You can be an accountant with dyscalculia! - Dyscalculia Headlines (2024)

FAQs

Can someone with dyscalculia be an accountant? ›

Yes. Math was almost my poorest subject in school yet I am a CPA and had good performance at a big accounting firm.

Dyscalculia is a specific and persistent difficulty in understanding numbers which can lead to a diverse range of difficulties with mathematics. It will be unexpected in relation to age, level of education and experience and occurs across all ages and abilities.

Love of words – people with dyscalculia are often exceptional at reading writing and spelling. Intuitive thinking – people with dyscalculia are good at interpreting reality and processing knowledge experiences and signs around them.

Researchers now sometimes use the terms "math dyslexia" or "math learning disability" when they mention the condition.

Math ranks among the most essential skills for accountants and financial analysts. But that doesn't mean accountants have to take upper-division math classes in college. A bachelor's in accounting builds the math skills that accountants, auditors and financial analysts use in their jobs.

Anyone has the ability to become a statistician, even with a math learning disability like dyscalculia. Everybody can be a “math person” and it's up to us to change the narrative we tell ourselves about math.

3–7% of all children, adolescents, and adults suffer from dyscalculia.

ADHD is one of the more common conditions that happens alongside dyscalculia. However, most people who have one don't have the other.

For example using objects to see quantities and how they change provides a concrete way of understanding how certain maths concepts work. Some famous and successful dyscalculics include: Bill Gates, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Cher and Hans Christian Anderson.

Who is the most famous person with dyscalculia? ›

Cher. 40% of people with dyslexia also have dyscalculia. Sixties icon Cher, often branded the Goddess of Pop, is in that 40%. In her autobiography, whilst reflecting on her school days, she wrote, “…for me, maths was like trying to understand Sanskrit”.

Dyscalculia, working memory, and managing money

It's like a temporary sticky note in the brain. Trouble with working memory can make it hard to recall math facts or hold a number in mind to use it in a task. This can make it hard to count money, make exact change, or calculate total spending.

But they believe it's at least partly due to differences in how the brain is structured and how it functions. Here are two possible causes of dyscalculia: Genes and heredity: Dyscalculia tends to run in families. Research shows that genetics may also play a part in problems with math.

Dyscalculia and autism

Individuals with autism may also struggle with maths concepts, and dyscalculia is more prevalent in individuals with autism than in the general population. However, autism does not cause dyscalculia, and individuals with dyscalculia do not necessarily have autism.

Most, if not all, people who suffer from dyscalculia have problems with their working memory, although working memory problems are not necessarily an indicator of dyscalculia.

Expertise in mathematics is not required to succeed as a bookkeeper or an accountant. What is needed, however, is the confidence and ability to be able to add, subtract, multiply, divide as well as use decimals, fractions and percentages.

It wasn't until I was a fully qualified Chartered Accountant that being dyslexic started to have a much greater effect on me, as I was no longer focused on exams. I do have to admit that early in my career, I found it difficult to be open about being dyslexic – I just wanted to 'fit in'.

Basic Arithmetic

The more important things are precision and attention to detail rather than mentally performing intricate computations. You can monitor and control money flows with fundamental arithmetic, demonstrating the importance of even the most basic math in the accounting industry.

That's what you did for four years as an undergraduate, learning and doing algebra, calculus, differential equations, discrete mathematics and more. You strengthened your problem-solving abilities, learned to think mathematically and sharpened your analytical skills.