DEVELOPMENTAL DYSCALCULIA OR SPECIFIC CALCULATION DISORDER: DEFINITION, CHARACTERISTICS AND DIAGNOSIS

Key words: Developmental dyscalculia, Mathematical difficulties, Assessment, Intervention

It is evident how our everyday life is permeated by numbers; we continuously use numbers: in the morning when the alarm clock rings, to fix our appointments or when we check the change after shopping. Then, why mathematics is so difficult? Through the analysis of the development processes, scientific research helps us understand why children have so many problems in learning mathematics. The present work describes the most recent researches on the development of the numerical intelligence and calculation ability. The reasons that led to the Consensus Conference (2009) to identify possible cognitive profiles in the developmental dyscalculia are also described.