Magnitude representation of preschool children with autism spectrum condition.
Autistic preschoolers show weaker early number sense than peers, so screen and teach magnitude skills early.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team tested 3- to young learners with autism on a simple number game. Kids saw two groups of dots and picked the side with more dots.
They compared the scores to same-age peers without autism. They also checked that any gap was not just due to lower IQ or language skills.
What they found
Autistic preschoolers got the right answer far less often than their peers. The gap stayed even after the team removed the effects of IQ and language.
This shows that early number sense, called magnitude representation, is weaker in autism itself.
How this fits with other research
Fyfe et al. (2007) first mapped uneven skills in autistic preschoolers. They found strong visual detail but weak abstract thinking. The new study adds that number sense is another weak spot.
Eussen et al. (2016) showed autistic kids learn letters at the same pace as peers yet stay behind in print concepts. The 2024 paper now shows a similar pattern in early math: the gap starts early and needs direct teaching.
Schwenk et al. (2017) meta-analysis found that slow symbolic number tasks mark math trouble across many groups. The current study narrows this to autistic preschoolers using non-symbolic dots, showing the risk starts even before formal math.
Why it matters
If you work with autistic preschoolers, screen their quick number sense with simple dot games. When scores lag, fold extra counting and comparison practice into daily routines. Early catch plus targeted play can close the gap before formal math begins.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The mathematical abilities of children with autism spectrum condition have been understudied. Magnitude representation (e.g. presenting the number of a collection of objects) is a fundamental numerical ability presented since early infancy and is correlated with children's later learning of formal mathematics. It remains unclear about whether children with autism spectrum condition differ from their peers without autism spectrum condition in precision of magnitude representations. This study compared preschool children with and without autism spectrum condition in their precision of magnitude representation with an approximate number comparison task, in which children compared two sets of dots without counting and chose the set with more dots. Children with autism spectrum condition exhibited the lower numerical comparison accuracy (i.e. the weaker magnitude representation) than their peers without autism spectrum condition. This difference existed even when multiple general cognitive abilities (working memory, inhibitory control, and nonverbal intelligence) and language abilities were statistically controlled. Moreover, the individual difference of the numerical comparison accuracy was larger in children with autism spectrum condition than without autism spectrum condition. These findings suggest that children with autism spectrum condition are at risk of weaker magnitude representation from an early age, emphasizing the need for specialized mathematics education or interventions to support their learning. In addition, the large variance in the precision of their magnitude representation suggests that individualized mathematics interventions are needed for children with autism spectrum condition.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2024 · doi:10.1177/13623613231185408