Is this my dyscalculia or am I being a d*ck?

[Yerroblemom1923]

Trying to arrange some holiday activities for my dd for the following weeks of the school hols a)so she's not bored and b)so I can go to work.
I phone up to book and the woman on the other end of the phone takes my details (all well and good) but then when she checks my mob phone no it all goes t*ts up!
And it was all in the way I say my number and the pauses inbetween. She was effectively saying the same number but to me it sounded totally wrong!! And yet she was probably saying exactly the same number! I got so exasperated I had to hand phone to dh. I feel like such a loser in life! What is wrong with me?! Anyone?!
Generally I'm a fully functioning adult but numbers and maths really make me feel ill!🤢

ElizaDee you are right and anyone who says otherwise is wrong! It's odd how I think of the first 5 numbers of a mobile number as the 'area code' but that's just what I got used to when reading out landline numbers.

I wonder if it's age related? Do people who grew up when there were only landlines tend to go i.e. 01987 567 456 and use the same format for mobiles, and younger people do it in threes or twos?

I'm with ElizaDee, that's exactly how numbers should be read. (and for the poster after, I'm 27- sorry, the mumsnet app is being really glitchy with poster names for me!)

Not just you no.

My own house number, no chance with phone numbers and my big issue is PIN numbers. I’ve had to have new cards and been completely embarrassed at the tills mixing up numbers that I’ve had for years.
I can’t do basic calculations. If I write them down I have to leave big spaces in between numbers because I can’t see the numbers properly.

It is very disabling. It’s more embarrassing than anything.
My brain is shit.

Oh my god I'm feeling stressed just thinking about it....landline area code has to be read out all in 1 go,which is 5 numbers....then last 6 numbers said in 3s if that makes sense....
If it's said in multiples of 2 I haven't got a clue...

Some area codes are only four numbers, in which case you read them in a four-three-four sequence. Just to contradiction my own rule there.

I am dyslexic. It's the visual processing part of my brain that fails me!

My auditory skills are fantastic!

I'm exactly the same re numbers. I have to hear them with the right pattern and intonation as can't visualise them as they read them back.

What's helped me is having all long numbers I need to hear correctly said written on a card and laminated on the bookshelf in the lounge. So when I'm on phone I can look at that and it helps when the read it back to me.

Eg.

Phone number must be

01567 567 567

Bank account is

123 456 78 (where as it's actually 2 sets of 4 numbers!)

Mob

07665 665 665 when people say for example 076. 656 656 65 I just cannot hear that it's right as my mind can't also visualise it.

It's frustrating but I've found to be numerous about it helps.

Yes! YANBU!

A friend actually posted a meme about it the other day and I said I didn't even realise I had 666 in the middle of my number till someone else read it out the "wrong" way.

I find writing it down and then I can see/tick the numbers as they say it helps.

Humorous not numerous.

I'm exactly the same...I think iv struggled all my life with this pattern with maths...that's why I'm so terrible at it....
It's really interesting hearing this from others...

Happens to me

My number has lots of zeros but some people say the letter o instead

This used to happen to me too, I would just say can I read it back to you the way I read it and you check that because it doesn't sound right when you read it back in the wrong order & laugh. Now I don't know my number I always have to read it off my phone and can check when it's read back to me because I'm looking at the screen 😂

Mobile phones, I say 0123 4567 890, but some people say 01234 567 890. It sounds wrong.

This happens so many times to me at work, I have to take phone numbers for bookings. The customer tells me their number, I read it back, they say it again, I read it back etc etc. I always laugh and make light of it, so many people panic when giving their mobile numbers especially, it’s a real point of anxiety for a lot of people. You’re definitely not alone in this, and any kind person on the end of the phone will understand.

Oh, I can relate!

I don't have a diagnosis of dyscalculia but I am dyslexic and dyspraxic, and one of my problems is with strings of numbers. I can't remember them unless people say them in twos or ones - so if someone says their number is 343 565 787 (or whatever) I can't manage to write it down - I just forget the third digit before I start.

I cannot count (groan) the number of times I've said politely 'please say it really slowly' or 'sorry, can you say it in groups of two' only for someone to laugh at me, get angry, or totally ignore me.

I'm a reasonably intelligent adult and I have several times had people in banks (where you use numbers a lot) as if I have a helper with me, or ask who is looking after me. The implication being that they don't think I'm competent to be out on my own. It is really humiliating and I try hard to find the funny side, but sometimes it's just shit, isn't it?

I'm very comfortable with maths and numbers but if someone repeats a number back to me in a different order to the way I remember it then I'm thrown off.
What I have done is repeated the number back to them with my gaps and getting them to verify it.

It's nothing to do with dyscalculia

I have maths and further maths a level. I love maths, it's easy for me.

I give my number as 07 755 820 036

Everyone else seems to get it as 077 55 82 00 36

No problem with maths here either, but I'm always thrown by companies who want to confirm my mobile number by reading me the last four digits. I always give my mobile as 07777 123 456. I know the pattern of the last three digits is 456. I know the pattern of the last six digits is 123 456. When they want to read out "3456" I struggle to recognise it!

Totally understand!

But I do mobile numbers differently depending on how the numbers ‘feel’

My mobile is 07 12 34 56 789
Husbands is 07123 456 789

I have to repeat the number back with the right pauses! The writing it down is an excellent tip!

Oh there are way too many exclamation marks there

I'm not sure if this will make you feel better but I have a PhD in Maths...but still can't follow a phone number easily if it isn't read out the way I would!

To help you, have your number written down and follow it with your finger when it's read out.

It's nothing to do with dyscalculia

I have maths and further maths a level. I love maths, it's easy for me.

What do you mean? Dyscalculia doesn't mean someone can't do maths. You could have dyscalculia and do maths A Levels, just as you could be dyslexic and do English, or dyspraxic and be an engineer (in fact, that last one's not so uncommon).

@ElizaDee London numbers should never be 0207 or 0208, they are 020 7xxx and 020 8xxx. The 7 and the 8 are attached to the second section as they (generally) denote inner or outer London and the 020 is London as a whole.

*one of my problems is with strings of numbers. I can't remember them unless people say them in twos or ones - so if someone says their number is 343 565 787 (or whatever) I can't manage to write it down - I just forget the third digit before I start.

I cannot count (groan) the number of times I've said politely 'please say it really slowly' or 'sorry, can you say it in groups of two' only for someone to laugh at me, get angry, or totally ignore me*

Same!

The worse thing for me is taking phone messages at work. When people spell out their complicated surname or address, or want me to take down their phone number, or a series of figures/dates or anything like that. I just can't write it down accurately. It's like there's is a disconnect between my ear and brain

I'm totally ok with anything written down, and don't have dsylexia or anything that can account for this difficulty though.

YY, I am the same with spelling out letters! I am dyslexic, but I think these things are quite usual. It's not as if we evolved with brains designed for written language, is it? It's a big adaptation we've made, and personally I think my ape brain - the one that was evolved through millennia of swinging through trees or bashing things - is very much uppermost.

DH is constantly telling me I say my mobile incorrectly. I say; 077 123 45678 but apparently i should be saying 07712 345 678.

But, the problem I have is that the sixth digit of my mobile is a zero, so if I said it in DH’s ‘correct’ way, I’d be starting the second sequence of numbers with "0" which is all kinds of wrong!