Forms of generalization in students experiencing mathematical learning difficulties

We shift the view of a special needs student away from the acknowledged view, that is as a student who requires interventions to restore a currently ex- pected functioning behaviour, introducing a new paradigm to frame special needs students’ learning of mathematics. We use the theory of objectification and the new paradigm to look at (and characterize) students’ learning experi- ences in mathematics as generalizing reflexive mediated activity. In particu- lar, from this perspective, we present examples of shifts to higher levels of generalization of a student with mathematical learning difficulties working with Mak-Trace, a Logo-like educational software for the iPad.