Mathematics education and learning disabilities in Spain

In the first part of this article, we describe the basic objectives of the math curriculum in Spain as well as the basic contents, teacher resources, and obstacles perceived in mathematics instruction. Second, we briefly describe the concept of learning disabilities (LD) as they are currently defined in Spain. As stated in the recent educational reform, a student with LD is any student with special educational needs. The emphasis is placed on the educational resources that these students need in order to achieve the curricular objectives that correspond to their age group or grade. Third, we comment specifically on the educational services model and the evaluation and instructional procedures for students with math learning disabilities. Finally, we describe some lines of research that have appeared in the last few years in Spain that have led to the development of new evaluation and intervention procedures for students with LD in computation and problem solving.     

Comprehension of humor in children with nonverbal learning disabilities,reading disabilities,and without learning disabilities

The normal development of humor in children has been well documented with a predictable course that is tied to social, cognitive, and linguistic development in children. This study explored humor comprehension in children with nonverbal learning disabilities (NVLD). Children with NVLD were compared with children with reading disabilities and a comparison group of children with no learning disabilities to assess their comprehension of humor. The humor test was composed of a joke and cartoon section. No group differences in humor comprehension were found when the NVLD group was defined as having visual–spatial and visual reasoning deficits. However, when the NVLD group was divided into children with and without social perceptual difficulties as defined by a direct measure of social comprehension, significant group differences were found in the levels of humor comprehension. These results support the association of humor comprehension with social perception and lend tentative support to the hypothesis that children with NVLD may not be a homogenous group. Future study directions include further exploration into the nature of the association between humor comprehension and social perception as well as closer examination of the heterogeneity of NVLD.     

Cognitive abilities and learning disabilities

Summary The greater discrepancy between spatial vs sequential/conceptual WISC subtest results in learning-disabled children is instrumental to the idea that these children might profit relatively more from an imagery based strategy in organizing and recalling noun pairs and triplets than from a verbal strategy. The results from the present studies with concrete nouns show that this is not the case. Another result is that learning-disabled children’s recall performance is also lower when strategy instructed (except in the first experiment) than normal children’s performance. Suggestions as to which strategy aspects could be responsible are given. This paper is based upon a presentation at the 30th Annual Conference of The Orton Society in Indianapolis, November 1979.     

Mathematics learning disabilities in girls with fragile X or Turner syndrome during late elementary school

The present study focuses on math and related skills among 32 girls with fragile X (n = 14) or Turner (n = 18) syndrome during late elementary school. Performance in each syndrome group was assessed relative to Full Scale IQ-matched comparison groups of girls from the general population (n = 32 and n = 89 for fragile X syndrome and Turner syndrome, respectively). Differences between girls with fragile X and their comparison group emerged on untimed arithmetic calculations, mastery of counting skills, and arithmetic problem verification accuracy. Relative to girls in the comparison group, girls with Turner syndrome did not differ on untimed arithmetic calculations or problem verification accuracy, but they had limited mastery of counting skills and longer response times to complete the problem verification task. Girls with fragile X or Turner syndrome also differed from their respective comparison groups on math-related abilities, including visual-spatial, working memory, and reading skills, and the associations between math and those related skills. Together, these findings support the notion that difficulty with math and related skills among girls with fragile X or Turner syndrome continues into late elementary school and that the profile of math and related skill difficulty distinguishes the two syndrome groups from each other.     

Nonverbal learning disabilities and remedial interventions

Adolescents with nonverbal learning disabilities who enroll in private, special secondary schools consistently present a pattern of behaviors which prevents achievement of their potentials in academic areas and impedes their abilities to interact effectively with others. With weaknesses in the fine graphomotor skills for writing and poor organization at all levels, they produce limited written output and often fail to complete academic assignments. Their response to pressure to produce is to become less productive. These students perceive social situations inaccurately; they are not successful in their interactions, especially with peers. They have learned to resolve difficult situations by employing their relatively strong verbal skills to enlist parents and other adults in intervening for them. They have not developed the skills to intervene for themselves. Effective remedial interventions include training the students in skills for planning and organizing, for studying, for written expression, and in social cognition and interpersonal communication. Students gain positive feelings of personal effectiveness through a process—at first verbally mediated, ultimately verbally self-directed—in which they are encouraged to plan, risk, and act on their own behalfs to resolve matters of personal concern.     

Tourette syndrome and learning disabilities.

We reviewed the records of 42 consecutive cases of children with Tourette Syndrome (TS) who had IQs above 70, and contrasted the reading, reading comprehension, math, and spelling quotients with IQ scores to determine how many would meet criteria for a learning disability. The mean IQ of the 35 males and 7 females was 94.4 and was higher than the mean math score (82.8), spelling score (90.4), reading score (87.4), and reading comprehension score (85.3). Using a 1.5 standard deviation discrepancy, 51% met criteria for learning disability in at least one academic area; 21% had a 2-standard-deviation discrepancy. Children with TS frequently have learning disabilities, and assessment of academic achievement should be a routine aspect in the evaluation of such children.     

Success despite specific learning disabilities

Abstract

Proactive coping is known to be a key resource for life success by adults who have specific learning disabilities. This paper describes two programs that were trialled as part of doctoral research. These were a coping program and a teacher feedback intervention designed to increase proactive coping for adolescent students with specific learning disabilities. The coping program focused on use of proactive coping strategies, optimistic thinking and assertiveness, and was designed according to best practice for access by students who have specific learning disabilities. The teacher feedback intervention involved teacher feedback to individual students that focused on expectation of use of effort, and strategy in preference to negative rumination on poor ability.     

The sociopsychometrics of learning disabilities

The Boston University (BU) case illustrates how the psychometrics of ability differences interact with the concept of learning disability and with the sociopolitics of schooling and society. It also illustrates that learning disabilities advocacy will not be on a sound footing as long as the field refuses to rid itself of its IQ fetishism, refuses to jettison its fixation on aptitude-achievement discrepancy, and fails to free clinical practice from the pseudoscientific neurology that plagued the field in the 1970s. A more inclusive definition of learning disability--one that abandons discrepancy notions--and a more self-critical attitude toward its own claims would advance the field of learning disabilities and help to rid it of distractions such as the BU case.     

Familial patterns of learning disabilities

Extended families of 12 young adults (9 LD, 3 non-LD) were given a battery of tests and questionnaires, and 131 persons, ranging in age from 6 to 85, were classified as LD or non-LD on the basis of subtest scores 1 SD below the mean or less on subtests of the PIAT and WRAT achievement tests. Pedigree analysis indicated that LD was strongly familial, with the most probable mode involving a major gene effect, but the type of disability (reading/ math) was not directly inherited. Autoimmune disorders were significantly correlated (P<.005) with LD, especially in families in which LD remained a major handicap into adulthood, a trait that also varied between families. In two of the LD families, adults showed little evidence of the reading/spelling deficits they had shown when tested as children, while adults in other families failed to make gains in reading and spelling.     

Classroom discourse: teaching,learning, and learning disabilities

This study examined teacher–student discourse from a sociocultural perspective in order to ascertain the nature of effective instruction for school-age students with learning disabilities. This discussion examines one teacher's resource room instruction that was part of a larger study of teacher–student discourse. The results suggested two considerations: (1) the importance of teacher self-reflection and the implications for effective teaching and learning, and (2) differential discourse patterns across academic domains. Wood's notion of contingent teaching (1991) provided a guideline for coding teacher–student discourse. The results suggest that feedback combined with cognitive structuring contribute to effective teaching and learning.     

Arithmetic education and learning disabilities in Italy

In the first part of this article, we briefly present the context of mathematics education in Italy and its specific programs, teaching and assessment methods, use of psychological concepts, and policies in favor of pupils with difficulties. We illustrate the importance and the role of mathematics teachers' associations. In the second part, we focus more directly on the issue of arithmetic learning and learning disabilities in Italy. Despite the absence of a specific strong tradition in the field, new perspectives regarding mathematics education are evident in Italy. The preparation of new assessment tools has proceeded together with an effort toward the identification of subtypes of arithmetic learning disabilities. A basic distinction has been made between difficulties in number processing/calculation and problem-solving tasks. Within the area of calculation, a finer distinction between numerical knowledge, speed, and accuracy seems critical, but a more articulated differentiation of subcomponents relying on modern cognitive-neuropsychological models can be used also.