An introduction to The Dyscalculia Network- BSL
By Marijke Walters
Marijke is a qualified Dyscalculia tutor and is currently completing the Level 7 course to become an assessor. Marijke was born to two deaf parents and grew up using sign alongside her native language. Marijke now uses BSL and is passionate about ensuring the deaf community has access to dyscalculia resources. We will be working together to ensure The Dyscalculia Network is inclusive.
Please see Marijke's introduction here -
https://youtu.be/rV5XaSx69dI
As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) herself, and a qualified maths tutor for users of British Sign Language, Marijke felt very much at home at the Royal School for the Deaf in Derby last month. She had been asked by the head of the maths department to deliver a training session to staff (primary and secondary, teachers and support staff). They had a general induction on what dyscalculia is, what it means to be a child or adult with dyscalculia, and how they can help their learners with maths learning difficulties. They enjoyed it so much that they are having Marijke back in February to do a workshop on maths manipulatives!
Marijke also has some maths instructional videos in BSL you can find here -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn_Ymfa95a8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbkcQ0SpBuY
You can Contact Marijke here -
[email protected]
For those of us who don't yet sign - please see the transcript below -
Hi everyone, hope you’re all ok?
My name is Marijke, which is a strange name, because I am Belgian. My parents and sister are Deaf, I am a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults). I grew up signing but in a different language, you will see that I sometimes make mistakes in BSL but you will still understand what I am saying.
Why do I want to talk to you now? You know that some people have problems with reading and writing, this is called dyslexia. There is a similar thing for maths, (I’m just making up a sign for it because as far as I know there is no sign for it yet (Marijke signs ‘maths’ and ‘dyslexia for the ‘dyscalculia’ sign)). It is called dyscalculia (sorry for BSL users I point to O finger which is wrong, should be pointing to U finger; I was bit nervous).
People with dyscalculia find it hard to understand numbers, example that 5 can be made of 2 and 3, or which number is the bigger value, 5 or 9. This Facebook group is a dyscalculia support group. If your child or you have problems with maths, even maybe dyscalculia, there is support available on this Facebook group and the dyscalculia network website.
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