I have to start this specifying and expanding on what I refer when I say that I'm dyscalculic:

  1. I have both types of developmental dyscalculia.
  2. The functional type of dyscalculia I have is the intermediate dyscalculia; citing the dyscalculia definition page in Edubloxtutor, it's the «inability to work with symbols and numbers, especially when abstract signs (like √, ×, <, >) or large figures are involved. This type often overlaps with conditions like dyspraxia or dyslexia.» I don't have dyslexia though, but idk about the dyspraxia.
  3. I have the lexical and operational forms of dyscalculia. As per Edubloxtutor:
    • Lexical dyscalculia: This subtype refers to difficulties in reading and recognizing mathematical symbols, such as digits or operation signs. Students with this subtype may misread symbols (e.g., confusing a “6” with an “8” or “+” with “×”), which interferes with both understanding and solving problems.
      • I don't have so many difficulties with digits, only when they're either too big or too small, or if they have too many decimals.
    • Operational dyscalculia: Even when students understand the symbols and concepts involved, they may still struggle to carry out the steps of arithmetic operations (like borrowing or carrying in subtraction and addition). Operational dyscalculia reflects a breakdown in the ability to perform calculations in a logical and sequential manner.
  1. My cognitive subtype is the Memory Dyscalculia: «Weaknesses in both working memory and long-term memory, particularly in recalling arithmetic facts, procedures, or sequences.»
  2. I also struggle with ADHD and autism, as well as bipolar disorder, so these four things interact.
  3. I'm confident in that I'm actually really strong in formal logic, although only in natural language, because in symbolic formal logic I'm horrible (and that is to be expected, tho, because I struggle with abstract symbols in general); curiously, or perhaps predictably, and maybe I'm that good in logic because I'm that bad in maths.

So, what I would like to know is, are there any programming languages (or maybe some libraries) that, despite being (or making these not-so-dyscalculic-friendly languages) accesible and not too math-centered (I want to avoid them as much as possible) and with a friendly learning curve, don't sacrifice that much performance, efficiency, lightweightness, security and all that?

I'm particularly obsessed with performance, lightweightness and efficiency because I have a PC that, despite being actually decent (screenshot below), I constantly do hardware-intensive things and I love ricing, customizing and having powerful and featureful tools, but most of them are just so bloated (i.e. most Zettelstaken-style outliners are or written with Electron [or even Tauri], or too bare-bones, and I want both featurefulness AND efficiency, functionality AND lightweightness [I hate Suckless btw]).


Also, I need to know, what are the best tutorials (if they're in Spanish, better, because I only understand well the written English, I struggle with spoken English), courses (same here) and resources in general to learn programming that are dyscalculia-friendly (better if they're explicitly tagged or categorized as such)?

I feel really alienated because most of them do assume that you're idk, Ramanujan, or something like him, at least from my perspective and lived experience, and I'd really love to be able to program my own tools and to be able to contribute to projects I like with features I'd love to see there, and to fork some tainted projects and make an untainted version, etc.


TL;DR:

I have developmental dyscalculia (both functional and cognitive subtypes): intermediate functional (struggles with abstract symbols and large numbers), lexical (misreads math symbols, especially with many decimals or extreme sizes), operational (can't execute sequential arithmetic steps), and memory-based (poor working/long-term recall of arithmetic facts and procedures). I also have ADHD, autism, and bipolar disorder, which all interact. I'm strong in natural-language logic but weak in symbolic logic (expected, given my symbol difficulties).

What I'm asking:

  1. Languages/libraries: Which programming languages or libraries are not math-heavy, have a gentle learning curve, and still deliver good performance, efficiency, and lightweightness? I want to avoid Electron/Tauri bloat and Suckless bare-bones; I want both featureful and efficient.
  2. Learning resources: What tutorials, courses, or resources exist that are explicitly dyscalculia-friendly (or at least don't assume strong number sense)? Spanish is strongly preferred; written English is fine, spoken English is not.

Goal: Build my own tools, contribute features to projects I like, and fork/fix projects that are tainted by AI.


PS: I mean tainted as per OpenSlopware definitions

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [S] 0 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Please, I won't EVER consider using Python, it's literally the language that has brought up all this AI shit, and I don't want to touch it even with a stick; also, that programming language is fucking inefficient, bloated, slow, big and poorly optimized. I'd like to start directly learning compiled languages, or JIT-based languages.

  • source
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 4 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    I think there's a big philosophical difference between something like Rust and Python in their intended usage. Python has always been great for making something quickly. It's used because it is faster than doing something by hand and also faster than to write the C equivalent.

    Do you have a tool you'd like to start building? Might be helpful to pick something you want to contribute to and start there. In terms of tutorials, its hard to just suggest a programming language without knowing you and what you might find difficult.

    For example, C et al, Zig, Go and Rust make heavy use of {} and <>. This could be a problem, but I personally dont know your experience. You're going to struggle not to use maths in the form of algorithms, data structures and expressions, but it will be closer to written language if you use full variable names instead of single letters (I'm assuming you're not dyslexic).

    TO; DR pick a tool and work out what you want to build. Start with one that exists, is small and in a low level language. You can write code in a style that makes it feel less like maths but you're never going to get away from maths. Use the language for very different projects: internet, file access, fast actions.

    Tutorials can teach you the how but self directed learning is a bitch without a project you feel passionate about.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment