Student: Erin Martin Date: March 6, 2020

Reading Assignment: How the Special Needs Brain Learns by David A. Sousa – Chapter 7

Reading Summary and Two-Column Note Form

Part 1: Summary: In no more than three separate sentences, summarize the key
information the author is conveying in this chapter. (Suggestion: Give a one-
sentence summary for each of the major sections of the reading assignment.)

To complete mathematical functions, it requires different or larger parts of the

brain depending on the complexity of the math function, and interestingly, females suffer
a dangerous stereotype that they are not as successful at math compared to males.
Individuals may have difficulties in math, which can be either influenced by a disability
—such as dyscalculia, by environmental factors, or various other disorders. Educators
should use methods to determine which individuals have mathematical difficulties and
utilize various teaching strategies to support students with mathematical difficulties to
help them be the most successful they can be in school, including teaching less material
in a longer period of time or using the Concrete-Representational-Abstract approach.
Part 2: Personal response
Write the words, phrases, sentences that
strike you. Note the page numbers.
Provide no more than three quotations
across the text assignment.
1. “Number sense…a person’s ability
to recognize that something has
changed in a small collection when,
without that person’s knowledge, an
object has been added or removed
from the collection” (158).
2. When making approximations, an
increase in size of the parts of the
brain used as approximations
involve more number interaction
(159).
3. The neural networks involved in
completing mathematical activities
relate to some of those used when
processing language (159).
4. It is important to remember that
children who experience math
challenges may not suffer from
language issues, and those with
language struggles may not suffer
from math challenges (160).
Write your thinking about what the author
says. Make connections to personal
experience, other texts you’ve read, and/or
to what you know about schools.
1. I found this definition of number
sense very formal yet true, despite
its proper language. When solving
math problems, even simple
addition and subtraction equations,
I realize it involves not physically
seeing the adding or removing of
values.
2. When making an estimation in one
of my education classes, I counted
as many of the objects I could see in
the jar, estimated the objects’ height
and width, and used this
information to approximate how
many of the objects I could not see.
I was then able to make an
approximation of how many objects
were in the jar. This estimation
process involved several number
functions, which connects to what
Sousa shared in his textbook.
3. When observing students
completing a math lesson, I noticed
they sometimes talk through how to
solve a problem with their peers.
Thus, by explaining how to solve a
math problem using mathematical
terms, it is logical that language and
math processing share neural
networks.
4. This information connects to a book
I read when I was a child. In the
book, the child was nonverbal but
could complete math problems
successfully in her head. Thus,
although the character could not
speak, she was still able to do math.
5. “Stereotype threat…occurs when
people believe they will be
evaluated based on societal
stereotypes about their particular
group” (160). Females may suffer
from stereotype threats in regard to
math as they are not typically
thought of as being as successful in
math than males (160).
6. Dyscalculia is when an individual
suffers from repeated challenges in
relation to completing arithmetic
calculations. It is found to be
inheritable in some cases (161).
7. If an individual has dyscalculia
from the moment they are born, it is
called developmental dyscalculia.
On the other hand, acquired
dyscalculia is when an individual
develops dyscalculia after birth.
(161-162)
8. “Dyscalculia can be (1)
quantitative, which is a difficulty in
counting and calculating; (2)
qualitative, which is a difficulty in
the conceptualizing of mathematics
processes and spatial sense; or (3)
mixed, which is the inability to
integrate quantity and space” (162).
5. In my ED 404 class, stereotype
threat was recently discussed in
relation to children in schools.
Children of a different race, culture,
language, or particulasr gender may
believe they are incapable of an
action or are destined for a specific
future because of society’s
stereotypes. Furthermore, as a
person who loves math, it saddens
me that females may suffer from
lack of confidence in being able to
be successful in math. Math is an
enjoyable subject, and all students
should be given the chance and
confidence at being successful in
math.
6. Dyscalculia reminds me of when I
was a student aid in a high school
freshmen math class. The math
class contained students who
struggled in math. Because many of
the students truly struggled solving
certain math problems, I am curious
if any of the students had a type of
dyscalculia.
7. This causes me to think about other
disabilities that an individual can
obtain before birth or after birth,
such as visual and hearing
impairments.
8. I have learned about the definition
of quantitative and qualitative
throughout my entire life. However,
I am surprised how the terms relate
to a mathematical disability.
9. The environment in which a student
completes arithmetic activities can
influence a student’s math class
performance. Also, math does not
have much of an effect on a student
as other classes because it is more
socially acceptable to make
mistakes in math than in other
courses (162).
10. Individuals can develop a phobia
toward completing math activities,
and thus, their performance in math
class would decrease and their
grade would suffer. Students with a
math phobia may not fully
comprehend arithmetic concepts
(163).
11. An individual who has a math
teacher knowledgeable about
arithmetic will have increased
engagement and grades in math
(163).
12. Disorders that affect a person’s
ability to complete math involve:
Struggling with completing actions
that include number concepts,
counting exercises, solving
arithmetic equations, completing
sequences, memorization of
mathematical actions, and
challenges in visual-spatial
processes (164-166).
13. If an individual has a mathematical
disorder, they still have simple
number knowledge. However, they
9. I find it interesting that the author
writes about how students do not
place as much importance on math
than other subjects. I truly enjoyed
my math classes and was more
negatively affected when I made
mistakes in math than other classes.
10. Before college, I learned math in
every single grade in school.
Although I love math, I would still
become anxious about math tests,
quizzes, and even completing
homework. Thus, I understand how
someone can develop a fear of math
due to the worries and stress it
creates.
11. Most of my math teachers
throughout my educational career
have been wonderful. They showed
enthusiasm for their classes, they
connected well with their students,
and displayed their great knowledge
of the content of the course. Thus, I
agree with Sousa that students will
be more engaged in math class with
an intelligent and enthusiastic
teacher.
12. I never realized how many math
concepts are affected by
mathematical disorders. This
reminds me of all the children I
have interacted with while on
school visits and how their
experiences are unique.
Furthermore, each child’s
mathematical disability is unique
with varying degrees of intensity.
13. I found it interesting that
individuals with a mathematical
disability do not struggle with
 cannot conduct functions involving
complex number functions (164).
14. Graph paper can help individuals
who struggle with visual-spatial
aspects in relation to math (166).
15. Children who have arithmetic
struggles can benefit from
heuristics, clear directions, tutoring
from older peers, students
expressing their thought process
when solving a math problem, and
examples of sequencing (167).
16. There are seven prerequisites that
an educator can utilize to study the
math skills of her students. The
prerequisites revolve around the
topics of: Sequences, patterns,
estimation, spatial and visualization
skills, and deductive and inductive
reasoning. These prerequisites will
provide evidence to educators if a
student may have dyscalculia (169).
simple number functions. This
causes me to think about when I
worked with a kindergarten student
at Crooked Creek Elementary. Her
counting skills were excellent, yet
when it came to comparing which
side had a bigger or smaller
number, she struggled. This
supports how she had a challenging
time when completing complex
number functions, which involved
determining if a side was greater
than or less than the other side.
14. This connects to when I have seen
my peers use graph paper to
organize their math homework.
Although my peers do not have a
math disability, this practice is very
helpful to keep their work
organized.
15. I believe these strategies can
benefit students even without
mathematic disabilities. Very clear
instructions have always helped me
succeed in my classes. Thus, if
educators use these strategies in
their general education classes with
all their students, they will create an
inclusive and supportive classroom
that does not bring attention to
children with mathematics
disabilities.
16. I find it interesting that learning
math involves needing to know
previous specific skills. However,
when working in a preschool while
in high school, many activities with
the young children focused on the
prerequisites listed. I never realized
how well preschool prepares a child
for kindergarten and later grades.
17. Other ways—not including the
prerequisites—to assess children’s
level of math skills include:
Measuring their cognitive
awareness, discovering the
children’s preferences when
learning mathematics (quantitative
vs. qualitative learning), how well
students can understand math’s
terminology, and where students are
in mastering the six levels of math
(171-173).
18. For students who struggle in math,
educators should place importance
on teaching less information in a
longer period of time (173).
19. An educator should choose to give
more oral assessments that allow
children to explain their knowledge
rather than writing it (175).
17. I believe it is important to meet all
student’s learning needs, and to
meet children’s math needs is to
study where they currently are in
their math skills. I agree with the
author that some educators are
discovering students’ math skills in
various ways because when I was in
high school, my class often
completed math pretests to help my
teacher know where his students
were in relation to math skills.
18. I believe this practice is important
because spending more time on
learning specific content allows
students to retain the information
better. This seems accurate because
when any of my teachers spent
more time teaching a topic, I
retained the information better. In a
specific example, when I took
economics in high school, the more
time my teacher spent on teaching
specific information, the more I
understood it.
19. I am a true supporter in teaching to
children’s learning styles. Thus, if a
written exam does not apply to a
student who expresses her
knowledge better by speaking, then
I would rather the student speak
about her learning than fail in
writing about it. Thus, I would truly
discover what the student learned.
For example, in a book I recently
read, the character struggled to
write about an assigned topic.
However, she could easily share
verbally about the subject. Thus,
educators should apply to students’
needs to help them succeed in
school.
20. Concrete-representational-abstract
(CRA) – this is an approach that
helps students who do or do not
struggle in learning math concepts
through their participation in
different levels of understanding of
a math concept (178).
20. This is an interesting learning
approach that I desire to use in my
future classroom. The CRA
teaching approach reminds me of
how I was taught math in middle
school. We often were given a real-
world problem to solve, which
involved physical objects and
movement. After the activity, the
teacher would eventually introduce
the abstract math concept. The real-
world situation related to that
abstract math concept we would
learn later in the class, helping
some students gain a complete
understanding of the concept being
taught.