Mathematics performance, response time, and enjoyment of eighth-grade autistic students and their general education peers.
Autistic eighth graders shine at visuospatial math but lag on word problems and stamina—teach to the strength and patch the gap.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Wei et al. (2023) watched eighth-grade autistic students take two kinds of math tests.
One test used pictures and shapes. The other used word stories.
They also asked the kids how much they liked each problem and how long they kept trying.
What they found
The autistic students solved picture problems faster and better than their classmates.
They scored lower on word problems and gave up sooner.
They said they enjoyed the picture tasks most.
How this fits with other research
Tonizzi et al. (2023) pooled 13 studies and saw autistic people usually score below peers in math. Xin et al. show the gap is not the whole story; visuospatial tasks can be a strength.
Ledbetter-Cho et al. (2023) proved that short video schedules raise math scores in younger autistic students. Their tool could shore up the word-problem side that Xin et al. flag as weak.
Cardillo et al. (2022) found visuospatial organization problems in autism. Xin et al. found a visuospatial advantage. The tasks differ: one is free-hand drawing, the other is quick shape math. Same group, different results, so match your support to the task.
Why it matters
Use the strength: teach new math ideas with pictures, graphs, or manipulatives first.
Target the gap: break word problems into small steps, highlight key numbers, and provide extra persistence prompts.
Write both goals into IEPs so teams build on strengths while shoring up weaknesses.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
For autistic students receiving special education services, little is known about their relative strengths, weaknesses, and enjoyment across different math content areas; their overall math interest and persistence are also not well-studied. Using the 2017 eighth-grade National Assessment of Education Progress data, this study finds, relative to general education peers with the same math proficiency level, autistic students scored higher and exhibited faster speed in solving visuospatial problems (e.g. identifying figures), but scored lower on math word problems with complex language or social context. Autistic students reported a higher level of enjoyment in solving math problems related to finding areas of shapes or figures but a lower level of persistence than their non-autistic, general education peers. Our work points out the need to help autistic students overcome their weaknesses in word problems and develop their mathematical persistence.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2023 · doi:10.1177/13623613231168241