From Roger Silvester
Dyslexia has become accepted as a condition that afflicts some people and a
lot has been written about it. However, I have neither read nor heard anything
about a similar condition, which I call dysnumeracy, that afflicts me
mildly.
If told how many people live in a town, within seconds I will not only have
forgotten the number, but also be unable to recall if it was a number in the
thousands, ten thousands or hundred thousands. If I do remember a number, I have
a tendency to transpose the digits.
For example, I have lived in this area for almost thirty years and know that
my telephone code contains the digits 0,1,2,3 and 4 and that the first three are
013, but if asked for the code, I am as likely to quote 01324 as 01342 and
really not know which is right.
I am useless at mental arithmetic, especially if being watched, when I lose
all confidence in the possible accuracy of my answer. I failed GCE maths twice
because it was about numbers and didn’t mean anything to me. However, I passed
HNC maths with distinction, possibly because we used slide rules in those days
and the numbers were represented by lengths on the scales.
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I qualified as a Chartered Engineer and know my IQ to be higher than average
so I don’t think that I am just plain stupid.
Are there people with severe dysnumeracy who, for example, are unable to read
a string of digits as a number? Is dysnumeracy a recognised condition?
Lingfield, Surrey
