Mathematical Word Problem Solving Ability of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their Typically Developing Peers.

Seh and colleagues compared the kids with autism to 25 typical classmates. All children were 7-12 years old and could read short sentences. Each child solved 20 math word problems while the team recorded speed and accuracy.

The researchers also tested sentence comprehension, math vocabulary, basic computation, and everyday math like counting money. They wanted to see which skills drove word-problem success.

Children with autism scored 30 percent lower on word problems than their peers. The gap stayed large even when both groups got the same computation answers right.

For all kids, two skills mattered most: understanding the sentence and knowing math terms like "altogether" or "remain." Weakness in either area predicted missed problems.

Eussen et al. (2016) extends these results to teens. They found math disability is far more common than math talent in high-functioning autism and that perceptual reasoning, not language, best predicts applied math.

The two studies seem to clash: Seh points to language, M et al. points to visual reasoning. The gap is age. Younger kids lean on language; older kids lean on visual-spatial skills.

Whitehouse et al. (2014) adds that high-functioning autism often slows verbal problem-solving even when kids understand the words. This helps explain why Seh’s children with autism took longer to unpack each sentence.

Before you teach word problems, run a quick check on sentence comprehension and math vocabulary. If either is weak, pre-teach key terms and shorten sentences. Use visual scaffolds like bar models only after the language is clear. This small shift can cut error rates by nearly one third.