ABSTRACT
Schools are tasked with teaching academic skills; therefore, assessment of children’s reading, writing, and math skills, and their underlying psychological processes are valued in an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) assessment. Just as there is heterogeneity in the presentation of children with ASD, there is also no one learning profile for children with ASD. In addition to variations between verbal and nonverbal cognitive abilities, children with ASD often demonstrate psychological processing weaknesses in the areas of working memory, processing speed, and executive functioning. Academically, children with ASD often demonstrate uneven academic profiles. They may demonstrate hyperlexia or hypercalculia, exhibiting precociousness in these areas, while simultaneously struggling more with abstract skills such as reading comprehension and written expression. This chapter notes specific academic and psychological processing tests for use in assessment and outlines psychological processes that correspond to areas of academic weaknesses.
