When I watched Sinners, I wasn’t expecting a moment that felt deeply personal. But when Smoke said:
“Numbers should always be in a conversation,”
I froze the screen.
To most, it might have felt like a quirky aside. But as a mom of neurodivergent kids—and someone who speaks up about Black neurodivergence and dyscalculia—that line hit me with clarity. Name it or not, that’s dyscalculia.
Dyscalculia is more than just “bad at math.” It affects how someone understands numbers, time, spatial relationships, and even patterns. Think:
Trouble telling time
Difficulty handling money or making change
Getting lost—even with directions
Feeling anxious or frozen when numbers come up
Stats you need to know:
It affects 3–6% of kids—about as common as dyslexia or ADHD
Some research puts the range as high as 13.8%, depending on how it’s measured
Around 11% of children with dyscalculia also have ADHD
Most shockingly? Math anxiety stemming from dyscalculia can last into adulthood, impacting daily financial and career decisions
Yet dyscalculia remains under-identified—especially in Black children.
Here’s where it gets deeper.
Black children are 40% more likely to be referred to special education—yet less likely to be correctly diagnosed
White students are twice as likely to be identified with dyslexia compared to Black students (6% vs. 3%)
By 8th grade, Black students are 71% less likely to be identified as having a learning disability than White peers with similar needs
What does that mean?
Too many Black neurodivergent kids are misunderstood, mislabeled, or missed entirely.
Maybe Ryan Coogler didn’t intend this reading. But Smoke’s constant return to numbers felt like a grounding ritual—a coping tool.
And for many neurodivergent folks, patterns = safety.
For Black kids, who are often misread as “defiant” or “distracted,” this hit hard. Smoke wasn’t just “weird”—he might’ve been wired differently. And that matters.
We’re finally talking more about Black excellence in media—but we’re still not talking enough about Black difference.
Neurodivergent Black characters are:
Rarely named
Rarely supported
Often flattened into stereotypes
But what if we looked closer?
What if Smoke was a neurodivergent genius—misunderstood in plain sight?
What if “numbers in every conversation” was his way of navigating a world that doesn’t always make sense?
Dyscalculia, ADHD, autism, sensory sensitivity—these aren’t new. But the lens we use to recognize them in Black and Brown kids often comes with bias.
We can’t advocate if we don’t name it.
We can’t support kids we don’t see clearly.
And we definitely can’t wait for schools to catch up.
If you’ve ever heard a line in a show or movie and thought, “That’s my child,” you’re not alone. That’s why I created tools for parents to step into their power.
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Want more tips for advocating for your child? Tune into the Parenting Cipher Podcast or empowering insights and real-life strategies.
That line in Sinners wasn’t just poetic—it was a portal.
Representation isn’t just about storylines or costumes. It’s about how characters think, process, connect. Until we see neurodivergence as part of brilliance—not as a footnote—our kids will keep feeling invisible.
Let’s raise the volume on stories that reflect the whole child.
Especially the ones who count numbers in every conversation.