Key Findings

The research revealed a range of concerning findings including: 

• The experience of school was described as exclusionary leading to feelings of abandonment.
• Adults continued to experience low confidence, and self-concept in adult life.
• Workplaces catered very little to the needs of dyscalculic employees.
• The participants stressed the importance of support systems and high-quality numeracy tuition.
• Adults were vigilant when it came to supporting others with similar challenges.

The findings of this study suggest that adults with dyscalculia are vulnerable to poorer life outcomes. Although dyscalculia is specific to number, societal attitudes view mathematical difficulty as indicative of broader difficulties. Coupled with a school system that magnifies this societal effect, these individuals face significant challenges to their sense of self, and to their progress through education and employment.

Talking to adults with dyscalculia about their life experiences reveals the depth of the challenges they face, the impact it has on their self-esteem, the limiting effect it has on schooling and employment, and the accumulated emotional toll. The findings of this study diminish any argument that dyscalculia is not a significant issue for the lives it influences.

The adults interviewed in this study are resilient, intelligent, ambitious, creative, and have fully immersed themselves in the experiences of life. Simply put, it would benefit society in general to smooth the educational and employment path enabling them to flourish, for all our sakes. Their creativity, empathy, strength, and input into society is essential for all of us to flourish.

Key Recommendations

International research on adult dyscalculia is continuing, albeit slowly, to inform educators on how they might best support adults with dyscalculia. However, the New Zealand tertiary sector, workplaces, courses, educators, and adults with dyscalculia would benefit from context specific, targeted, research. This needs to be followed quickly by clear practice-based strategies that educators can implement.

Recommendations for the tertiary sector

Development of a New Zealand Dyscalculia Knowledge Hub that can act as a central point for coordinating the efforts of various experts to provide information to New Zealand workplaces and educational organisations.

The Knowledge Hub would:

• Share good educational practice. This would be drawn from existing and new research, and contributions from practitioners and communities working in the dyscalculia space.
• Store, collate, and present research for easy access by organisations, neurodiverse communities, and educators. Ideally, each study would include an ‘implications for practice’ summary ensuring value for practitioners.
• Maintain an updated list of research questions needing to be answered, and methodological support where requested, providing direction for new or existing educational researchers to design and conduct local dyscalculia research.
• Offer specific support to workplaces. For example, advice on developing inclusive workplace designs, and specific training solutions where needed. Case studies could be developed and made available to inform companies.
• Share information regarding new technologies and, specifically, how they can be used by individuals and workplaces to increase access and effectiveness for adults with dyscalculia.

Recommendations for policy

• It would be beneficial to launch a public awareness campaign to inform the public about dyscalculia, its effects, and the challenges and strengths faced by many adults. The aim would be to reduce stigma, increase understanding, and provide public support, leading to supportive workplace and training environments. An additional aim would be to attract educators wanting to specialise in supporting adults with dyscalculia.
• It is highly recommended that policy be developed to support the professional development of educators and employers in the domain of dyscalculia. The sector needs to develop numeracy instructional capability to link the learner/employee to effective numeracy support. Professional development opportunities do exist, and are being developed, and these would benefit immensely from direct policy support from the Tertiary Education Commission regarding professional development. 

Recommendations for future research

This study has identified several research areas that would be valuable to explore:

• How do we encourage adults with dyscalculia into further education that is appropriate and able to meet their needs?
• What types of instruction work and what don’t? What types of training, approaches, and instructional strategies are most effective for adults with dyscalculia?
• What factors might encourage adults with dyscalculia to engage in personal numeracy study in their own time to meet the demands of workplace numeracy tasks?
• A recurring and yet unanswered question is how much numeracy progress can an adult with dyscalculia make when provided with high quality assessment, instruction, support, and resources?

The sector would also benefit from further research into the strategies that adults with dyscalculia use and how these might be improved or adapted.