Grace McNamara is finding the preparation for her various Leaving Cert exams challenging.
“I have learning disabilities such as dyslexia and dyscalculia (a learning disorder, resulting in difficulty learning or comprehending arithmetic). It’s very difficult for me to try and study, especially subjects such as maths and biology,” she says.
The 18-year-old, from Lisdoonvarna in Co Clare, is hoping to do well in English and history. “I love the poetry. I love the comparisons. Even paper 1, which people might not like as much, I love it. English for me ... I can write down how I interpreted things.”
Grace uses a laptop to take her exams and will get an extra 10 minutes due to her dyslexia. It’s not very much, she feels.
RM Block
“Especially because I tend to daydream a bit. And also if I write too long my wrists tend to get a bit sore. Ten minutes is just not enough, especially with subjects like English and history, because, even though they’re my favourite subjects, there’s a lot of writing.”
She was diagnosed with dyscalculia earlier this year. It didn’t come as a surprise. “I think I’ve known for a very long time that there was something not quite right. I just couldn’t do it. Everyone around me could do it and everyone around me is really higher or ordinary level and then I was stuck there in foundation level. Even though I was in foundation which is easy to everyone. To me, it’s just like, ‘What do I do? How do I do it?’”
Her challenges with maths also mean she’s had to give up on her first-choice course. “My dream course was Home Economics and Religion in St Angela’s, but when I dropped to foundation level a few months ago, it devastated me. Because I could not do that course any more. I cried over it for weeks.
“For maths, because I dropped to foundation [level], most of my courses on my CAO, I can’t do any more.”
Grace says she can do an arts degree and then a masters “which takes longer over time. And overall costs more”.
She agonised over the decision to move to foundation level for a long time, but realised there was a very real possibility she could fail the ordinary paper.
People don’t understand dyscalculia in the way they understand dyslexia, she says. She’s very stressed about the maths exam. “Even though it’s foundation it’s still very stressful, because I still have to meet the minimum requirement.”
She feels best prepared for home economics. It’s a subject she’s loved since first year. So she’s hoping day one of the exams will see her off to a good start. But in the background lurks Irish paper 2 and biology on the same day – it’s a combination she’s dreading.
