Larry Mullen Jr. Says Dyscalculia Diagnosis Makes it Hard to Count

U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr. said that he was recently diagnosed with dyscalculia, a learning disability similar to dyslexia that effects a person’s ability to do arithmetic or comprehend numbers. 

Speaking publicly about the disability for the first time in an interview with Times Radio, Mullen said he cannot add numbers or count — including bars of music, a task he compared to “climbing Everest.”

“When people watch me play sometimes, they say, ‘you look pained,’” Mullen said. “I am pained because I’m trying to count the bars. I had to find ways of doing this.”

Despite contending with this throughout his life and professional career, Mullen said he was only just diagnosed with dyscalculia. “I’ve always known that there’s something not particularly right with the way that I deal with numbers,” he said. “I’m numerically challenged.”

Mullen discussed his diagnosis during an interview about a new documentary, Left Behind, about a group of mothers trying to open the first public school in New York City for children with dyslexia. Mullen, whose son is dyslexic, produced and wrote music for the film, including a song called “Between the Lines,” with Gayle, who also has dyslexia.

“Making the music through the eyes of my dyslexic son felt personal and visceral,” he said. 

Other musicians have opened up having dyscalculia, including Cher, Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine, and Robbie Williams (all of whom also have dyslexia). Welch wrote about her experiences in the foreword to “Creative Differences,” a handbook about neurodiversity published a few years ago. She said that while working an early job at a bar, she struggled to count change so devised a system where she learned the shape of each coin and gave them a geometric value.