Dyspraxia Limits Adult Math Abilities, Study Finds Key Cognitive Factors
A recent study from the University of Surrey, as reported by Science Daily, shows that adults with Dyspraxia, or Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), face significant challenges with math. While past studies mainly focused on children, this is the first to investigate how Dyspraxia impacts adults. It reveals that working memory and math anxiety are crucial factors in the reduced math performance seen in adults with Dyspraxia. These insights offer potential solutions for providing better support to this population.
How Dyspraxia Affects Adult Math Skills
Dyspraxia affects motor coordination, but its cognitive impact, especially on math, is less understood. The University of Surrey set out to explore how it affects adults’ math abilities. Researchers recruited adults with Dyspraxia and a control group of neurotypical adults for comparison. They aimed to uncover why adults with Dyspraxia struggle with tasks that seem simple to others.
Participants performed basic arithmetic tasks under time pressure, solving as many problems as possible within a minute. The research focused on how working memory and math anxiety played a role in these tasks. The team expected that adults with Dyspraxia would rely more on working memory and perform slower than neurotypical adults.
Researchers also tested participants’ working memory capacity and assessed their levels of math anxiety. These additional measures provided a deeper understanding of how cognitive and emotional factors affect math performance in adults with Dyspraxia.
Previous Research on Dyspraxia and Math Challenges
Before this study, research on Dyspraxia and math primarily focused on children. It was clear that children with Dyspraxia faced challenges in academic environments. Their struggles with hand-eye coordination, for example, made it difficult to write out math problems correctly. These issues were shown to impact their math scores.
However, little was known about how Dyspraxia affects adults. While the motor difficulties may lessen with age, cognitive issues often persist. For adults, math challenges can manifest in everyday tasks like budgeting, cooking, or even managing time effectively. This study addressed the gap in research by investigating these lifelong impacts on math skills.
Five Key Findings of the Study
The study uncovered several important findings that offer new insight into how Dyspraxia affects adults’ math abilities. Here are the five main takeaways:
- Lower Math Performance: Adults with Dyspraxia consistently performed worse on math tasks compared to neurotypical adults. They completed fewer problems accurately, even when the tasks were simple. This shows that the math difficulties seen in childhood persist into adulthood.
- Working Memory is Critical: Unlike neurotypical adults, those with Dyspraxia relied heavily on working memory to complete basic arithmetic. This reliance slowed them down and increased errors. The study suggests that these adults may not develop automaticity in math tasks, meaning they have to put more effort into solving even simple problems.
- Math Anxiety is Higher: Another important finding was that adults with Dyspraxia reported higher levels of math anxiety. This anxiety likely worsened their performance, as stress interferes with their ability to solve problems efficiently. The combination of anxiety and cognitive effort created a significant barrier to success.
- Lack of Task Automation: For most adults, basic arithmetic is automatic. But for adults with Dyspraxia, this automation is absent. They needed to engage their working memory even for simple calculations, which slowed them down. This lack of automation likely results from difficulties in learning math during childhood.
- Slower Processing Speed: Adults with Dyspraxia processed math tasks more slowly than neurotypical adults. Even though the tasks were designed to be simple, the slower processing speed prevented them from completing as many problems within the time limit.
Implications for Education, Healthcare, and Daily Life
These findings carry important implications for how adults with Dyspraxia are supported in both educational and everyday settings. Understanding the cognitive and emotional challenges they face can help develop more effective strategies for intervention.
Educational Strategies
The study highlights the need for tailored educational approaches for adults with Dyspraxia. Teachers and tutors can focus on helping individuals build working memory skills while also reducing math anxiety. Techniques like breaking tasks into smaller steps or using anxiety-reducing methods can improve math performance. By focusing on these specific needs, educators can help adults with Dyspraxia overcome their difficulties and achieve greater success in academic or professional environments.
Mental Health Support
Given the strong link between math anxiety and performance, psychological support could be vital for improving math skills in adults with Dyspraxia. Therapy or counseling aimed at reducing anxiety could help individuals manage their stress levels, leading to better outcomes in both academic and daily life tasks.
Everyday Applications
The practical implications are vast. Adults with Dyspraxia often struggle with tasks that require math skills, such as managing finances or organizing their time. The insights from this study could inform the development of apps or tools that assist with these tasks, helping individuals compensate for working memory limitations and math anxiety. Such tools could make day-to-day activities easier for adults living with Dyspraxia.
Future Research and Interventions
This study opens the door to further research on how Dyspraxia affects other cognitive functions in adulthood. Researchers could investigate how other aspects, like attention or executive function, interact with math skills in adults with Dyspraxia. These studies could help create even more effective interventions, tailored to address the specific cognitive profiles of individuals with Dyspraxia.
Conclusion
The University of Surrey’s study marks a major step forward in understanding how Dyspraxia affects adults. It shows that the cognitive challenges associated with Dyspraxia, particularly in math, extend far beyond childhood. Working memory and math anxiety play significant roles in the difficulties faced by adults with this condition. By identifying these challenges, the study opens up new possibilities for targeted interventions that could greatly improve the lives of adults living with Dyspraxia. The findings emphasize the need for continued research, educational support, and practical tools to help this often-overlooked population succeed in both academic and everyday settings.
In light of these findings, cognitive training tools that focus on building numerical skills are becoming increasingly relevant.
CogniFit Cool Math Games, for instance, can help adults strengthen their working memory and improve math performance in an engaging, pressure-free environment. These tools, which turn learning into a game, offer an engaging way to practice essential math skills. While not a substitute for formal education or intervention, they can complement traditional methods, making daily tasks feel less daunting and helping individuals build confidence in their math abilities. The integration of these innovative tools, along with traditional educational strategies and psychological support, offers a comprehensive approach to helping students overcome the cognitive and emotional aspects of math-related problems. This combination of supports can significantly improve individuals’ daily lives and opportunities for success.
