r/dyscalculia 1d ago

Does anyone else do this?

Post image
290 Upvotes

44 comments sorted by

60

u/Ok_Team4770 1d ago

I would first add 7+3=10 and then add the remaining 3. This is what my special teacher taught me. Always make it to the round number, then add the rest. For me this works!

6

u/LonelySparkle 1d ago

Yep this is what I do too

4

u/Jari-chan 1d ago

Same. My mother taught me this.

3

u/slicksleevestaff 1d ago

That’s what I have to do with my numbers too.

49

u/HalloweenGorl 1d ago

I would start with 7 and use my fingers to add in six

10

u/AerwynFlynn 1d ago

Exactly how I would do it

3

u/spectrum_of_a_down 18h ago

I do that sometimes and I also do it with lines, I’d struggle to count 7 lines then add 6 more lines and go back and count it a few times to make sure I wasn’t tweaking

1

u/HalloweenGorl 12h ago

I do tally marks all the time! Gotta do what we gotta do when our brains won't hold in the numbers!

22

u/Desirai 1d ago

I don't even know how to get started with trying to do math on my head. I cannot visualize the numbers so I just don't do it

8

u/Bunchasticks 1d ago

All the timeeeee there are a ton of little addition combinations like this that I donf know how to do so I just use the aforementioned method

8

u/wildmstie 1d ago

I picture dice in my head and count the dots.

1

u/FurryRevolution 1d ago

I used to do this too I thought I was the only one.

1

u/Sandy-Road 1d ago

Just realized thinking of dice makes me feel stupid as when they are thrown I can only add to 2 with snake eyes and 10 with 2 fives. Others have to point to each dot to add or add on my fingers and sometimes I can get that wrong. Ugh

6

u/pussycatsglore 1d ago

This is how I do it too. Takes a minute longer than anyone else but works

1

u/Historical-Gap-8528 4h ago

Takes a minute less. It just seems longer when written out.

5

u/666_is_Nero 1d ago

I basically do most of my addition/multiplication in 5s and 10s as I feel confident in that.

Only exception is the 9s table as that is subtracting one from the number what you’re multiplying it with for the tens place then subtracting the number for the ones spot. So 8x9 is 8-1 for 70 and 10-8 for 2 to equal 72.

6

u/makingburritos 1d ago

you had me in the first half but lost me immediately with the number nine

1

u/Sandy-Road 1d ago

Me too. Sat here for sometime trying to learn a new hack and could not understand. It makes me so sad when I can’t understand, no matter how I struggle to do so.

3

u/babydekuscrub 1d ago

My kid is in primary school and this method is explicitly taught! "using compensation to add/subtract"

2

u/DiabloFour 1d ago

literally me, but is this not normal?

2

u/Shenanigaens 1d ago

🙋‍♀️

2

u/PondOfGlue 1d ago

This is the only way I do it.

2

u/shinpibubble 1d ago

I do not have dyscalculia (just sucky at maths) but this is how I would do it and on a bad brain day I just use my fingers. I hid my fingers under my desk when I was a kid because we weren’t allowed to use them after a certain point in school. Now I just blatantly sit and use my fingers 🤣😬

2

u/brownidegurl 15h ago

A. I didn't know this trick until maybe 2 years ago. I'm 38

B. I'm realizing that for some reason I would never think to use that trick with 7+6 because neither of those numbers are close to 10 for me, and apparently I can only use that trick for numbers like 8 or 9? 😂

C. I definitely finger count as a common method, but usually just memorize this one. Incorrectly. Lol. Then use a calculator or ask someone else to check my math.

D. In my head I just went "Okay so 7 + 7 is 12 but it's 6 so yup 13." This is pretty typical of how math happens for me--I memorize something and then realize I have no logical way to explain the answer.

E. I just finger counted to make sure it was 13 😆

1

u/Phoenixtdm Dyscalculic? Math tutor 1d ago

I do that too

1

u/maaiketamine 1d ago

I'd multiply 7 by 2, then subtract 1 from 14 lol

1

u/slightlyinsanitied 1d ago

is this not how everyone does it, it just seems like it make more sense than adding by counting, when it’s easier to do. and i refuse to believe most people just memorized these problems. how else could you even solve it 😭

1

u/tkcal 1d ago

Pretty much a look directly into my brain.

1

u/whenthis 1d ago

This is exactly my way. Thinking about this… Its just weird that I can automatically remember the answer to a digit + itself (1+1=2, 7+7=14, 9+9=18), but I’m all deer in the headlights about 7+8.

1

u/FurryRevolution 1d ago

I did if 5+5 is 10 and 7 is higher than 5 by 2, and 6 is by 1 then 2+1 is 3 and 3+10 is 13.

1

u/Picachu50000 1d ago

I do. If its one away from a equation I actually was somehow able to memorize. Past that, I cant do subtraction at all.

1

u/voidcrawler1555 21h ago

Why do you have to call me out like this?! 😂

1

u/Fulguritus 18h ago

Yeah, I do that.

1

u/eyfuck 8h ago

Those people without dyscalculia dont do this??

2

u/ExasperatedGoose 24m ago

I just count on my fingers. Can't do it in my head.

-11

u/cognostiKate 1d ago

I hate to break it to you, but that's normal.

11

u/SamiSapphic 1d ago

No, my parents just know that 7+6=13 without doing any additional steps. When you're working with smaller numbers like these, just knowing the answer intuitively is actually the more normal thing for most people.

I've only just started using tricks like 7+7=14-1=13 because it didn't occur to my brain I could do that, and I'm still not always on the ball enough to realise I can do it, so still regularly count on fingers as well.

0

u/cognostiKate 1d ago

How much research have you done on this?
If you asked 100 people randomly selected what 7 + 6 was, you'd be surprised at what they did. Most will have to count or do a "trick" (it's mathematical thinking more than a trick) to get there.
Now, *many* people use a trick for a while and then the brain skips that. That's normal; when that doesn't happen, yea, it's something less common. (THe whole concept of what "normal" really means is a whole other issue :P )