Mathematical Skills in People with Intellectual Disabilities: an Overview Over Experimental Studies

ABSTRACT:

Knowledge in mathematics skills is considered essential for people to have an independent life, but difficult to learn for anyone, including people with intellectual disabilities, characterized by having deficits in certain general skills. These people have difficulties in skills requiring attention, memory, reasoning, generalization and abstraction, which are fundamental to academic learning. Studies on math skills, both for people with intellectual disabilities as those with typical development, point to the lack of assessment of these skills under continuous point of view (as measurements and geometry), but on the other hand, it is strong enough regarding discrete aspects of mathematics (such as counting, arithmetic and numbers). Thus, this research aimed to identify strategies, taught content, and the input repertoire for teaching math to people with intellectual disabilities, giving priority to empirical research in the literature. As a result, the review in the database 15 articles that met the criteria. The data indicated three themes for analysis: math content, input repertoire and teaching strategies. It is concluded that there is a reduced number of studies on the teaching of mathematics to people with intellectual disabilities. In addition, it is clear that there is still a long way to go in the search of an inclusive school, where these people have access to elementary mathematics.

KEYWORDS:
Special Education; Mathematics Teaching; Intellectual Disabilities