Clinical and Cognitive Characteristics Associated with Mathematics Problem Solving in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Mathematics achievement in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been understudied. However, the ability to solve applied math problems is associated with academic achievement, everyday problem-solving abilities, and vocational outcomes. The paucity of research on math achievement in ASD may be partly explained by the widely-held belief that most individuals with ASD are mathematically gifted, despite emerging evidence to the contrary. The purpose of the study was twofold: to assess the relative proportions of youth with ASD who demonstrate giftedness versus disability on applied math problems, and to examine which cognitive (i.e., perceptual reasoning, verbal ability, working memory) and clinical (i.e., test anxiety) characteristics best predict achievement on applied math problems in ASD relative to typically developing peers. Twenty-seven high-functioning adolescents with ASD and 27 age- and Full Scale IQ-matched typically developing controls were assessed on standardized measures of math problem solving, perceptual reasoning, verbal ability, and test anxiety. Results indicated that 22% of the ASD sample evidenced a mathematics learning disability, while only 4% exhibited mathematical giftedness. The parsimonious linear regression model revealed that the strongest predictor of math problem solving was perceptual reasoning, followed by verbal ability and test anxiety, then diagnosis of ASD. These results inform our theories of math ability in ASD and highlight possible targets of intervention for students with ASD struggling with mathematics.

Autism Symptoms, Executive Functioning and Academic Progress in Higher Education Students

“…Assouline et al (2012) found that in children with high IQ and ASD, working memory is associated with reading and written language. This result was however not replicated by Oswald et al (2016) as they did not find this relation when IQ and test anxiety were accounted for. Spaniol et al (2017) found that attention training (CPAT) significantly improved academic performance (maths, reading comprehension and copying text) in children with ASD, showing the importance of attention in many academic areas.…”

Teaching Literacy Skills to French Minimally Verbal School-Aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders with the Serious Game SEMA-TIC: An Exploratory Study

“…We suggest that other academic domains, such as mathematics, could be teached in the same way. Indeed, a recent study showed that the strongest predictor of math problem solving was perceptual reasoning, which is a non-verbal cognitive skill (Oswald et al, 2016 ). Interestingly, the ability to solve applied mathematical problems is associated with everyday problem-solving abilities and vocational outcomes.…”

Quantitative Analysis of Heterogeneity in Academic Achievement of Children With Autism

“…Building on anecdotal (Baron-Cohen et al, 2007) and experimental accounts of savant skills in ASD (Howlin, Goode, Hutton, & Rutter, 2009), several studies have identified a subgroup of children with ASD who show relative strengths in math abilities (Chiang & Lin, 2007;Jones et al, 2009;Wei et al, 2015) that is distinct from a large, majority subgroup that shows average math abilities. More recent studies of individuals of ASD, however, have shown a high degree of variability in math skills, and suggest that weaknesses in math skills may be more prominent than giftedness in this population (Keen, Webster, & Ridley, 2016;Oswald et al, 2016;Titeca, Roeyers, Loeys, Ceulemans, & Desoete, 2015). A critical gap in this literature is an understanding of whether children with ASD show a unitary pattern of strengths and weaknesses across multiple mathematics subtests, including calculation and problem solving/reasoning, or whether heterogeneity in the ASD population is manifested by distinct subgroups of children with consistent profiles of mathematical abilities.…”