History
Dr. Ladislav Kosc discovered dyscalculia as a learning disability in 1974. Dr. Kosc originally separated dyscalculia into six categories based on students’ abilities or the task that they were having trouble with. Later, in 2000, David Geary and colleagues used the term “mathematical disabilities” and divided it into three groups: semantic, procedural, and visual-spatial memory. Geary determined that students with mathematical disabilities included all students that fell below the 35th percentile on the Woodcock-Johnson Mathematics reasoning test. Dyscalculia now describes any student who has difficulty in one or many areas of mathematics that prevents them from being able to understand a concept or move on to more complex mathematical thinking. Dyscalculia can also be known as number blindness.
Court Cases
Up to this point in time, there have not been many court cases involving dyscalculia. An example of one that did, though, is Margret Reeves vs. The Department of Finance and Personnel Recruitment Services. A woman (Margret Reeves) was applying for jobs where she had to take aptitude tests. In order for her to complete the tests with the best accuracy, she needed yellow paper and size 14 fonts. She requested this, and the company failed to correct the tests five different times. The court ruled that she receive a settlement and that the company reaffirm its commitment to equality in the workplace. The decision was in favor of supporting people with dyscalculia.
Information for this page was taken from the following websites:
http://www.equalityni.org/archive/pdf/DecisionsandSettlements0607(FIN).pdf
http://lddyscalculia.wikispaces.com/History+of+Dyscalculia
http://www.mathematicalbrain.com/pdf/LANDETAL.PDF
http://www.equalityni.org/archive/pdf/DecisionsandSettlements0607(FIN).pdf
http://lddyscalculia.wikispaces.com/History+of+Dyscalculia
http://www.mathematicalbrain.com/pdf/LANDETAL.PDF