Mathematics Disabilities

Mathematical disabilities are similar in terms of reading disabilities in that many students have both disabilities. There are three major groups of students with mathematics disabilities: (1) Semantic Memory Deficiency in which the student has trouble remembering basic facts and thus has trouble dealing with recapping mathematical scenarios. (2) Procedural type disabilities in which the student uses developmentally inefficient procedures to tackle complex procedures dealing with calculations. (3) The spatial/visual student has the disability upon which they have trouble representing numerical information spatially often seen in Algebra and Geometry.

Students with mathematical disabilities, compared to low achieving students show a difference in dealing with numbers, learning of mathematical processes for problems, and remembering basic facts. One clear thing that is seen in student with mathematical disabilities is a widespread deficit in types of working memories. The studies behind it are in their preliminary stages so not much is known in regards to the causes of mathematical disabilities or the relationship between working memory and mathematical understanding.