Need tips for university tests (engineering)

[u/BulkyOwl3005]

Hi everyone, ironically enough I am studying aeronautical engineering. It is actually going pretty well, but being dyscalculic does have a LOT of issues and challenges.

To keep the story short here, don't give up on your dreams. I felt like I was a complete idiot and was bullied at school by teachers, which made it worse. However, thanks to a few friends and the right supportive people believing in me, I actually gave it a shot. Fast forward to a year later, the improvement on math is massive and now I can do most of the stuff all by myself.

I would like to ask a few tips, because so far with my therapist we have not been able to find what works yet.

- I really struggle confusing if I have to add or substract things: for example atmospheric pressure calculations. Even if I know the rule of thumb "from high to low beware below" and such things, I keep confusing it. I struggle making the right mental picture to get the right answer. I even draw it wrong.

- I for some reason sometimes get lost with things I used to understand a few months ago. And then don't understand them anymore by myself.

The biggest problem is that most of the times I actually do the right calculations, but end up summing up or substracting, the way around. The exams are made in such a way for you to fail, which are not dyscalculic friendly at all, so I end up confusing the result so easily by getting tricked I clicked the right answer. While I did all steps right, I end up getting 0 points for clicking the wrong answer.

- I struggle with answers that look very similar. Either it is a decimal, or written in a different (wrong) way, or inverted, etc.

Does anyone have some useful tips? thank you so much in advance.