Using the Messages & Characteristics of Your Students with ASD

to Guide Their School ProgramsSupplementary Slides

Beverly Vicker, M.S.

Indiana Resource Center for Autism

Indiana University- Bloomington

Reading Comprehension

• Is being recognized as equally important in reading

• Has strong connections to language skills• Is complex because of the overlap with

language skills• Growing concern for depth of reading

comprehension – see handout on Bloom’s taxonomy as guide for instruction and assessment

• Growing base of literature providing• assessment and intervention ideas

Challenge- Getting the Child with ASD to be an Active Reader

Some Children are Hyperlexic

• These children may read aloud fluently and appear to be an excellent oral reader. They often started reading very young.

• They have extreme difficulty comprehending connected text; they may have meaning for single words

• Their reading problem is often hidden until the curriculum shift from learning to read to reading to learn.

Foundation Skills for Reading Success

• Background knowledge

• Script knowledge

• Event retelling

• Understanding of narrative

structure

Background Knowledge from Experience, Books, Video, TV,

Movies• Background

knowledge for a specific topic or activity may be:– Absent– On target– Distorted– Incomplete– Totally inaccurate

Restricted Interests or What is Called Stimulus Over-selectivity may

Contribute to the Problem

Experiences do not Equal Background Knowledge

• Child may have failed to have noticed important aspects

• Child may have failed to code various aspects

• Child may not have interconnected the information• Activating background knowledge is a

prime reading comprehension strategy

Benefits of Improving/Providing Needed Background Knowledge

• Could improve comprehension in various formats

• Could improve attending

• Could improve participation

• Could improve attitude/interest in school

Script Knowledge is Important for Reading

Some May Lack Script Knowledge

Which Impacts Comprehension My script of child’s

generic birthday party

• Invitation• Purchase gift• Greet at party• Games• Food• Presents opened• Thank and leave

Possible script for child with ASD-often particular to child

• Trip to strange house

• Noisy children• Yucky food• Left toy (present)

behind

May need to teach scripts

Ability to Recount an Event

• Look for ability to use sequence, detail, specific rather than vague vocabulary (depends on age)

Challenge: Separating Reality from Fantasy

Narrative Structure – in English

• Setting and characters• Problem• Attempt at solution• Consequence or another attempt (or episode)• Ending

See handout on retelling narrative structure development; how is narrative structure being taught in school?

Children with ASD will Prefer to Give You all the Details

about a Story• Children with ASD have good

memories but that does not mean they understand the structure and can apply it.

• Children with ASD have difficult with identifying motivation of characters, message of the author

• Children with ASD prefer

nonfiction books

Interventions for Narrative Structure and Story Retelling

• Use a story board to assist retelling.

• Use story web• Do a sorting task of actions in

the story to decide what is very important and what is not.

• Help the student generalize narrative structure knowledge.

Non Fiction• Preferred genre of children and adults

with ASD; no social element to decipher

• Predominant genre for adults without disabilities

• Gaining more prominence in schools

• Increase in literature providing strategies

Non fiction genre