Procedural and Conceptual Print-Related Achievements in Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

A comparative analysis between emergent procedural and conceptual print-related achievements was conducted for 32 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) aged 4 to 8 years. To minimize the influence of linguistic competence on the assessment, the ASD print-related profile was compared with that of a language-matched sample of typically developing peers. Two factors associated with young children's print-related achievements, their print motivation and home-based experiences, were illustrated for the matched participants. We found that children with ASD earned significantly higher scores on a parentally reported composite measure of emergent procedural (e.g., letter name identification) than conceptual (e.g., pretend reading) print-related accomplishments. The children with ASD were more often reported by their parents as motivated by letters but less likely to request or enjoy shared reading than their language-matched peers. Findings provide a preliminary profile of emergent print-related accomplishments that may be considered in educational planning for children with ASD.

The home literacy environment of school‐aged children with autism spectrum disorders

“…Previous research has indicated that young children with ASD do enjoy shared reading, albeit less than TD children (Dynia et al, ; Lanter, Freeman, & Dove, ). However, the influence of language and literacy competence was not taken into consideration, even though these factors are positively associated with attitude to reading for nonautistic children (Chall & Jacobs, ; Frijeters et al, ; Kaderavek & Sulzby, ; Sawyer et al, ).…”

“…To date, the limited research on the HLE of children with ASD has focused on the preschool years and indicates that the majority of parents read to their child at least twice a week, which is similar to TD families (Dynia et al, ; Lanter, Freeman, & Dove, ). Likewise, the current study of school‐aged children found that 85% of children with ALD participated in shared reading activities on at least a weekly basis.…”

“…Frequency and duration of shared reading practices may be associated with child enjoyment of reading. Lanter, Freeman, and Dove () found that children with ASD enjoyed shared reading less than did language‐matched TD children and also requested shared reading less frequently (twice rather than three times a week). These findings could be attributable to the difficulties children with ASD have with social interaction.…”

“…Two keys topics were addressed: Whether the frequency and duration of both shared and independent reading practices differed between TD and ASD peers, and across language phenotypes within ASD. It was predicted that the majority of children with ASD would engage in shared reading but that the frequency and/or duration of such activities would be reduced relative to TD peers (Dynia et al, ; Lanter, Freeman, & Dove, ), potentially owing to difficulties with social interaction. The ALD group was also expected to engage in less independent reading than both their ALN and TD peers (who were not expected to differ), as difficulties with decoding and comprehension would make independent reading challenging and reduce motivation.…”

Processos de Leitura em Educandos com Autismo: um Estudo de Revisão

“…Pesquisas indicam que essa população apresenta resultados satisfatórios em tarefas de pré-leitura (reconhecimento de letras do alfabeto), mas insatisfatórios na compreensão de mensagens escritas (KLUTH; CHANDLER-OLCOTT, 2008;LANTER;FREEMAN;DOVE, 2012;). De maneira semelhante, mostram-se, muitas vezes, incapazes de fazer inferências sobre o comportamento de personagens em livros (WHALON et al, 2013).…”