ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the problems of defining and diagnosing dyscalculia, which from an educational point of view call for broadening the cognitive perspective to be able to develop appropriate tools for educational action in the mathematics classroom. It suggests the possibility of combining cognitive and social dimensions to study students’ mathematical learning profiles from a socio-cultural perspective. Comparing the average scores of the students in each group on the Italian standardized assessment battery for dyscalculia, significant differences emerged, with an advantage for the experimental group on written calculation and on tasks assessing basic number knowledge. In different countries, the sensitivity around dyscalculia nurtures an implicit assumption: the existence of “normality”. The identification of different profiles – based on the four domains model and the MathPro Test – is a first try to enlighten the black box of a diagnosis of dyscalculia.
