ABSTRACT
In the fi rst place there are problems over calculation. In particular, a very high percentage of dyslexic students have found it diffi cult to learn times tables and quite a number are slow in carrying out simple addition, subtraction and division (see note 15.1). It seems that they have fewer immediately available ‘number facts’ than do non-dyslexics, for example they may not know ‘in one’ that 8 × 7 = 56 or that 15 – 8 = 7, and if no calculator is available they may need to spend considerable time in working out the answer. This is not normally due to a lack of understanding of how the number system works – they know what working needs to be done. The trouble appears to be that these basic number facts do not easily become automatic (see note 15.2).
