Should mathematically retarded people be exempt from math as a requirement...?

Question

Should mathematically retarded people be exempt from math as a requirement as long as it isn't a big part of their major?

I don't get it. I usually ace every other course but math/chemistry has always been a struggle for me. I'm mathmatically retarded. I think my brain has the maximum capacity for 8th grade level math, and that's probably the most math I'll ever have to use in my intended major career anyway. But it seems like no matter what your major is, there's no escaping math. Ever. Math courses are always required no matter what. It's not fair. I respect people who can take on math but some people like me just can't do it.

What I'm saying is why should I be denied my major just because I can't do math when I have so many other great gifts? It's a waste.

Answer 1

I am writing from the perspective of a retired college and university registrar.

Please do not say you are mathematically "retarded." There is a word for your problem, which is one a number of other people have, and that is "discalculia."

Dyscalculia was originally identified in case studies of students who suffered specific arithmetic disabilities as a result of damage to specific regions of the brain. Recent research suggests that dyscalculia can also occur developmentally, as a genetically-linked learning disability which affects a person's ability to understand, remember, and/or manipulate numbers and/or number facts (e.g. the multiplication tables). The term is often used to refer specifically to the inability to perform arithmetic operations, but is defined by some educational professionals and cognitive psychologists as a more fundamental inability to conceptualize numbers as abstract concepts of comparative quantities (a deficit in "number sense"[
Dyscalculia is similar and potentially related to dyslexia and dyspraxia, although it is not as well known. Dyscalculia occurs in people across the whole IQ range, and sufferers often, but not always, also have difficulties with time, measurement, and spatial reasoning. Current estimates suggest it may affect about 5% of the population. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyscalculia
(You will find many articles on this subject by googling "dyscalculia."

I read of a lawsuit filed by a student (at another university than my own!) who had a B+ average in all her other subjects but could not pass the simplest mathematics course. She maintained that she should be exempt from the mathematics general education requirement. I do not know how the lawsuit came out.

A student at a college where I was registrar took the simplest mathematics course three times at our college (from three different instructors, two of whom gave him an incredible amount of out-of-class help), at the local community college, at the local public college, and by correspondence. He was never able to pass the course. In that case, there was no way we could waive the course because he had an elementary education major. Mathematics is, of course, required for educational certification in any state. In his case, I was totally convinced that he did indeed have a learning disability.

If he had been taking a major such as Journalism, we probably would have waived the requirement, but there was no way we could turn him loose on those poor, unsuspecting elementary students.

I suggest that you put together a portfolio of the most pertinent information you can find on discalculia, attach it to a courteous, well-written letter asking to be exempt from math and take it to your chief academic officer. Include information from your elementary and high school years if you had trouble with math there. Also, you should be able to demonstrate that you have done all you can in college to complete a math course successfully. There is no way you can be exempt from math just because it is difficult for you - it must be impossible.

If you give your letter to someone at a lower level, he or she is likely to say "no" immediately and then it will become politically more difficult for the Academic Dean to overturn that decision than if he or she had dealt with your case initially. A lot depends, of course, on your administrators' personalities - you need to talk to students to see who is likely to be the most lenient with you.

I wish you the very best of luck.

s

Answer 2

I don't believe anyone in higher education should be exempt from math. An "educated" person should have a basic knowledge and understanding of the "basic" or school subjects. I know my less then perfect understanding of the English language has been the bane of my existence when I was in the Math Education program. Where my professors were all English teachers and couldn't try to understand math if it slapped them in the face.
But anyways when I handed in any paper I it always seemed I had more red then black on the paper afterwards.

Moving on again.
If you truly want your major. Do the math, if you are at the college level then I believe you should be able to get an algebra textbook and simply read and do it. I know it will be a struggle but you CAN do it.

Answer 3

I always wished I could avoid taking english courses in college, because I suck at writing and absolutely hate doing it. It's probably similar to your problem with math. But if colleges let us only take the courses we were good at and skip the ones we weren't, what would be the point? You go to college to LEARN things, which means that sometimes you are going to have to stretch your mind to think in ways you are not accustomed to. That's why colleges require you to take many different courses - so you get something resembling a well-rounded education.

So, suck it up and find a tutor who will help you pass your math class. I'm sure once you stop complaining about how much you hate math/can't do math and just sit down and do it, you'll find it wasn't as bad as you thought it was. (So you know, I'm trying to tell myself these exact same things, but replacing the word "math" with "writing", so I can write my doctoral thesis, which I am dreading so much I've actually managed to put it off now for about 2 years.)

Answer 4

I am also mathematically challenged. I've seen problems and asked for help and have been told it is such an easy problem. Well, it isn't for me. I agree with you.If it isn't going to be used then why force people to take it.I ended up taking Business math for my degree. It's fairly easy. I don't believe I could pass college level Algebra if my life depended on it.

Answer 5

Yes. Sometimes different roads lead to the same place. Look for a detour.

Answer 6

no, that way people know that your mathmatically retarded. If you don't have a requiremtn in math you always get A's, which isn't true?

Answer 7

No - math is important to everyday living.

Answer 8

no. Get a tutor.