The authors review literature on conventional and special approaches to arithmetic instruction with emphasis on applying these approaches to the teaching of elementary learning disabled students with disorders in the area of arithmetic. Section I focuses on the instructional context of arithmetic. It is suggested that generalization teaching (which makes full use of "binding principles," or reasoning schemes applicable across groups of combinations) might be most profitable if the thinking strategies for teaching combinations were made more explicit for disabled students. Section II reviews four traditional arithmetic texts (Growth in Mathematics, Field Mathematics Program, Holt School Mathematics, and Silver Burdett Mathematics) in terms of how these different series treat the development of proficiency in the basic number combinations of addition, subtraction, and multiplication. A third section on special approaches addresses structural arithmetic, arithmetic for the brain injured child, procedures proposed by Cruickshank, the Fernald arithmetic remediation method, individually prescribed instruction, and Distar Arithmetic. Section IV reviews characteristics of 10 programs which 36 educators proposed as useful for teaching arithmetic to children with minimal brain dysfunction. A final section discusses developmental dyscalculia, factors in arithmetic learning disabilities, and basic number facts. A bibliography with approximately 300 references completes the document. (SB)