About a decade ago, a groundbreaking study found that eye pupils detect more than just light. New research by the School of Psychology of the University of Sydney in collaboration with the Universities of Pisa and Florence has revealed that eye pupils can also detect quantity and perceive the number of objects in a person’s field of vision.
Does this mean that Dyscalculia is caused by our eyes not working well? No, it doesn’t. But it certainly doesn’t help! Similarly to Visual Stress or Meares-Irlen Syndrome, which are independent of dyscalculia, it can make doing maths a struggle. Dyscalculia, however, is neurological – meaning that it has to do with the brain. In some senses this is good news as the brain is incredibly adaptable – we can change how we understand numbers with the help of multi-sensory training and other learning techniques.
Even though Dyscalculia is not connected to vision, this research is still incredibly useful, as it confirms the innate need for visuals when learning quantity. For example, using your fingers to calculate should be encouraged and not be frowned upon!
Please let us know about your experiences and feel free to ask any questions, we will do our very best to answer 🙂