Fiction or non-fiction: Parent-reported book preferences of their preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Background and aims: Children's early interactions with books are important for fostering development of oral language and emergent literacy skills. It is not known whether children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder show different preferences for text types in the home environment prior to school entry. The current study aimed to: (i) investigate parent-reports of the favourite books of their children with autism spectrum disorder compared to typically developing children and (ii) identify whether there are differences in the reasons why books were preferred across the two groups. Methods: Participants included children (aged 26-70 months) with autism spectrum disorder (n ¼ 41) and typically developing peers (n ¼ 164). Parent-reports of their child's current favourite book/s were coded as fiction versus nonfiction and also category type. Parents also reported why the book was considered a favourite and this was coded. Results: There were no differences between groups for fiction versus non-fiction, with both groups preferring fiction (>95% of responses). A strong category preference for animal topics across both groups was present. Significant group differences were found when asked to select specific reasons for favourite book preferences. Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence of similarities between preschool children with autism spectrum disorder and typically developing peers' preferences for fiction books during the early years. Implications: It should not be assumed that children with autism spectrum disorder have different preferences for book types compared to typically developing children in the early years of development. Providing preschoolers with a range of book types during the preschool years will help to facilitate early language and emergent literacy skills.

“Why do they do it?”: The short‐story task for measuring fiction‐based mentalizing in autistic and non‐autistic individuals

“…Furthermore, developmental evidence suggests that exposing children to fiction books is a significant predictor of better ToM ability, whereas non‐fiction was a negative predictor (Mar et al, 2006). However, despite the assumption that children with ASC prefer non‐fiction books over fiction books, no difference in book preferences could be observed (Armstrong et al, 2019; Davidson & Ellis Weismer, 2018). As the study was correlational, the directionality of the relationship cannot be determined for sure, however, no difference between the ASC group and the non‐ASC group could be identified in reading frequency, hereby suggesting that reduced mentalizing ability does not automatically reflect a dislike for fiction consumption.…”

Challenging Empathic Deficit Models of Autism Through Responses to Serious Literature

“…Instead, it has been assumed that autistic individuals would prefer the systematic nature of factual non-fiction (Baron-Cohen, 2009 ; Barnes, 2012 ). However, recent findings have contradicted dominant assumptions, showing instead that autistic individuals across age groups do engage with fiction and literary non-fiction (Barnes, 2012 ; Davidson and Ellis Weismer, 2018 ; Armstrong et al, 2019 ; Chapple et al, 2021a ). Additionally, findings show that when asked about their experiences of reading, autistic participants report examples of felt empathy for fictional characters and book authors themselves (Chapple et al, 2021a ).…”

Exploring the different cognitive, emotional and imaginative experiences of autistic and non-autistic adult readers when contemplating serious literature as compared to non-fiction

“…Similarly, it has been suggested that autistic people may prefer non-fiction ( Baron-Cohen, 2008 ; Barnes, 2012 ). Although research has demonstrated that autistic people do enjoy and engage with fiction ( Barnes, 2012 ; Davidson and Ellis Weismer, 2018 ; Armstrong et al, 2019 ; Chapple et al, 2021b ), qualitative research has highlighted that autistic people can find emotional value in reading biographical non-fiction and factual non-fiction that relates to specialized interests ( Chapple et al, 2021b ). Arguably, serious literature contains autobiographical elements within it, due to the author’s own personal involvement in the fictional narrative ( Zunshine, 2011 ; McCartney, 2021 ).…”