#71➗ Dyscalculia - Understanding the Impact of Learning Disabilities on Product Managers with ADHD
The basics of math dyslexia and how to overcome its challenges at work.
Welcome to Tech Atypically 👋, your weekly blog for navigating the challenges of ADHD and being in the tech industry.
I am an ADHD and product management coach helping you change one belief and take one action each week.
Part 13 of the Performance and Productivity series.
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🦋The Takeaways
Belief: I am bad at numbers no matter how hard I try.
Reality: You’re not bad; you might have dyscalculia, a learning disability with numbers.
Action: Seek a formal assessment, understand your strengths, and create a numbers system that fits your style.
⭐️Introduction
Last week,
and I explored the challenges faced by product managers with ADHD and dyslexia. This week, we're diving into another common learning disability: dyscalculia.Dyscalculia is a learning disability that affects an individual's ability to understand and work with numbers. It can impact various aspects of life, including academic performance, daily living, and work (source).
For product managers with ADHD, dyscalculia can present additional challenges in an industry heavily reliant on data, metrics, and numerical analysis.
😵💫The Belief – I’m bad a math because I suck
If you’re a PM in the tech industry, you’re probably dealing with numbers daily. At the very least, you’re looking at key metrics to monitor your products.
If you’re lucky, you’re looking at reports in Tableau, Quicksight, Heap, Amplitude, or some other tool that lets you look at dashboards with images and numbers.
If you’re not so lucky, you’re looking at raw data with no data catalog or explanations through a SQL workbench or spreadsheet.
If you squirm thinking about the latter option, welcome to my nightmare scenario.
I’ve had an engrained self-view that I was “bad” at math. Just like I’m bad at SQL.
That I somehow didn’t focus enough to be “good” with numbers. When I learned about dyscalculia last year, I had a light bulb moment of maybe I’m not bad.
Maybe I’m atypical. (Forgive the self-referential joke).
It’s not that I can’t write SQL or work with data, it’s that how I experience numbers differs from others.
🤝The Reality – Math dyslexia is a thing
Dyscalculia, often referred to as math dyslexia, involves challenges with everyday tasks that require math skills, such as counting change or measuring ingredients. Like dyslexia, it is a spectrum disorder where different people can experience the same symptoms differently.
Basic Symptoms of Dyscalculia:
Difficulties making sense of basic arithmetic concepts.
Trouble with counting, especially when multitasking.
Challenges comprehending fractions and decimals.
A lack of ‘number sense’, or the ability to relate and connect numbers.
Avoidance of numerical tasks due to anxiety around math.
If you want to see my struggle, verbally give me your phone number and watch me use all my willpower and short-term memory to not mess up putting it in my phone.
Challenges a PM with dyscalculia may face:
Difficulty with numerical reasoning and data analysis
Challenges with financial planning and budgeting
Issues with time estimation and scheduling
Struggles with quantitative product requirements
Difficulty with technical documentation
As a data PM, I often ran into the most issues when I could only see data in a crosstab or table format. For some, looking at a table of numbers is their happy place where they can see trends automatically.
For others, it can be like looking at a foreign language.
I look at a giant table and think, “Nope, I deserve better”.
You might be reading and thinking, “I thought these were due to my forgetfulness”.
Nope, maybe you have this learning disability too!
Welcome to the club where numbers make sense with the right format and approach.
🛠️The Action – Strategies for managing dyscalculia
If you suspect you may have dyscalculia, the first step is to seek a formal assessment from a qualified professional. This can help you better understand your specific challenges and develop targeted strategies to overcome them.
Here are some strategies for navigating numbers as a product manager with dyscalculia:
🔊 Use the read-aloud function
Hearing numbers spoken aloud can make them easier to process and understand. Try using the built-in text-to-speech function on your computer or mobile device, or explore third-party apps designed for this purpose.
🎨 Color code for relationships
Assign different colors to different types of data or calculations in your spreadsheets. This can help you quickly identify patterns and relationships without getting bogged down in the raw numbers. For example, you could establish that green multiplied by blue equals a specific result.
🚦 Color-code tasks
Use colors to prioritize and categorize tasks that need to be done. When working in Excel, color-coding can help prevent information from becoming jumbled and confusing.
🧩 Use tangible objects
Having physical objects to manipulate can help you better understand and compute numerical relationships. Consider using tactile aids like blocks, counters, or drawing on paper to process information.
🌓 Utilize high contrast
Making numbers stand out from the background can help reduce visual confusion and strain. Try using dark mode or changing text and background colors to create a higher contrast.
🔍 Increase number size
Making numbers larger and easier to read can help reduce visual confusion and strain. Try increasing the font size in your spreadsheets or documents to find a comfortable reading size.
🙈 Block extraneous lines from view
Reduce visual clutter by hiding spreadsheet rows or columns that you don't need to see at the moment. This can help you focus on the most relevant information without getting overwhelmed by unnecessary details.
Remember, the goal is to find strategies that work best for you and your unique needs. Don't hesitate to experiment with different approaches and combinations until you find a system that helps you thrive as a product manager with dyscalculia.
✨Conclusion
Becoming good with numbers doesn’t have to be an abstract concept that you’ll never achieve. By understanding your tendencies and needs, you can create strategies that allow you to command numbers, not fear them.
Dyscalculia is a real learning disability, but it doesn't define your intelligence or ability to succeed. Seek assessment, understand your strengths, and implement targeted strategies to navigate numbers with confidence.
Remember, your primary job as PM isn’t to crunch numbers. Your job is to figure out the “what” and the “why”. Numbers are often important in that story but without context, they’re often not useful.
And what is context? A story.
And telling a good story doesn’t require you to be “good” at math. It requires you to show up and be curious.
🐼Work with a PM with ADHD to create your productivity strategy
⏭️Next Week
How to connect with others and tell better stories.
I love the idea of color coding and using TTS. It's like using different ways of understanding the world.