Not all brains develop in the same way. For some this can lead to specific difficulties learning, such as dyscalculia, which involves problems with basic numeracy. This programme looks at a young student who is bright in all other subjects yet a basic maths problem confounds him. Professor Bryan Butterworth is the leading authority on dyscalculia in the UK and explains that dyscalculia is a specific difficulty understanding number concepts and does not affect other subjects. Research implies that dyscalculia is most probably a defect in the parietal lobe function responsible for numeric processing. Specialist Support Centre, Emerson House works with children who have difficulties with numeracy and literacy. Through very structured, multi-sensory teaching and focusing on sets of concrete objects, children are better able to deal with being dyscalculic.

Video Series: Brain
Release Date 2007