Autistic Number Learning: What Autism Can Tell Us About the Acquisition of Number Concepts
Daan Dirk de Jonge

Abstract:
Autistic Number Learning
What Autism Can Tell Us About the Acquisition of Number Concepts
Daan Dirk de Jonge


Abstract:
Autists count differently when compared with typically developing
individuals. Autists differ from typically developing individuals in
their counting skills by a slower reaction time when naming
quantities, a later development of sequencing skills and recalling
positions and no benefit from recognizing a canonical placement of
dots. In this thesis the typical development of number knowledge,
especially counting skills, and the model of working memory is
discussed and adapted to explain the autistic number learning. The
three major theories about autism: disabilities in theory of mind,
executive dysfunction and weak central coherence; and their influence
on the autistic counting skills are discussed. A lack of
visual-spatial working memory in autists is the most direct
explanation for their impaired skills. This weak visual-spatial
working memory combined with a strong rote memory could lead autists
to develop an alternative number knowledge strategy based on memory