Symposium

Stroke

Brain Injury

Clinical Practice (assessment, diagnosis, treatment, knowledge translation/EBP, implementation science, program development)

Post-stroke numerical difficulties (Acalculia): impact, assessment and intervention

Thursday, November 10, 2022

1:30 PM – 2:45 PM

Moderator(s)

Yael Benn

Senior Lecturer
Manchester Metropolitan University
Sheffield, England, United Kingdom

Presenter(s)

Caroline Newton, PhD

Associate Professor
UCL, United Kingdom
Carolyn Bruce, MSc, PhD, SLT (she/her/hers)

Associate Professor
UCL
London, United Kingdom
VM

Vanessa Meitanis, PhD

Lecturer
UCL, England, United Kingdom

Slides
Yael Benn

Senior Lecturer
Manchester Metropolitan University
Sheffield, England, United Kingdom

Acalculia is an acquired disability following a stroke, involving difficulties processing numerical information and/or calculations. Acalculia is not routinely screened for, and as a result little is known about the prevalence and impact of, suitable interventions for, and recovery prospects from the condition. This symposium will explore, in three talks, the gap between academic research on numerical cognition, and translation to clinical practice. We will: [1] present findings from qualitative work exploring the impact acalculia, and the lack of clinical-care for the condition, have on patients and their carers; [2] examine approaches to assessing number processing difficulties, and to what extent theoretical concepts represent every-day tasks; and [3] focus on a recently developed intervention (SWAN), designed to enhance foundational number language: the Arabic numeral sequence and the relationship between the spoken number-name and Arabic numeral. Combined, we highlight the urgent need to increase awareness and support professionals, patients and carers.

Learning Objectives:

discuss the difficulties faced by acalculic patients and their carers- both on the everyday functioning level, and in terms of health-services provision.
explain the cognitive processes involved when someone is counting, processing numbers, or performing simple arithmetical operations.
describe the different approaches to testing number processing difficulties and how theoretical concepts may relate to measuring performance on everyday tasks
appraise the SWAN intervention and its effectiveness for processing Arabic numeral and number words.