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A recent study has revealed that more children suffer from number blindness, rendering them incapable of understanding arithmetic and numbers than dyslexia or word blindness. The University College London research studied about 1500 children to come to this conclusion. The research discovered that while 2.5 and 4.3 percent of kids suffered from dyslexia, a higher number -3 and 6 percent suffered from its mathematical equivalent called dyscalculia.
Brian Butterworth, professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London revealed that the disability had nothing to do with how a child was taught, but was the result of children lacking a proper ‘sense of numbers, that hinders them in math lessons. The study was carried out in Cuba by the Cuban Ministries of Health & Education, which commissioned a national survey to assess the extent of the problem using a simple screening test developed by Prof Brian Butterworth.
Prof Butterworth asserted that increasingly the evidence shows that dyscalculia is just as common as dyslexia and yet it is not recognized as widely by teachers, parents, schools, local authorities or governments. Speaking at the Cheltenham Science Festival, Prof Butterworth further revealed that individuals may be unaware that they suffer from this condition. And even if they do discover about the condition, then also there are no dyscalculia charities to assist as there are for dyslexia. Dyscalculia literally means bad counting and is genetically linked learning disability, which hampers a person’s ability to use and conceive of numbers.
