Increasing the Number Sense Understanding of Preschool Students With ASD.

This article examines the effectiveness of an adapted version of Number Talks—a 15-minute, peer-mediated mathematical discussion activity—in improving early number sense (ENS) skills of preschool children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The adaptation incorporated evidence-based practices for children with ASD, including a system of least prompts (SLP), visual supports, and explicit modeling, to facilitate participation and comprehension during small group instruction. Using a multiple probe design with three preschoolers with ASD, the study found immediate and sustained improvements in ENS skills such as subitizing, one-to-one correspondence counting, magnitude discrimination, and number conservation. The findings suggest that combining socially constructed learning with systematic instructional supports can effectively enhance foundational mathematics skills in young children with ASD, with implications for inclusive early childhood education and future research on broader populations and long-term maintenance.