In typical development, emergent literacy skills predict successful reading abilities. Code-related literacy skills may include letter knowledge, print concepts, early writing and early phonological awareness. Meaning-related literacy skills may include lexical and grammatical ability, story retelling and comprehension. Children with ASD (autism…

Multisensory instructional approach leads to increased engagement, improved attitudes towards learning, improved information processing, and improved retrieval of learned information. The purpose of the present study was to examine the extent to which multisensory approach can be used to improve emergent literacy skills in children with autism…

Purpose: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at increased risk of experiencing difficulties with the development of literacy, including the emergent literacy skills recognized to underpin conventional literacy success. Comprehensive assessment is essential. Characteristics of ASD can make assessment challenging, and this can be…

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…

Student-teacher relationship (STR) quality during the early school years has important implications for student adjustment and outcomes. Studies with typically developing (TD) children have identified links between parent behaviors and STRs, but these connections remain unexplored for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The present study…

Emergent literacy skills are thought to develop through transactional relationships between child characteristics and environmental variables. Child characteristics suggested to contribute to literacy learning include speech and language development, cognitive processing profile, social-communication skills, joint engagement, and the absence of…

Relationships between early literacy measures (i.e., curriculum-based measurement) and advanced literacy measures (i.e., reading comprehension) were examined in young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Participants in this study were 167 children between the ages of 4 and 7 years (M = 5 years 8 months), who were assessed at 2 time…

Relationships between early literacy measures (i.e., curriculum-based measurement) and advanced literacy measures (i.e., reading comprehension) were examined in young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Participants in this study were 167 children between the ages of 4 and 7 years (M = 5 years 8 months), who were assessed at 2 time…

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…

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…

Positive results for children with ASD in the areas of language and communication skills have been shown through the use of storybook reading. Shared storybook reading promotes the growth of language and social participation, two core deficits for children with ASD. This article describes strategies that can be implemented to enhance interactions…

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…

The purpose of the current study was to characterize and compare the emergent-literacy skills, print interest, and home-literacy environment of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to their peers, as well as to examine the association between children's emergent-literacy skills and their home-literacy environment. Results indicated that…

As the number of children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) continues to rise, more children with ASD are accessing early childhood services. Early childhood educators need strategies that benefit a variety of learners served in these settings including those diagnosed with ASD. Shared reading is one routine that is typically used…

Writing is a critical skill because it is used to access reinforcement in a variety of contexts. Unfortunately, there has been little research on writing skills instruction for students with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorders. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects simultaneous prompting and computer-assisted…