When my caseload was a bit smaller than any other year, I only had 7 students. Some teachers were crying out, “how lucky are you!!!” Let’s face it. In order for me to teach math to these students with special needs, I needed to equip at least 3 to 4 different math curricula considering their language, behavior, and math skills.
It has been super fun! 😂 😂 It was my year in the middle school campus, and these are my go-to resources in elementary school.
- Everyday Math
- Unique Learning System
- Touch Math
- Menu(Store) Math
- Hands-on teacher made materials (like file folders)
Each student with autism displays very unique challenges when it comes to learning math concepts. They often benefit from a visual, structured, and consistent manner of the teaching model. We, as a teacher, have to try and see what works best to meet each student’s unique needs. Teaching math to students with autism is not an easy job at all. We should look at the most functional and meaningful curriculum for our students.
Take a look at this List of Math curricula that I found while researching the most popular math curriculum in special education classrooms. It was put together by Indiana Resource Center for Autism. This shows a list of well-known, established math curricula for students with autism.
For older students, Menu/Store/Department Math series was well received. It’s age-appropriate, which is a great plus! It showed great interest and motivation from our students-
They love to see real pictures of food items and have fun using a calculator to come up with the sum and difference. Many teachers also teach a”Dollar up” method as functional math skills.
Everyday Teaching Autism Resources 
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