Helping Students with Learning Disabilities Make Sense of Word Problems

Abstract

The mathematics education of students with learning disabilities has emphasized computation skills at the expense of problem-solving skills. Fortunately, instructional practices exist that assist students with learning disabilities in solving word problems. These students have special difficulty with representational skills required for problem solving such as paraphrasing, visualizing, and hypothesizing. A 4-step strategy for teaching problem representation skills is presented. The cognitive skills required for each step are identified, and for each skill, a recommended activity and example are presented. The strategy, skills, activities, and examples presented are based on the research and are offered as suggestions for developing mathematics instruction that better meets the needs of students with learning disabilities.