What Causes Dyscalculia?

By Laura Lurns · Reviewed by Philip Weaver · Last reviewed 2026-09-29

Is there one cause?

The research we hold does not settle what causes dyscalculia.

One review says it is still open what dyscalculia is (Dowker, 2024). It may be a condition of its own. Or it may be the low end of the usual range of math ability.

One large study looked at 1,015 children (Kißler and Kuhn, 2025). It concluded that the line between children with and without dyscalculia is fluid.

Fourteen researchers wrote a shared statement on dyscalculia (Kaufmann and colleagues, 2013). In their view, one core problem cannot explain all the ways it shows up. It is a position, not a study.

So there is no single answer to give you.

What might be underneath it?

Here is some of what the research we hold has looked at.

Working with number symbols. In one review, most studies found children with dyscalculia weaker with number symbols (Dowker, 2024). Some, "but not all", found trouble seeing small amounts at a glance.

Lamb, Krieger and Kuhn (2023) compared 68 children with dyscalculia and 412 without, in grades 2 to 4. They found no evidence of trouble seeing small amounts at a glance. The one difference that showed up in every grade was slower counting of about four to nine dots. The study looked at each child once, not over time.

A sense of amount. One chapter suggests a weak feel for amount: how many, and which is more (Wilson and Dehaene, 2007). The same authors wrote that it is "not clear" whether this is the core problem.

Linking a digit to its amount. One small study looked at children aged 11 to 13 (Skagerlund and Träff, 2016). It compared two groups with dyscalculia to children without it. One group was weaker with amounts and with number symbols. The other was weaker with number symbols only. The authors read that second pattern as trouble linking a digit to its amount. The groups were small, and all in one age range.

Skills beyond math. Working memory means holding things in mind while you work. Weak spots in skills like this are common in dyscalculia, in the same review (Dowker, 2024). It says it is unclear whether they help cause it, or just come along with it.

One position paper says children with math learning disabilities do not form one group (Kroesbergen, Huijsmans and Kleemans, 2022). Their weak spots differ. It draws on group studies and case studies. Case studies often do not apply to other children.

In our view, that is why it helps to look at your own child, not at a list.

What about genes and families?

One large twin study looked at dyscalculia, dyslexia and ADHD together (van Bergen and colleagues, 2025). It used Dutch twins and their brothers and sisters, tested at ages 7 and 10.

Each was set by a cut-off the study chose, not a diagnosis. A child with one was more likely than other children to have a second. Most had only one.

In that study, the genetic risks for the three partly overlapped. The study did not point to one difficulty causing another. The authors name two limits. Twin studies rest on assumptions. And the tests may have been too far apart to see one cause another.

That is a finding about many children. The research we hold cannot say how much of one child's math trouble comes from genes.

Has anyone else in your family had trouble with math or learning? If so, say so when you ask for help.

Can teaching, attention or worry cause math trouble?

Two kinds. The shared statement by fourteen researchers suggests two kinds of dyscalculia (Kaufmann and colleagues, 2013). In the first, the trouble is with number itself. In their second kind, the math trouble all comes from something else, like attention. That is a position, not a study.

A review by Price and Ansari (2013) draws a similar line. It names teaching as one outside cause of math trouble. It also names a family's income and social standing. Its authors say research has been held back by too few studies. So has dyscalculia being defined in different ways.

In our view, missed teaching can look like dyscalculia from the outside. Teaching the missed step is worth doing, whatever else is going on.

Other trouble that comes along. A German medical guideline summary looked at what comes along with dyscalculia (Haberstroh and Schulte-Körne, 2019). It says people with dyscalculia are more likely to also have dyslexia or ADHD. Coming together is not the same as one causing the other.

Reading. A word problem asks for reading as well as math. Read the same problem aloud. If the answer is now right, the reading was at least part of the trouble.

Worry. Math anxiety is not the same as dyscalculia. One review calls them separate conditions (Dowker, 2024). One large study looked at children who met a cut-off for dyscalculia (Devine and colleagues, 2018). They were more likely than children with typical math to have high math anxiety. Most of them still did not have it. The study could not show which one comes first. The research we hold does not show whether worry causes math trouble.

Is it about how smart they are, or how hard they try?

In our view, no. To us, trouble with math does not mean a child is not smart, or not trying.

One small study compared children aged 8 to 9 (Landerl, Bevan and Butterworth, 2004). It chose some children with dyscalculia and no reading trouble. They scored high-average on IQ, word knowledge and working memory tests. They were still weak on basic number tasks. It was a small study. Later work, such as Kißler and Kuhn (2025), finds more mixed patterns than one number problem.

Does the cause change what you do?

In our view, the cause mostly does not change the first step. That step is to work out what is hard for your child. The exception is a skill that was there and has gone. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first.

Ask your child which is bigger, 7 or 4. Show four dots and ask how many, without counting. Read a word problem aloud and see if the answer changes. Each is one sign, not an answer on its own.

Keep teaching the math while you look. Kißler and Kuhn (2025) concluded that every child who finds math hard should be supported. So we would not wait for a cause before helping.

A diagnosis describes where your child is today. It does not predict where they will be after a year of the right kind of practice.

When to ask for help

Each of these is a reason to ask for help on its own.

• Little change, even with steady practice and good teaching.
• Math well below your child's other schoolwork.
• A teacher who raises a concern about math.
• Extreme upset about math.
• Complete avoidance of math.
• Worry about math that spreads into the rest of learning.
• Sadness or worry that lasts.
• A skill that was there and has gone. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.

Start with the teacher. Say what you are seeing at home, and what you have tried. Beyond the teacher, the right person depends on what it turns out to be about. If the work is too hard, someone who works on that school skill. If worry or mood is the thing, someone who works with children's mental health. In our view, if you are worried enough to ask, a professional evaluation is worth asking about.

Any talk of hurting themselves is a same-day call to your doctor or a crisis line.