Using the Messages & Characteristics of Your Students with ASD to Guide Their School Programs Supplementary 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