Larry Mullen Jr. of U2 fame has a disease that makes it difficult to play music.
Drummer and founding member of the Irish rock band Mullen revealed in a new interview with Times Radio that he suffers from dyscalculia, a learning disorder.
“I always knew there was something not particularly right about the way I deal with numbers,” he explains. “I am numerically challenged. And I recently realized I have dyscalculia, which is a sub-version of dyslexia. so i can’t count [and] “I can’t add.”
Mullen said that the diagnosis affects the way he plays music, admitting that it “pains” him.
He shared, “When people sometimes see me play, they say, ‘You look sad.’ I’m feeling sad because I’m trying to count the bars. I had to find ways to do that – and counting the bars is like climbing Everest.
Dyscalculia, according to the Cleveland Clinic, “is a learning disorder that affects a person’s ability to understand number-based information and mathematics. People who have dyscalculia struggle with numbers and math because their brains don’t process math-related concepts the way the brains of people without the disorder do.
While symptoms usually begin to appear in childhood, it often goes undiagnosed.
The Cleveland Clinic also notes that people who have dyscalculia “often face mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression, and other difficult emotions, when doing math.”
Dyscalculia is similar to the more commonly known dyslexia, as they both fall under the diagnosis of “specific learning disorder” as outlined in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), but whereas Dyscalculia is related to one. Dyslexia is related to a person’s ability to do math, whereas dyslexia is related to a person’s ability to read.
Mullen is talking about his diagnosis while promoting a new documentary, “Left Behind.” According to the film’s website, it “tells the inspiring story of a group of determined mothers who band together to create the first public dyslexic school in New York City, America’s largest school district.”
The drummer wrote and produced the music for the film, which debuted at the Woodstock Film Festival in October. Talking about the film, he has revealed that his son has dyslexia.
According to the Irish Times, Mullen is responsible for starting U2 – aged just 14, he posted a note on a bulletin board at Dublin’s Mount Temple School in 1976 that read, “Drummer to form band “Looks for musicians.”
He held auditions in the kitchen of his home, and Adam Clayton, David Evans (known as The Edge) and Paul Hewson (Bono) all attended. Although there have been some disagreements between the band over the years, they have remained together ever since.
