Persuasive Writing and Self-Regulation Training for Writers With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

In this single-subject study, we examined the effects of a persuasive writing and self-regulation strategy on the writing of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Six children with ASD worked in pairs to learn a mnemonic-based strategy for planning and writing a persuasive essay using the self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) approach. Postintervention analysis revealed increases for all students in number of essay elements and holistic quality. Evidence of planning and self-regulation behaviors was also noted. Results support the assertion that utilizing a peer component to teach strategy instruction coupled with self-regulation procedures can positively affect the writing of children with ASD.

Story composition, mental state language and self‐regulated strategy instruction for writers with autism spectrum conditions

“…Similar to the findings from other research (Asaro‐Saddler, ; Asaro‐Saddler and Bak, , ; Asaro‐Saddler and Saddler, ), this intervention was effective regarding the time participants spent on planning their writings, while all of them reproduced the graphic organiser for writing their notes. This study offers further evidence supporting that children with ASC have strong visual memory and they obviously benefited from visual aids for the story elements (Griffin, Griffin, Fitch, et al., ).…”

“…Thirdly, the one to one instruction was conducted at the participants’ homes. Since the number of students with ASC in mainstream classrooms is increasing, future studies could be carried out in inclusive environments, exploring the effects of peer tutoring on the writing skills of students with ASC (Asaro‐Saddler and Bak, , ) and how teachers could implement the intervention in their classrooms. This has been studied only by Asaro‐Saddler () in a resource room (1:1 setting) with positive outcomes.…”

“…Following other researchers (Asaro‐Saddler, ; Asaro‐Saddler and Bak, , ; Asaro‐Saddler and Saddler, ) in this area, who have applied single‐subject experimental design, this study used a single‐subject AB design to determine the effects of the strategy intervention on the three participants.…”

“…There has been an emerging body of interventions showing variable effects [percentage of non‐overlapping data (PND) values: 33.3–100%] on the holistic quality of persuasive and descriptive texts following the explicit instruction of the SRSD approach to students with ASC (Asaro‐Saddler, ; Asaro‐Saddler and Bak, , ; Asaro‐Saddler and Saddler, ; Delano, ,b). The positive findings of the aforementioned studies indicate that the SRSD model can be a promising instructional method for improving the writing abilities of children with ASC.…”

Supporting the Writing Skills of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder Through Assistive Technologies

“…Furthermore, differences in language and communication skills as they relate to gathering and expressing thoughts in a cohesive fashion and then expressing them on paper can also jeopardize the writing process (Asaro-Saddler and Bak 2014).…”