#learning disabled

No, dyscalculia is not "dyslexia but with numbers". They're very different, with few similarities. I really wish dyscalculia were talked about more often, so people would understand me just a little better.

Because I'm dyscalculic, I intensely struggle with multi-step tasks, get lost very easily and frequently (not just in new places, but EVERYWHERE), can't remember important numbers, can't remember anyone's birthday besides my own, take a very long time to do most math equations, can't read an analog clock, can't do any oral math, can't manage my time, can't tell what time it as at any point without a digital clock, can't understand maps or navigation, can't recognize some "simple" math terms or symbols, and I can't reliably count backwards.

Something that I don't think a lot of people understand is that kids in the "gifted" class were primarily neurodivergent kids. I still remember the test they gave us in kindergarten, where they had us describe pictures. Most kids would give simple words for what was in the picture. Gifted kids would come up with more adjectives or creative phrases, thinking outside the box.

Some kids passed because they were genuinely smarter than the average kid, and some kids passed because they had a different way of thinking and processing information.

Gifted class for neurotypical children was just a fun break from regular classes. Solving puzzles, riddles, and doing arts and crafts.

Gifted class for neurodivergent children was training us to learn different methods of education (hands on learning, deductive/inductive reasoning, memory based learning, thinking outside the box) in order to prepare us for higher grade levels where we'd inevitably need a 504 plan for a learning disability, to where we'd already developed what education method helps us learn better due to the jumpstart gifted class gave us.

I promise you. The only people who think that being a "gifted kid" is a flex are those who didn't need gifted class.

dyscalculia is therefore the least diagnosed and accommodated, which is really bad because we're sending an unknown number of people out into the world with a literal 3rd grade math ability

What this means for me is that all sorts of communication gets lost in my brain. I process things slower, social interactions get jumbled, and tasks that I should know how to do sometimes require a little extra help, like eating, cooking, hygiene, etc, but especially things I'm unfamiliar with.

Setting and having non-stagnant reminders handy helps with my scheduling, as in not doing the same things at the same time but instead with a more specific cause, like telling my partner at bedtime that I need to brush my teeth, which is more likely to make me do it, or having food already prepared that I can just heat up instead of cooking a full meal.

With things I'm unfamiliar with (like cooking a new meal, or doing something at someone else's place) it means walking me through it step-by-step. My family friend is blind and has a more specific way of doing things that I'm unequipped for, but that my mom knows, so she tells me what I need to do/where to put things that he'll be able to find them again.

I'm also independent, so sometimes I will struggle to ask for the help I need and will have a freeze response. Comorbid with my AD(H)D and anxiety, this can lead to panic attacks and meltdowns, so it's oftentimes important to pay closer attention to things I'm doing that I am not aware of until after the panic has started.

All this to say, even a "milder" diagnosis requires a lot of help sometimes. MID is my diagnosis but this honestly works for autism and adhd peeps, too. For me, there's an overlap between how my symptoms of MID work with how autism works (something I'm also suspected of having), but with the added bonus of being learning disabled, which autism doesn't guarantee, because that's specifically a developmental disability, while intellectual disability is a learning disability and a developmental disability.