Professor Brian Butterworth, a British academic known for his research into maths and calculation abilities in children, announced at a recent conference that one in 20 British children have dyscalculia - the numerical equivalent of dyslexia. Those with this disability are invariably labeled "stupid" by teachers, parents, and indeed, by themselves. Hopefully, recognition that this failure to recognize and manipulate number is a dysfunction of a particular area of the brain and does not reflect other abilities, will help not only their self-esteem, but allow better targeted teaching.