported with practical, reasonable adjustments to help them overcome any barriers they may experience associated with dyscalculia in the workplace.
What are dyscalculia workplace needs assessments?
Workplace needs assessments explore how your employees’ dyscalculia is impacting them at work, and what potential reasonable adjustments could be put in place to help them overcome any barriers they experience as a result of dyscalculia in the workplace.
What happens in a dyscalculia workplace needs assessment?
Everyone with dyscalculia is an individual, and therefore, how they experience their dyscalculia in the workplace differs, but common areas that are explored in a workplace needs assessment for dyscalculia are:
- Reading and research – how well can they interpret mathematical symbols or differentiate letters, words and punctuation marks?
- Writing and composition – how well can they hold information in your memory long enough to complete sums or formulae?
- Meetings, presentations and note-taking – how quickly do they process information in meetings or presentations?
- Time management and organisation – how often do they miss deadlines or appointments because they have trouble comparing durations or allocating time?
- Environment – how easy do they find staying focused in cluttered or distracting environments?
- Wellbeing – how does their dyscalculia affect their mood and self-esteem?
- Potential reasonable adjustments – what changes to the way they work or learn, like assistive apps or software for maths, would help them in their day-to-day activities?
Following the workplace needs assessment, you’ll receive a bespoke report with practical, personalised strategies that can be put in place as potential reasonable adjustments to help support your employee with dyscalculia in the workplace.
How much do workplace needs assessments cost?
Workplace needs assessments and the recommendations that follow them do not have to be expensive. We can recommend free or low-cost strategies and easy-to-implement technologies, including AI and simple software. 5 of the 6 most common reasonable adjustments are free, and there is an opportunity for employers to state in advance where there are adjustments they would not consider reasonable (such as remote working), or if there are budgetary constraints to consider.
Please get in touch for pricing and availability.
Where can I get advice and support?
If you’re looking to support dyscalculia in the workplace, other types of neurodivergence or mental health conditions, then Aim Forward can help.
Whether you’re looking for on-off support for an employee with dyscalculia in the workplace, or a broader package of consultancy and support across your organisation, we can help with workplace needs assessments, diagnosis, consultancy, training, and coaching. Regardless of the size of your business, we’re ready to help.
Please email [email protected] to see how Aim Forward can help support dyscalculia and neurodivergence in the workplace.
Dyscalculia and diagnosis
How is dyscalculia assessed?
During a diagnostic assessment for dyscalculia, you will be asked to complete several tasks. These are not pass or fail tests – they are designed to highlight indicators of a specific learning difficulty (SpLD), your cognitive profile and your strengths and weaknesses.
The following areas will be explored in tests for dyscalculia diagnosis:
- Maths skills
- Language and practical tasks
- Memory
- How long it takes you to process information
- Reading ability
- Writing and spelling skills
The diagnostic assessment also involves a background information questionnaire, which you complete before the diagnostic assessment. This provides the assessor with information about your educational background, medical history and any previous assessments.
The diagnostic assessment for dyscalculia will be provided by a qualified assessor, who is either an educational psychologist registered with the HCPC or a specialist assessor with an Assessment Practising Certificate.
How can I get tested for dyscalculia?
In the UK, dyscalculia is not a medical diagnosis. It is not assessed by medical professionals, but by educational psychologists registered with the HCPC or specialist assessors with an assessment practising certificate.
In addition to understanding your educational background, medical history and any previous assessments, the assessor would undertake a number of tests to understand your cognitive profile and any traits of dyscalculia.
Please get in touch for pricing and availability.
What are the benefits of a dyscalculia assessment?
Identifying yourself as being neurodivergent does not require a diagnosis and is supported by many in the neurodivergent community. Having said this, some people feel that they would benefit from having specific terms for their experiences, to discuss reasonable adjustments for dyscalculia in the workplace, and to access support schemes such as Access to Work and Disabled Students’ Allowance.
What happens during a dyscalculia assessment?
During a diagnostic assessment for dyscalculia, the assessor will talk with you about your background, but they will also ask you to complete tasks to assess your strengths and weaknesses in different areas such as:
- Maths skills
- Language and practical tasks
- Memory
- How long it takes you to process information
- Reading ability
- Writing and spelling skills
These tasks are not pass or fail – they are designed to highlight indicators of dyscalculia, your cognitive profile and your strengths and weaknesses.
What is the difference between a screener, dyscalculia testing and dyscalculia assessments?
A screener is a checklist or questionnaire that you complete yourself, usually online. It is designed to indicate whether personal difficulties or traits may be the result of a neurological difference like dyscalculia. The results do not form a diagnosis; they are only indicative. There are many different types of screening tests, and they can be a useful place to start when you are in the early stages of exploring your neurodivergence, but they cannot give you a diagnosis. They only offer limited insight into your experiences, and they are not always considered accurate.
You may also have heard about dyscalculia testing or dyscalculia assessments: these refer to the same process, which is called a diagnostic assessment. They are provided by a qualified assessor, who is either an educational psychologist registered with the HCPC or a specialist teacher with an Assessment Practising Certificate. A dyscalculia diagnosis can provide you with more insight into dyscalculia, your cognitive profile. Your assessor may also identify traits of other specific learning difficulties (SpLDs) such as dyslexia or ADHD if they are present in your cognitive profile, and discuss with you the potential for additional diagnostic testing.
Getting support for dyscalculia
What support can I get for dyscalculia?
Whether you choose to pursue a diagnosis of dyscalculia or not, you can gain insight into your neurodivergence with Aim Forward through a workplace needs assessment. In a workplace needs assessment, you will work with an experienced assessor to understand how your dyscalculia is impacting you in the workplace, your studies or everyday life.
Together, you will create personalised strategies and identify straightforward suggestions for potential reasonable adjustments that will make a difference to your dyscalculia in the workplace.
Many people come to us thinking they want a diagnosis, but often what makes the biggest difference to their everyday lives are personalised solutions and strategies that they can put into action.
Choosing whether or not to pursue a diagnosis is a personal choice. But if you want to find solutions to support your dyscalculia in the workplace, we created our workplace needs assessments, based on 10+ years of experience in neurodivergence and mental health conditions.
What is a workplace needs assessment for dyscalculia?
Workplace needs assessments explore how your dyscalculia is impacting you at work, and what potential reasonable adjustments could be put in place to help you excel in your role. Each assessment is unique to the individual, but common challenges we see with dyscalculia are:
- Reading and research – how well can you interpret mathematical symbols or differentiate letters, words and punctuation marks?
- Writing and composition – how well can you hold information in your memory long enough to complete sums or formulae?
- Meetings, presentations and note-taking – how quickly do you process information in meetings or presentations?
- Time management and organisation – how often do you find yourself missing deadlines or appointments because you have trouble comparing durations or allocating time?
- Revision and exam preparation – how well can you hold and retain information for future use?
- Environment – how easy do you find staying focused in cluttered or distracting environments?
- Wellbeing – how does your dyscalculia affect your mood and self-esteem?
- Potential reasonable adjustments – what changes to the way you work or learn, like assistive apps or software for maths, would help you in your day-to-day activities?
Following the workplace needs assessment, you’ll receive a bespoke report with practical, personalised strategies that can be put in place as potential reasonable adjustments to help you and your employer navigate effective dyscalculia support in the workplace.
What strategies might a workplace needs assessment for dyscalculia explore?
The workplace needs assessment is personalised to you, but it could explore AI & assistive technology that could support you, like:
- Wellbeing and mental health software or apps – setting goals and supporting achieving them in a busy daily schedule
- Text-to-speech software – reading content as you hear it spoken to you can help process and retain information
- Speech-to-text software – letting your ideas flow into words on a page, without worrying about typing or spelling
- Mind mapping software – capturing your ideas quickly, while the software structures documents for you in programmes like Word or PowerPoint to avoid “blank page fear” and procrastination
- Spell checking software – less time worrying about red lines and more time on content with sophisticated spell checks
- Grammar checkers – focusing on your content, while the software ensures consistency and professionalism in the text
- Note-taking software and apps – reducing the impact of inattention or distractions in meetings with automatic note-taking
After your needs assessment, Aim Forward can provide coaching with your assessor to support you in building lasting habits in the workplace. The ultimate aim of our workplace needs assessments is to provide effective support for dyscalculia in the workplace, empowering you with knowledge about your neurodivergence and the adjustments that will work for you, so that you can excel in your role.
What are the benefits of a workplace needs assessment for dyscalculia?
Understanding how you work best and having personalised strategies and reasonable adjustments to support dyscalculia in the workplace can have a lasting, positive impact on your work life and productivity, as well as equip your colleagues around you to know how best to support you.
For over 10+ years, we have seen workplace needs assessments transform the way dyscalculic people can excel in their role, and clients have reported increased:
- Wellbeing
- Productivity
- Career opportunities
- Grades
Our workplace needs assessors hold a variety of disability-specific qualifications, alongside decades of experience working with neurodivergence, mental health conditions and other disabilities, including lived experience. This puts us in a unique position to provide workplace needs assessments that recognise co-occurring conditions (where you experience more than one condition at the same time). Over 20% of our needs assessment clients have two or more formally diagnosed conditions, but many more experience undiagnosed traits or symptoms. For example, you may have a diagnosis of dyscalculia, but also be experiencing symptoms of dyslexia or anxiety. Our workplace needs assessments focus solely on you and your unique needs.
What is it like to have a dyscalculia assessment with Aim Forward?
If you would like a personal perspective on what it’s like to work with us, some of our clients kindly agreed to share their experiences: you can read them here.
FAQs
Have more questions about tests for dyscalculia? Ready to start shaping your future? Our friendly support team is here to help you.
The assessment process was a great experience. My assessor really cared about finding the right solutions and strategies for me. We looked at technology and software to help my Maths, but also for reading, writing and time management. Highly recommended!
How do I know if an employee is dyscalculic?
What support do you offer for dyscalculia?
We offer diagnostic assessments, workplace needs assessments and coaching for dyscalculia.
- A diagnostic assessment will assess if there is a diagnosis of dyscalculia.
- A workplace needs assessment will explore potential reasonable adjustments to support dyscalculia in the workplace.
- Follow-up coaching can help to embed the strategies discussed in the workplace needs assessment and create daily habits.
You don’t need to put everything in place, and our workplace needs assessments can be offered with or without a diagnosis of dyscalculia. We ensure individuals feel supported with tailored solutions and practical, reasonable adjustments to help them excel in the workplace.