Teaching reading to children with autism (Part 1)

Teaching Reading To Children With Autism

I have noticed over the years that many children with autism are interested in letters from a young age. Many of my young students enjoy matching letters, the alphabet song and looking at printed words.

My son Sebastian was the same. He was fascinated with letters from a young age: some of his first words were letter names!
However, when autistic children start school, 50 to 80% show early signs of reading difficulties.
Having supported many children develop early literacy skills, including my son, who now has a passion for comics and books, I understand there are three key aspects we can't ignore about teaching reading to autistic children.

1. Teach language as you teach reading
Many autistic children have difficulties with language comprehension and expressive language, which impacts their reading ability. Therefore, language needs to be taught as part of reading instruction for these children. 

Reading and language skills are closely intertwined, so as children learn to read, their language will improve, which in turn will help them become better readers. 

Books and reading are your best ally for helping autistic children develop language skills.

2. Literacy predetermines academic success

Literacy is a predictor of academic success and access to the workforce. Poor literacy skills can prove a major barrier to inclusion and adaptive functioning, and we cannot ignore this.
Children with additional needs can learn to read, but we need to understand that many children will require a different approach or additional support.
Most autistic children are introduced to reading with the same programmes as their peers, such as phonics. Still, autistic children may not learn to read by following the same developmental patterns as other children.
When teachers and parents understand how children with autism learn to read, they can find the right tools to teach reading to each child.

3. Good pre-literacy skills in the early years is a predictor for good literacy skills later on in life

88% of children who are poor at reading at six years of age tend to still be poor at reading by the age of 12 unless they are identified early and provided with adequate support.
By offering pre-reading interventions in the early years, we help children build a strong foundation for good literacy skills later on in life.

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I often run a workshop on learning more about early literacy and how to introduce reading to autistic children.

If you would like to learn more about pre-reading and pre-writing activities for children with autism, stay tuned by subscribing to my newsletter (if you are not already a subscriber), or click on the following link for more information:

Teaching Language And Reading To Autistic Children.