Fragile X Syndrome Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Fragile X Syndrome, including details on symptoms, treatment, heritability, diagnosis.

Mathematics learning disability in girls with Turner syndrome or fragile X syndrome.

Murphy MM, Mazzocco MM, Gerner G, Henry AE

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Two studies were carried out to examine the persistence (Study 1) and characteristics (Study 2) of mathematics learning disability (MLD) in girls with Turner syndrome or fragile X during the primary school years (ages 5-9 years). In Study 1, the rate of MLD for each syndrome group exceeded the rate observed in a grade-matched comparison group, although the likelihood of MLD persisting through the primary school years was comparable for all three groups. In Study 2, formal and informal math skills were compared across the syndrome groups, a normative group, and children from the normative group who had MLD. Few differences were observed between the Turner syndrome and normative groups. Despite having rote counting and number representation skills comparable to those in the normative group, girls with fragile X had difficulty with counting rules (e.g., cardinality, number constancy). However, this difficulty did not distingush them from the MLD group. Overall, counting skills appear to distinguish the Turner syndrome and fragile X groups, suggesting that the specificity of math deficits emerges earlier for fragile X than Turner syndrome.

Published 30 May 2006 in Brain Cogn, 61(2): 195-210.
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