Julie Price-Thiede

October 12, 2006

Dear Mr. Pinkwater,

As I was driving home after dropping my son off at yet another math tutoring session, your piece on your own math problems came on over the radio on NPR. You mentioned that there is a name for this very real way of thinking and it’s called Dyscalcula(sp?). I recently heard about it also on the BBC daily news online. At long last it’s coming to light that kids who are bad at math are not just being lazy!!! It is especially hard dealing with this and ‘No Child Left Behind’ and the resulting punitive methods to get kids to ‘Measure Up’. My son’s interest in school and feelings of self worth have taken a real beating. I am very grateful to you for speaking up and validating our frustations. Your essay has encouraged me to speak up as well about Dyscalcula and also about respecting the other(besides math)gifts our kids have to offer. Today I called the High School Vice-Principal and last night I wrote to the local newpaper.

A million thanks for sharing your story!!!

Julie Price-Thiede

I'm glad the piece was usefule to you. Honestly, I just wrote it in an effort to get 100 bucks...no, 200...no, 225...no 225 plus reimbursement for FedEx...no, I got a raise in 2002...250.