COMPARISON OF STUDENTS WITH NON-VERBAL LEARNING DISABILITIES AND STUDENTS WITH ASPERGER SYNDROME IN SOLVING WORD ARITHMETIC PROBLEMS

Ioannis Agaliotis, Eleftheria Ismirlidou

Abstract


This study compares the performance of students with Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities (NVLD) and students with Asperger Syndrome (AS) in Solving Arithmetic Problems (SAP). The participants were 15 students with NVLD and 12 students with AS, who were asked to solve 15 word problems of various arithmetic operations. The results showed that both groups faced significant difficulties in SAP. Difficulties have appeared in all phases of the SAP. More intense difficulties appeared in the phase of forming the necessary coherent mental representation of the problem, which is the prerequisite for the activation of cognitive schemata and the choice of the appropriate arithmetic operation. The two groups showed more similarities than differences. Results are discussed in terms of the methodological choices for their instructional support.

 

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nonverbal learning difficulties, Asperger syndrome, mathematical word problem solving

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejse.v0i0.1538

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