It's no secret that kids with hypernumeracy have an amazing strength in math and numbers. Something that I have witnessed in my own son right from toddlerhood.
Yet, hypernumeracy comes with its own set of challenges too. Challenges that you need to be aware of as a parent or educator because they can have a tremendous impact on things like mental health, school performance, and advocacy.
By understanding, acknowledging, and addressing the following challenges and difficulties, you are better equipped to help and support your hypernumeric child as they grow.
This list kind of gives you an idea of what you might expect in the future. It can also give you some insight on how to craft individualized learning plans that make sense and to advocate for their needs since you'll have a deeper understanding of what challenges they might potentially face.
Things to Keep in Mind with Hypernumeracy
Before we dig into the list of some of the most common challenges faced by hypernumeric learners, it's important to remember that these kids will have spiky learning profiles and asynchronous development.
That means, there will be some skills that are really well developed, which, in this case, would be math, number, and pattern related. Meanwhile, other skills might be considered underdeveloped, delayed, or lagging, such as social skills, emotional development, executive functioning, language, or fine motor.
This asynchronous development can often contribute to - or further exacerbate - some of the challenges on the following list.
Also, don't forget that hypernumeracy co-occurs with hyperlexia (although, please note that not all hyperlexic learners are also hypernumeric). That means that some of the challenges and difficulties associated with hyperlexia can also impact their hypernumeracy. For instance, the comprehension challenges that are common in hyperlexia can make word problems difficult for hypernumeric learners, as we'll discuss in a bit.
Potential Challenges for Kids with Hypernumeracy
Now, please keep in mind that this list is not exhaustive. Nor are these challenges necessarily exclusive to hypernumeracy itself.
Instead, this list gives you an idea of some of the most common potential challenges that a hypernumeric learner might face. You can then keep these challenges in mind when advocating, crafting IEPs, putting accommodations in place, and while supporting your learner at home or at school.
1. Lack of understanding or awareness of hypernumeracy
The first hurdle is the fact that so few people have even heard of hypernumeracy before. That can make it challenging to get your child the support they might need. It can also lead to misunderstanding of their learning profile, inappropriate accommodations, limited support, unrealistic expectations, and so on. Many of which we'll cover below as well.
The other issue here is that hypernumeracy isn't an official diagnosis or anything, which, depending on where you live and the specific criteria for your region, can make it challenging to get individual supports put in place at school.
2. Boredom in school
A common concern parents have for their hypernumeric and/or hyperlexic children is how to keep them challenged so that they don't get bored at school (see #3 here). After all, these kids often grasp math related concepts much faster than their peers.
Besides, just consider how advanced some of these kids are in terms of their math skills before they even enter kindergarten. Their peers are just starting to learn to count or recognize numbers while your child is doing things years above their age level like multiplying and dividing, working with fractions and decimals, skip counting, algebra, or whatever.
If kids with hypernumeracy are bored at school, it can lead to other issues such as underachievement despite their potential, behavioral issues, disengagement, and a lack of motivation for schoolwork.
Thankfully, there are lots of things you can do to keep kids with hypernumeracy challenged.
3. Uneven academic profile or performance
We've already touched on how boredom can impact performance and lead to underachievement above, but it's also important to consider their spiky learning profile here. After all, their asynchronous development can lead to difficulty with non-math subjects. That means that these kids might perform far above grade level in math, but they might be average or below average in other subject areas.
Additionally, this uneven academic performance can sometimes mean they might not qualify for gifted programs.
4. Limited support &/or limited enrichment opportunities
Remember, most people haven't heard of hypernumeracy before. So, most people also aren't equipped to support these types of learners. As a result, hypernumeric kids might receive limited support or inappropriate (or even zero!) accommodations.
It's also worth noting that sometimes parents and educators focus too much on the hypernumeric child's math abilities. So much so that other areas where they might need support can get overlooked. It's also possible that their advanced math skills might mask any challenges or struggles that they're facing or even lead to people not believing their struggles.
Additionally, many hypernumeric learners may not qualify or get recommended for gifted programs due to their spiky learning profile and asynchronous development. (Ask me how we know about that...)
Finally, not all schools offer advanced math programs so it's not always possible to provide the enrichment that these kids need at school.
All in all, the lack of support and enrichment opportunities can result in unmet needs or frustration. Or, in some cases, it might mean that your child might not be given the chance to fully develop their strengths.
5. Difficulty with word problems
As I mentioned earlier, their co-occurring hyperlexia and the comprehension challenges that come along with that can make word problems difficult for those who also have hypernumeracy. Yes, even though their math skills are way advanced and they could easily solve the problem if it was written in a different way.
As you can imagine, this difficulty with word problems can lead to uneven academic performance, frustration, underestimation of their abilities, and/or self-esteem issues.
6. Pressure & high or unrealistic expectations
I've talked before about the effects of high expectations on hyperlexic learners and the same applies to hypernumeric learners as well. This pressure can lead to stress, anxiety, burnout, masking, a loss of interest in math, challenges being overlooked, and perfectionism, which we'll touch on next.
7. Perfectionism & a fear of failure
Many kids with hypernumeracy develop perfectionist tendencies, whether that's due to high expectations and pressure, the extreme focus that others put on their math abilities, and/or just their personality in general. They might hate the idea of making a mistake and put even more pressure on themselves to perform at a high level.
8. Labeling & misunderstanding
When you have a child with a natural talent for math and numbers, it's unsurprising that others might be quick to label them as geniuses or prodigies, which can sometimes lead to misconceptions about their abilities. These labels, in turn, can lead to some of the other challenges mentioned above, such as high expectations or limited support, but they can also lead to social isolation among peers (i.e., they know they're different and have different interests than their peers).
9. Difficulty with conceptual understanding
Hypernumeric kids might be able to excel at calculations and solve advanced equations, but they might struggle with the why or the reasoning behind the concepts. That means they might struggle to explain what certain things represent or apply their skills to everyday real-world situations. That might show up on tests or assignments where they're asked to show their work and they don't know how to do so.
10. Dysregulation or distress due to time, routine, or order
Unsurprisingly, kids with hypernumeracy often have a heightened sensitivity to numerical details and time. So things like clocks being out of sync, not starting an activity at the exact scheduled time, or someone miscounting or skipping a number out loud can lead to strong emotional reactions and distress. It can also lead to inflexibility or additional social challenges (e.g., struggling to participate in activities because the time or order feels incorrect, misunderstandings with those who don't understand their sensitivity to time or numbers).
A Quick Recap on Some of the Challenges that Kids with Hypernumeracy Might Face
Here's a quick summary of some of the potential challenges of hypernumeracy that were discussed above, as well as the impacts that they can have:
- Lack of understanding or awareness of hypernumeracy - Can lead to misunderstanding, limited support, unrealistic expectations, etc.
- Boredom in school - Can lead to underachievement, behavioral issues, disengagement, etc.
- Uneven academic profile or performance - Can mean a difficulty with non-math subjects and not qualifying for gifted programs
- Limited support and/or limited enrichment opportunities - Can result in unmet needs, frustration, failing to qualify for gifted programs, etc.
- Difficulty with word problems - Can lead to uneven academic performance, underestimation of their abilities, frustration, self-esteem issues, etc.
- Pressure and high or unrealistic expectations - Can lead to stress, anxiety, burnout, masking, perfectionism, etc.
- Perfectionism and a fear of failure - Can lead to even more pressure and stress
- Labeling and misunderstanding - Can lead to misconceptions about their abilities, high expectations, social isolation, etc.
- Difficulty with conceptual understanding - Can mean difficulties applying their skills to everyday situations
- Dysregulation or distress due to timing, routine, or order - Can lead to emotional dysregulation, inflexibility, and social challenges
Remember, their spiky learning profile and asynchronous development is at play here, contributing to many of these challenges. Of course, you also have to consider sensory needs, emotional development, and language skills as they can present their own set of challenges.
So, which of these potential challenges was most surprising to you?
