Autistic Teen Earns Perfect Score On Standardized Math Test

A 13-year-old boy from Texas who was diagnosed with autism at the age of two aced the math portion of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test, earning a perfect score. Cade Elias couldn't speak in full sentences until he was four-years-old but has always loved math. He told WFAA, math is one of the few things he likes more than playing video games.

Cade was in his room playing video games when his mother Renee received an e-mail with the STAAR test results.

“I was upstairs playing my video games and she yelled ‘oh my gosh.’ And I ran down and said ‘what’s wrong,” Cade explained.

“I said you got a perfect score on the math STAAR [test]. And he said ‘what?!,” Renee remembered.

“She looked at the actual percentage and she almost fell out of her chair,” he continued.

“I did. I just about fell out of my chair,” his mother laughed.

Elias will be enrolled in pre-AP math in the fall and hopes to have a career as a computer programmer.  

“I’m a very proud mom. I couldn’t be more proud. It’s a big accomplishment,” Renee said. “This is an indication that we’re gonna get there, and he’s gonna be fine.”

Photo: Getty Images