Building Comprehension Skills of Young Children With Autism One Storybook at a Time

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronica P. Fleury ◽  
Kelly Whalon ◽  
Carolyn Gilmore ◽  
Xiaoning Wang ◽  
Richard Marks
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Relative Strength ◽  
Shared Reading ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Literacy Skill ◽  
Book Reading ◽  
Shared Book Reading ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Comprehension Skills ◽  
Reading Activities

Purpose Reading involves the ability to decode and draw meaning from printed text. Reading skill profiles vary widely among learners with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). One fairly common pattern is relative strength in decoding combined with weak comprehension skills—indicators of this profile emerge as early as the preschool years. In order for children with ASD to develop a facility with language that prepares them for reading success, practitioners must intentionally create and provide appropriate instruction practices. Method In this tutorial, we describe ways in which practitioners can support language development and comprehension skills for children with ASD within the context of shared reading activities. We begin by providing known information about the reading performance of children with ASD using the Simple View of Reading as our guiding conceptual framework. Next, we present a number of practical, evidence-based strategies that educators can implement within the context of shared book reading activities. Case studies are embedded throughout the tutorial to demonstrate how practitioners may apply these strategies in their instructional settings. Conclusions Shared book reading interventions are a well-studied, developmentally appropriate approach for bringing about change in language and literacy in early childhood. The success of shared reading depends upon rich communication and interaction between the adult reader and the child. Many children with ASD will require strategies to support social communication and emergent literacy skill development (e.g., vocabulary knowledge, language comprehension) that are specifically linked to future reading comprehension.

Looking or talking: Visual attention and verbal engagement during shared book reading of preschool children on the autism spectrum

Autism ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 1384-1399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachelle Wicks ◽  
Jessica Paynter ◽  
Marleen F Westerveld
Keyword(s):  
Visual Attention ◽  
Emergent Literacy ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Book Reading ◽  
Shared Book Reading ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Parent Behaviors ◽  
Emergent Literacy Skills

Visual attention and active engagement during shared book reading are important for facilitating emergent literacy learning during the preschool years. Children on the autism spectrum often show difficulties in language and literacy development, yet research investigating potential indicators of shared book reading engagement, including visual attention and verbal engagement, for this group of preschoolers is currently limited. To better understand the relationship between children’s visual attention and verbal engagement during shared book reading, parent shared book reading behaviors, and children’s emergent literacy skills (e.g. receptive vocabulary and letter-name knowledge), we observed 40 preschoolers on the spectrum and their parents sharing an unfamiliar storybook. Videos of the shared book reading interactions were transcribed and coded for child and parent behaviors using observational coding schemes. Strong significant associations were found between children’s visual attention, verbal engagement, and parents’ use of questions and/or prompts during the shared book reading interaction. Contrary to expectations, children’s visual attention was not related to their emergent literacy skills. Overall, our findings emphasize the interplay between parent behaviors and how preschoolers on the spectrum engage in this important literacy-related context and provide directions for future research. Lay abstract Children who have an autism diagnosis often have trouble learning to talk and read. These difficulties become noticeable before children start school and may be linked to lower attention and engagement in literacy-related activities such as sharing storybooks with their parents. To date, few researchers have looked at possible ways to measure how children on the autism spectrum engage during shared storybook reading, for example, where children look or how much they talk, and how this may be related to their letter-name knowledge and their vocabulary knowledge. In this study, we analyzed videos of 40 preschoolers on the spectrum and their parents sharing an unfamiliar storybook. We wanted to see whether where children looked (i.e. toward the storybook, their parent, or elsewhere) and how much they talked were related to what their parents did (e.g. ask questions or provide prompts) and/or children’s letter-name knowledge and vocabulary. The videos were coded for different child and parent behaviors. We found that where children looked and how much they talked were strongly related to each other and what parents did during the shared book reading interaction, particularly asking questions and using prompts. In contrast to what we expected, where children looked was not related to children’s letter or vocabulary knowledge. Overall, results of the study draw attention to the connection between what parents do and what preschoolers on the spectrum do when sharing storybooks and provide directions for future research.

Young Children With ASD: Parent Strategies for Interaction During Adapted Book Reading Activity

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 171-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leigh Ann Tipton ◽  
Jan B. Blacher ◽  
Abbey S. Eisenhower
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Book Reading ◽  
Shared Book Reading ◽  
Coding System ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Reading Activity

The purpose of this study was to identify how parents’ use of language and literacy strategies during an adapted shared book reading activity relate to social, behavioral, and cognitive skills for their children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Participants were 111 young children (ages 4–7 years) with ASD and their mothers. A factor analysis of the items used in the coding system, yielded a four-factor model of parent-led behaviors during the shared book reading activity: clarification, feedback, teaching, and evocative techniques. In regression analyses, the frequency of parents’ use of clarification, feedback, and evocative strategies used during the shared reading task were related to certain demographic and child factors. Results have implications for the types of structure and support that parents might provide their young children with ASD during informal reading sessions.

scholarly journals Effect of a brief online shared reading ıntervention to support communication skills of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 552-566
Author(s):  
Yusuf Akemoğlu
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Shared Reading ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Multiple Baseline ◽  
Book Reading ◽  
Children With Asd

Shared interactive book reading (SIBR) is an evidence-based practice for young children with developmental disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Children with ASD can benefit from structured activities such as SIBR, especially when they are supported by their parents. During SIBR, parents can support their children’s language and communication skills by engaging with them around a storybook. Parents can create opportunities for communication by commenting on the story, asking a question, and pointing at the pictures. In the current telepractice (internet-based) study, three parents and three children with ASD participated in the study. In a single-case multiple-baseline across subjects design, parents were trained to use expectant pause and mand-model strategy with their children. Parents’ frequency in use of the strategies increased during intervention. All three children increased their initiating and responding behaviors upon their parents’ use of strategies.

Increasing Social Initiations During Shared Book Reading: An Intervention for Preschoolers With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 213-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophia R. D’Agostino ◽  
Ana D. Dueñas ◽  
Joshua B. Plavnick
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Book Reading ◽  
Shared Book Reading ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Probe Design ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Multiple Probe

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are often delayed in acquiring social initiation skills utilized during common early childhood activities. A multiple probe design was utilized to assess the efficacy of a shared book reading intervention to increase the independent commenting of three young children with ASD. The intervention resulted in participant’s acquisition of social commenting in the form of independent pointing and verbal commenting to gain social attention from an adult. The results suggest that young children with ASD can independently initiate social interactions during shared book reading when these behaviors are systematically taught and reinforced. Implications for practice and directions for future research aimed toward generalization and improving the implementation of shared book reading interventions are discussed.

Comparative Effects of Picture Symbol With Paired Text and Text-Only Augmentative and Alternative Communication Representations on Communication From Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 584-597
Author(s):  
Christine Holyfield
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Augmentative And Alternative Communication ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Book Reading ◽  
Single Subject ◽  
Alternative Communication ◽  
Children With Asd

Purpose Technology features that maximize communicative benefit while minimizing learning demands must be identified and prioritized to amplify the efficiency and effectiveness of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention. Picture symbols with paired text are a common representation feature in AAC systems for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who are preliterate, yet little research about their comparative benefit exists. Method Four school-age children with ASD and limited speech who were preliterate participated in two single-subject studies. In one study, communication of high imageability words (e.g., nouns) on an AAC app during a book-reading activity was compared across two representation conditions: picture symbols with paired text and text only. In the second study, communication of low imageability words (e.g., verbs) was compared. Both studies had baseline, intervention, generalization, and maintenance phases. Results Prior to intervention, participants communicated across both representation conditions at low rates except two participants who were relatively successful using picture symbol with paired text representations of high imageability words. In response to intervention, all participants demonstrated increases in communication across representation conditions and maintained the increases. Participants demonstrated generalization in the text-only representation condition. Conclusions Children with ASD who were preliterate acquired communication at comparable rates regardless of whether an AAC app utilized picture symbol with paired text or text-only representation. Therefore, while larger scale research is needed, clinicians and technology developers could consider increasing the use of text in AAC representation given the inherent value associated with learning to recognize written words. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.13661357

scholarly journals Dialogic Reading: Effects on Independent Verbal Responses, Verbal and Non-Verbal Initiations, and Engagement of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara Rodrigues Queiroz ◽  
Victor Loyola Souza Guevara ◽  
Carlos Barbosa Alves de Souza ◽  
Eileen Pfeiffer Flores
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Shared Reading ◽  
Task Engagement ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Dialogic Reading ◽  
Verbal Responses ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Verbal Initiations

Dialogic reading (DR) is the shared reading of storybooks, interspersed with dialogues about story and illustrations. Previous findings have indicated that DR can be adapted for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and can improve their engagement in shared reading activities. The present study aimed to investigate how DR with a verbal prompting hierarchy impacted the performance of children with ASD engaged in dialogue about the story. We also measured effects on verbal and non-verbal initiations and on task engagement. We used a single-subject design to test a DR adaptation involving a least-to-most prompting hierarchy with two 7-year-old children with ASD and evaluated the effects on independent verbal responses to questions about the story, verbal and non-verbal initiations, and task engagement. The participants showed an increase of independent verbal answers to WH (Who, What, Where, What) questions about the story, and to the more general “What is happening here?” (WIHH questions). One child showed an increase in verbal initiations. Both children showed high task engagement independently of condition, but with less variability when reading was dialogic. The results of this study support the use of story-based open questions and least-to-most prompting verbal hierarchies for helping children with ASD engage in conversation about the story in shared reading settings.What does this paper add? • The use of an explicit prompting hierarchy method is a step toward systematization of scaffolding strategies during shared reading.• It is possible to use verbal prompts to help children with autism spectrum disorder answer questions about the story during dialogic reading,

Shared Book Reading and Bilingual Decoding in Latinx Immigrant Homes

2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-208
Author(s):  
Amanda K. Kibler ◽  
Judy Paulick ◽  
Natalia Palacios ◽  
Tatiana Hill
Keyword(s):  
Family Literacy ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Shared Reading ◽  
Book Reading ◽  
Shared Book Reading ◽  
Reading Practices ◽  
Major Focus ◽  
Context Sensitive ◽  
Family Literacy Practices ◽  
Older Siblings

Through in-home ethnographic observations of three multilingual immigrant families’ shared book reading, we identified recurring literacy practices in the home in which mothers, older siblings, and younger children participated during the reading. We found that families engaged in context-sensitive and cooperative shared reading practices, wherein decoding tended to be the focus. This practice—which we call transcultural decoding—involved multidirectional language socialization practices and occurred across languages, and older family members contributed both expertise and restrictive conceptions of reading. This work suggests the importance of (a) acknowledging the major focus on decoding during shared reading in families, and reconceptualizing that work as complex and nuanced, particularly across languages and cultures, and (b) considering siblings as cultural and linguistic mediators in family literacy practices.

scholarly journals The Impact of Interactive Shared Book Reading on Children's Language Skills: A Randomized Controlled Trial

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 1878-1897
Author(s):  
Claire Noble ◽  
Thea Cameron-Faulkner ◽  
Andrew Jessop ◽  
Anna Coates ◽  
Hannah Sawyer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Reading Interventions ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Shared Reading ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Book Reading ◽  
Shared Book Reading ◽  
Reading Behaviors ◽  
Randomized Controlled

Purpose Research has indicated that interactive shared book reading can support a wide range of early language skills and that children who are read to regularly in the early years learn language faster, enter school with a larger vocabulary, and become more successful readers at school. Despite the large volume of research suggesting interactive shared reading is beneficial for language development, two fundamental issues remain outstanding: whether shared book reading interventions are equally effective (a) for children from all socioeconomic backgrounds and (b) for a range of language skills. Method To address these issues, we conducted a randomized controlled trial to investigate the effects of two 6-week interactive shared reading interventions on a range of language skills in children across the socioeconomic spectrum. One hundred and fifty children aged between 2;6 and 3;0 (years;months) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a pause reading, a dialogic reading, or an active shared reading control condition. Results The findings indicated that the interventions were effective at changing caregiver reading behaviors. However, the interventions did not boost children's language skills over and above the effect of an active reading control condition. There were also no effects of socioeconomic status. Conclusion This randomized controlled trial showed that caregivers from all socioeconomic backgrounds successfully adopted an interactive shared reading style. However, while the interventions were effective at increasing caregivers' use of interactive shared book reading behaviors, this did not have a significant impact on the children's language skills. The findings are discussed in terms of practical implications and future research. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12420539

Shared Reading Extratextual Talk With Children With Autism Who Have Spontaneous Speech

2020 ◽  
pp. 002246692092616
Author(s):  
Veronica P. Fleury ◽  
Andrea L. B. Ford
Keyword(s):  
Emergent Literacy ◽  
Reading Interventions ◽  
Developmentally Appropriate ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Shared Reading ◽  
Verbal Language ◽  
Non Fiction ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Development Participation

Shared reading is a developmentally appropriate practice that supports children’s emergent literacy and language development. Participation in shared reading, however, may be compromised for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) due to social-communication difficulties inherent to the disorder. The primary aim of this study was to explore the extent to which children with ASD who have spontaneous verbal language engage in shared reading with caregivers. A total of 37 caregivers and their children ( n = 17 ASD; n = 20 with typical development [TD]) read nine books representing three different genres (i.e., familiar, non-fiction, fiction). Analyses revealed no differences between the groups in the quantity of adult questions asked, frequency of child-initiated comments or questions, and overall levels of child responsiveness to adults. Children with ASD showed greater responsiveness to adult questions during familiar books compared with either non-fiction or fiction genres, in contrast to TD children wherein responsiveness did not differ across book genres. The authors conclude with a discussion of the implications of these findings for designing shared reading interventions for children with ASD who have spontaneous verbal language.

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