Arithmetic Automatization Failure in Children with Attention and Reading Disorders: Associations and Sequela

Abstract

Evidence is presented that both Reading Disabled (RD) and normal reading Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) children are at high risk to become numerically incompetent adults. It is theorized that this incompetence is in many instances rooted in a failure to automatize (memorize) basic number combinations. Yet standardized arithmetic tests may fail to reveal automatization failure in younger school children because of overly generous time limits. While mathematical excellence appears to require superior spatial reasoning ability in addition to the memory and attentive abilities thought to underpin automatization, it is argued that a pubertal spurt in spatial ability is more felicitous than early exceptional spatial competence.