ABSTRACT
Understanding how children learn to read and why some children have difficulty with reading has benefited from multi-disciplinary research in cognitive development, learning disabilities, and neurobiological factors. This integrated knowledge base has led to substantial changes in public policy that have affected both the assessment of reading and teaching practices (Fletcher et al., 2002). Understanding how children come to learn mathematics and why some find mathematics difficult may require a similar sustained research effort that builds knowledge across several domains of inquiry (Geary, 1993; Lyon, Fletcher & Barnes, 2003). The research presented in this chapter concerns math disabilities in children and adults with spina bifida myelomeningocele (SBM), a congenital disorder affecting the development of spine and brain.
