← Atlas of Difficulties
S-06
The child writes digits mirrored: 6 instead of 9, 12 instead of 21
Type: graphicalType: dyslexic
What the research says
In digit agraphia, the spatial organization of a number is missing: the order in which digits are written to represent a number gets mixed up. In optic acalculia, graphically similar digits are confused (3 and 8, 7 and 1, 2 and 8, 4 and 1, 66 and 96, 36 and 63). Impaired spatial perception and orientation is the key mechanism.
Lalaeva R.I. Dyscalculia in Children, pp. 16–18 (2005)
Intervention work to develop visual gnosis includes tasks on recognizing crossed-out, overlapping and incomplete outline pictures. Forming a clear visual image is the basis for reproducing digits correctly.
Lalaeva R.I. Dyscalculia in Children, pp. 32–33 (2005)
Graphical dyscalculia shows up as impaired writing of mathematical signs or symbols and impaired accurate reproduction of geometric shapes. Children make mistakes writing numbers and mix up the positions of digits when doing written calculations.
Baryaeva L.B., Kondratyeva S.Yu. Dyscalculia in Children, p. 28 (2013)
Exercises at home — free
Guess and finish the drawing
Builds: Recognizing a digit from an incomplete outline
You need: a sheet of paper, a pencil
- Draw a digit only partway — for example, a 3 without its bottom curl.
- The child names the digit and draws in the missing part.
- Talk it through together: “What told you it's a 3 and not an 8?”
- Repeat with other digits: 6, 9, 4, 7.
- Harder: draw only part of a two-digit number — the child restores the whole number.
Lalaeva R.I. Dyscalculia in Children, 2005, ch. 4
From picture to digit
Builds: The path from object to symbol: understanding that a digit stands for a quantity
You need: sheets of paper and a pencil, digit cards 1–5, small objects: buttons, coins, blocks
- Put down 3 buttons. Ask the child to draw 3 little circles — one for each button.
- “Now show it with a single symbol” — the child finds the card with the digit 3 or writes it.
- Repeat with a different quantity: 1, 2, 4, 5.
- Reverse task: show a digit — the child draws that many circles and puts down that many objects.
- Repeat in both directions: from object to digit and from digit to object.
Baryaeva L.B., Kondratyeva S.Yu. Dyscalculia in Children, 2013, p. 67
How are the digits different?
Builds: Telling similar digits apart — preventing mirror writing
You need: cards with pairs of similar digits: 6/9, 3/8, 1/7, 2/5, a small mirror, a pencil and paper
- Place the 6 and 9 cards side by side. “How are they alike? How are they different? Which way does the 6's tail point? And the 9's?”
- Show a digit in the mirror: “This is what the digit looks like reversed. Is this right?”
- The child draws the correct digit and its mirror image, then points to the correct one.
- The child traces the digit on the card with a finger and names the direction of movement.
- Repeat with the pairs 1/7, 2/5 — find a specific difference each time.
Baryaeva L.B., Kondratyeva S.Yu. Dyscalculia in Children, 2013, pp. 68–69
Guess the flipped digit
Builds: Telling correctly written digits from mirror-image ones
You need: digit cards 1–9, a sheet of paper
- Lay out the cards — some the right way, some upside down or mirrored.
- Ask: “Which digits are the right way? Which aren't?”
- The child picks out the correct cards.
- Pick up a flipped one: “What digit is this if you turn it the right way?”
- The child turns it over and checks.
- Ask the child to arrange the correct digits into a number line.
- Harder: the child places a few digits incorrectly — you look for the mistakes.
Baryaeva L.B., Kondratyeva S.Yu. Dyscalculia in Children, 2013, p. 87
Worksheets — print and practice
Without help
- Mistakes in writing a number lead to a wrong answer even when the calculation is right
- Mixing up place values: 36 is read as 63