Mixing up numbers reading them?

[Kari Suttle]

I didn't notice this until i started work as a cashier a while back but I mix up numbers a lot. Not letters just numbers. I'll be reading the total out to a customer and half the time i'll mix up some of the numbers - transpose them or misread a number entirely.

When trying to type in UPC codes (a string of numbers like 10-12 numbers long) i would have difficulty not only not transposing them but keeping my place in the UPC code as i typed it in. To the point that i'd have to move my finger or a notecard along where i am and cover up what i've already typed in - sometimes even cover up all but the few i type in at a time.

I dont know if its nerves or not totally focusing on what i'm reading or too much going on at once, but its happened often enough that sometimes i wonder if it signals some sort of problem. Does anyone else do this? I figure if it was a legit problem i would have noticed it earlier but it happens often enough that i wonder what's up.

 

[Ylva]

Dyslexia for numbers is called dyscalculia.

Yeah, I sometimes get it backwards, too. I've wondered if it has something to do with my mother tongue's tendency to state numbers in the wrong order, such as five-and-twenty. If I look away before I name the number in my mind, I'll sometimes end up wondering whether I saw 52 or 25.

 

[Kari Suttle]

If I look away before I name the number in my mind, I'll sometimes end up wondering whether I saw 52 or 25.

YES i do that too! All the time, that's how i mix them up most of the time. Halfway through the sentence saying it wrong i'll correct myself and say it right and its embarrasing. Mostly happens if i read the numbers and look away and say them. or am doing somethin while looking right at it reading them aloud to the customer.

Ah yeah, i googled it and dyscalcula came up. Not sure if i fit the bill or if its just a lack of focus in the moment though. That's what im trying to figure out. =/ I figure it would have been noticed sooner if it were a learning disability. Then again i said the same thing about my autism when we self-diagnosed me as a family at first.

 

[JuniperBug]

Ive always mixed up 7 and 9 and then also 3, 5, and 6

But, strangely, when I learned to count in Chinese and then read every number in Chinese in my head, it fixed it! It's rarely a problem at all any more.

If I have to read a long string of numbers it's actually easier in Chinese than English.

Maybe because I'm using the language part of my brain instead often number part or something? Lol I dunno. Our brains are so interesting and mysterious.

If you're curious, here's the numbers in Chinese then pinyin (official pronunciation) and then I typed out sort of how they sound because pinyin can be tricky to read.

0123456789
零一二三四五六七八九
Líng yī' èr sān sì wǔ Liù qī bā jiǔ

0 Ling?
1 ee
2 err!
3 San
4 suh!
5 ooh?
6 Leo!
7 chi
8 bā
9 joe?

 

[Progster]

Once or twice I've given someone my phone number, and mixed up a couple of digits... not good, espcecially when dealing with clients.

 

[Kari Suttle]

Once or twice I've given someone my phone number, and mixed up a couple of digits... not good, espcecially when dealing with clients.

Yes, me too! I use to always pull out my phone just to be sure cause id always get the last two digits mixed up in my head trying to do it from memory.

 

[Kari Suttle]

Ive always mixed up 7 and 9 and then also 3, 5, and 6

But, strangely, when I learned to count in Chinese and then read every number in Chinese in my head, it fixed it! It's rarely a problem at all any more.

That is interesting! I wonder if you use more areas of your brain if its a language that isnt your native tongue...I would think the age at which you learned it influences it too. Very interesting that it helped your issues with the english numbers system as well. I mix up pretty much any number in a series trying to read it aloud or copy it...in the case of copying it i have to do it slowly lest i mix them up.

I only noticed it when i started cashier work though. I would think if it were a learning disability i'd have notice it before then....but i guess at work your expose to it for a long enough period of time each day that there's more opportunity to notice it with just as big of a focus on numbers. And in the context of cashier work its purely the numbers not the numbers plus some confusing math class concept like in school. So glad i dont have to take math classes anymore lol.

 

[Judge]

Dyscalculia ? Never. Not something I could afford as an insurance underwriter or investor. It's all about math. No rocket science involved, but one can't afford to make mistakes in either such pursuits.