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** Experienced by Students with Learning Disabilities **
 * Mathematical Problems **


 * ORAL LANGUAGE PROBLEMS: **
 * Have difficulty comprehending, organizing, and appropriately using the language terms associated with mathematics despite having adequate auditory skills.
 * Some students are unable to understand the greater than (›) and less than (‹) relationships.
 * Many math words have multiple meanings. Sometimes these students may confuse the noun form of a word “color the circle red” for the same word used as a verb “circle the group of four.”
 * There are many synonyms that describe the same operation (e.g., addition, plus, more than).
 * The ability to solve word problems that have longer sentences and complex vocabulary is affected.
 * Students have trouble verbalizing what they are doing as they analyze, plan, calculate, and carry out the steps they use.


 * CULTURAL AND LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES: **
 * Students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who have learning problems often experience some problems with the language of mathematics.
 * Words may be used in ways that are culturally unfamiliar.
 * e.g., odd and even
 * The differences in structural relationships between words and syntax can be confusing.
 * e.g., the order of words in sentences
 * e.g., algorithmic formats (reading from left to right, up and down)


 * COGNITIVE FACTORS **
 * Some students with learning problems may have difficulty with cognitive processing or intellectual functioning.
 * Difficulties in the following areas:
 * Grasping new skills or concepts in comparison to age peers
 * Learning new information at a rate comparable to age peers
 * Retaining information
 * Comprehending and solving problems
 * Analyzing and synthesizing information
 * Grasping new learning without on-going repetition
 * Understanding relationships, cause and effect
 * Evaluating and making judgments
 * Drawing inferences, making conclusions and hypothesizing
 * Reasoning abstractly and dealing with complex issues.
 * EMOTIONAL FACTORS: **
 * Affective factors influence math performance in many ways.
 * Attitude plays an important role in academic performance.
 * When students have a positive perception of their ability and a good attitude toward math, then they are more likely to approach math instruction in a positive manner
 * Anxiety or depression can cause students to experience difficulty concentrating.
 * Learned helplessness may occur when students have a history of academic failure.