mathematical difficulties Flashcards
difficulties with mathematics
- common and persistent into adulthood
- 6.8 million adults in England were estimated to have skills at or below level expected for typical 9-year-old
- low numeracy skills linked to:
–> higher unemployment, lower salary, greater risk of depression and poorer health - a lot less research of math difficulties compared to reading difficulties
developmental dyscalculia facts
- estimated that 3-10% of children suffer from severe mathematical difficulties
–> i.e. developmental dyscalculia - larger number of children and adults estimated to have less severe mathematical difficulties
–> impacts educational and occupational outcomes - less research on mathematical disorders (e.g., dyscalculia) compared to reading disorders (e.g., dyslexia)
what is developmental dyscalculia?
- specific impairment of mathematical ability
- affects approximately 3.5-6.5% of the population
effects of developmental dyscalculia in early childhood
difficulties with:
- Number sense
- Sorting objects
- Recognising patterns or groups
- Comparing and contrasting magnitude
- Learning to count
- Recognising numbers
- Matching numbers with amounts
effects of developmental dyscalculia in school-age children
difficulties with:
- Solving basic arithmetic problems
- Remembering and retaining basic maths facts
- Applying knowledge and skills to solve maths problems
- Organising maths facts needed to solve a problem
- Understanding what’s written on a board or in a textbook
effects of developmental dyscalculia in teens and adults
difficulties with:
- Moving on to more advanced mathematical concepts
- Grasping mathematical vocabulary
- Following multi-step procedures to solve advanced problems
–> Visualise patterns
–> Visualise different parts of a maths problem
–> Identifying critical information needed to solve problems
warning signs of developmental dyscalculia
- Slow to develop counting and maths problem-solving skills
- Difficulty reading numbers or recalling numbers in sequence
- Frustration when specific computation and organisation skills need to be used
- Trouble with concept of time
- Poor sense of direction
- Poor long-term memory of concepts
- Poor mental maths ability
- Difficulty playing strategy games
- Difficulty keeping score during games
diagnostic criteria for developmental dyscalculia
- based on performance on standardised mathematical achievement test
- low test performance compared to test performance of children/adults of the same age
–> low performance cannot be explained by inappropriate education, neurological disorders or psychiatric disorders
how does DSM define a specific learning disorder?
- a neurodevelopmental disorder of biological origin manifested in learning difficulty and problems in acquiring academic skills markedly below age level and manifested in the early school years
- lasting for at least 6 months
- not attributed to intellectual disabilities, developmental disorders, or neurological or motor disorders.
- specify if:
–> 315.00 With impairment in reading
–> 315.2 With impairment in written expression
–> 315.1 With impairment in mathematics
changes from DSM IV to DSM 5
- Specific Learning Disorder replaced 4 specific disorders
–> Reading Disorder
–> Mathematics Disorder
–> Disorder of Written Expression
–> Learning Disorder Not Otherwise Specified - all grouped into one
- “Acknowledgment is made in the text that specific types of reading deficits are described internationally in various ways as dyslexia and specific types of mathematics deficits as dyscalculia”
IQ discrepancy: DSM IV to DSM 5
- DSM-IV used an intelligence (IQ) discrepancy criterion
–> discrepancy of more than 2 standard deviations between maths and IQ
–> sometimes discrepancy of between 1 and 2 SDs used - DSM-5 dropped IQ discrepancy criterion:
–> little evidence that the numerical difficulties of children with developmental dyscalculia differ dependent on IQ level
DSM-5 Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) Diagnostic Criteria
- Four diagnostic criteria must be met
–> criterion A
–> criterion B
–> criterion C
–> criterion D - Specifiers:
–> with impairment in reading - dyslexia
–> with impairment in written expression
–> with impairment in mathematics - dyscalculia - Severity:
–> mild
–> moderate
–> severe
SLD - criterion A
- Difficulties learning and using academic skills
- Persisted at least 6 months, despite intervention
- Presence of at least one of:
–> difficulties mastering number sense, number facts, or calculation
–> difficulties with mathematical reasoning
SLD - criterion B
- Skills are substantially below those expected for the individual’s chronological age
- Skills interfere with academic/occupational performance/activities of daily living
- Confirmed by standardized achievement measures and comprehensive clinical assessment
SLD - criterion C
- Difficulties begin during school-age years
- May not fully manifest until demands exceed capacity
–> e.g., timed tests & deadlines
SLD - criterion D
- NOT better explained by other factors
–> intellectual disabilities
–> visual or auditory issues
–> other mental or neurological disorders
comorbidity
- Estimated that ½ to ⅔ of children with developmental dyscalculia also have an additional learning disorder:
–> Reading difficulties
–> ADHD
–> Language delay
–> Problems with visuospatial working memory
–> Motoric deficits
reasons for comorbidity
- unclear
- could be additive effects
- could be shared risk factors
–> there is some clear evidence for genetic risk
practical implications of comorbidity
- those with developmental dyscalculia and other deficits may perform worse than those with developmental dyscalculia only
- Less able to use compensatory mechanisms due to additional co-occurring deficits
types of theories of developmental dyscalculia
- domain specific
–> underlying core deficit in a numeral deficit
–> core deficit in symbolic processing? - domain general
–> impairment in non-numerical mechanisms
–> core feature?
–> or comorbidity?
