Mathematics performance, response time, and enjoyment of eighth-grade autistic students and their general education peers

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.