Reading Comprehension Instruction for Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder 2020 PDF

Reading Comprehension Instruction for Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder Author(s): Ya-Chih Chang, Holly M. Menzies and Anna Osipova Source: The Reading Teacher , November/December 2020, Vol. 74, No. 3 (November/December 2020), pp. 255-264 Published by: International Literacy Association and Wiley Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/27003661 REFERENCES Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/27003661?seq=1&cid=pdf- reference#references_tab_contents You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms Wiley and International Literacy Association are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Reading Teacher This content downloaded from 204.235.148.90 on Mon, 11 Nov 2024 21:01:17 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms FEATURE ARTICLE Reading Comprehension Instruction for Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder Ya-Chih Chang, Holly M. Menzies, Anna Osipova Students with autism spectrum disorder often present with confusing patterns of strengths and deficits in reading comprehension, but curriculum- based and observational assessment can identify instructional strategies to improve their comprehension. M s. Flor (all names are pseudonyms), in her To assess Steven, Ms. Flor used curriculum-based first year as a general education teacher, was measures to provide a full picture of his strengths struggling to provide appropriate reading and challenges in both decoding and comprehen- instruction for a fourth-grade student, Steven, who sion. She chose a DIBELS Next oral reading f lu- has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). She was per- ency benchmark assessment (University of Oregon, plexed because sometimes Steven was able to read 2018) at the fourth-grade level to determine his flu- and comprehend grade-level text, but other times he ency rate and the Flynt/Cooter Informal Reading struggled. She consulted with her mentor teacher, Inventory (IRI; Cooter, Flynt, & Cooter, 2014) for an in- Ms. Chen, who had many years of experience with depth look at his comprehension skills. The DIBELS students with special needs and worked with both probe is a standardized measure that requires a stu- special and general educators to coach them in read- dent to read a passage aloud for one minute while ing instruction. Ms. Chen recommended conducting the teacher marks any errors. The teacher later con- a thorough assessment of Steven’s reading skills to ducts an error analysis and calculates fluency rate, pinpoint the specific challenges he was experiencing. which can be compared with grade-level norms. The This information would help Ms. Flor choose effective IRI offers a choice of narrative and expository text instructional strategies matched to his area of need. passages and includes a variety of literal and infer- Many instructional strategies will improve a ential comprehension questions. The student reads student’s ability to comprehend text. For example, the text silently, then retells the story. During the self-monitoring, using graphic and semantic orga- retell, the teacher notes which of the comprehension nizers, answering questions, generating questions, questions the student answered. Then, the teacher recognizing story structure, and summarizing are follows up with any remaining questions, which are effective instructional techniques for teaching read- ing (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000). However, because of the com- Ya-Chih Chang is an associate professor in the Division plex and varied nature of ASD, close attention must of Special Education and Counseling at California State be paid to a student’s unique pattern of strengths University, Los Angeles, USA; email and weaknesses when designing instruction (Brown, [email protected]. Oram-Cardy, & Johnson, 2013; Huemer & Mann, Holly M. Menzies is a professor in the Division of Special 2010; McIntyre et al., 2017; Nation, Clarke, Wright, & Education and Counseling at California State University, Los Williams, 2006). This was exactly the challenge Ms. Angeles, USA; email [email protected]. Flor was facing. Although she had a firm understand- Anna Osipova is an assistant professor in the Division ing of reading instruction, some of Steven’s reading of Special Education and Counseling at California State skills seemed contradictory, and she was unsure of University, Los Angeles, USA; email [email protected]. how to develop lessons that would work for him. The Reading Teacher Vol. 74 No. 3 pp. 255–264 255 doi:10.1002/trtr.1929 © 2020 International Literacy Association This content downloaded from 204.235.148.90 on Mon, 11 Nov 2024 21:01:17 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Feature Article a mix of literal and inferential question types. Ms. 2019). Research has long demonstrated the rela- Flor administered the measures over a few days to tion between executive functioning skills and read- avoid fatiguing Steven so she would obtain the most ing comprehension, with a recent study indicating accurate assessment possible. its importance in word reading and fluency as well (Cirino et al., 2019). The ability to read includes both decoding and Reading Skills of Students With ASD comprehension, and in a typical trajectory, stu- ASD affects a student’s social com- dents develop both skills at the munication and behavior, and it can PAUSE AND PONDER same time (Nation & Norbury, manifest very differently in each 2005); however, studies have student. Hallmarks of the disorder shown that these skills can How do the reading skills of students include difficulty with communi- differ vastly for students with with ASD differ from those of their cation and interaction with other neurotypical peers? ASD (Cutting, Materek, Cole, people, restricted interests and Levine, & Mahone, 2009). For repetitive patterns of behavior, and Which nonacademic instructional example, students with ASD other symptoms that affect a per- strategies will address common can have average to superior behavioral deficits of students with son’s ability to function properly in skills in decoding and reading ASD? school, work, and other areas of life fluency but poor reading com- (American Psychiatric Association, How do attentional issues typical in prehension (Huemer & Mann, 2013). Students with ASD can learn ASD interfere with reading 2010; Nation et al., 2006). A to read, but their disability may comprehension? meta-analysis of reading com- provide distinctive challenges for Which research-based reading prehension (Brown et al., 2013) comprehending text. For example, strategies will work for students with found that students with ASD theory of mind, which is the ability ASD? were more likely to struggle to understand or take the perspec- with reading comprehension tive of others (Baron-Cohen, Leslie, than their typically developing & Frith, 1985), and weak central coherence, the abil- peers, but impairment was nuanced. Several factors ity to understand the context or see the bigger pic- may explain the differences in achievement. Students ture (Hill & Frith, 2003), have been used to explain the with ASD who did not have a language impairment difficulties that students with ASD have with com- were more likely to have strengths in decoding and prehension (Carnahan, Williamson, & Christman, semantic knowledge, which in turn predicted better 2011; McIntyre et al., 2017; Ricketts, Jones, Happé, & outcomes in comprehension. Additionally, a signifi- Charman, 2013). Some students with ASD may lack cant indicator of comprehension performance was theory of mind, which can affect their ability to the level of social knowledge needed to comprehend a understand characters’ perspectives, emotions, and text. Students with ASD did not perform as well when actions when reading a text (Carnahan, Williamson, & the text required a higher level of social knowledge, Haydon, 2009). Similarly, having weak central coher- but they were comparable to their typically develop- ence may negatively affect understanding of literary ing peers when reading text that required a low level elements such as plot because it requires knowledge of social knowledge. of the all the characters and events in the text, as well Three areas that can affect reading comprehen- as the ability to make connections across multiple sion proficiency for students with ASD are social pieces of information. Specifically, in reading compre- knowledge, behavior, and attention. Choosing hension, students with ASD may be focused on insig- instructional practices matched to a student’s nificant or irrelevant details of the narrative rather areas of need will result in better outcomes in than the global picture (Carnahan et al., 2011). comprehension. Another area that can negatively affect students with ASD is weakness in executive functioning, which governs the ability to plan for and execute Social Cognition goals and actions. Cognitive processes central to Social cognition is related to theory of mind and executive functioning are the ability to focus one’s central coherence (Baron-Cohen et al., 1985; Hill & attention, engage working memory, and monitor and Frith, 2003), both of which influence reading com- regulate behavior (Golshan, Soltani, & Afarinesh, prehension in students with autism (Carnahan 256 The Reading Teacher Vol. 74 No. 3 November/December 2020literacyworldwide.org This content downloaded from 204.235.148.90 on Mon, 11 Nov 2024 21:01:17 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Feature Article et al., 2011; McIntyre et al., 2017). This includes per- Steven’s Assessment Profile spective taking, making inferences, relating to past Ms. Flor’s assessment of Steven showed that his flu- experiences, finding context clues, and generalizing ency and decoding skills were at grade level. He was to other contexts. These skills are critical for com- able to read 110 words correct per minute at 98% accu- prehension of text and are well-established areas racy on the DIBELS Next oral reading fluency assess- of difficulty for students with ASD (Brown et al., ment, indicating he was on target for the middle of the 2013; Ricketts et al., 2013; Williamson, Carnahan, & year. The DIBELS cut scores specify 103 as benchmark Jacobs, 2012). Proficient readers spontaneously use and 121 as above benchmark for mid-year. social knowledge to aid comprehension or may need However, the results of the informal reading only incidental instruction, but students with ASD inventory were mixed. Ms. Flor administered two require direct and explicit instruction in developing text selections, one narrative and the other exposi- such skills. tory. Although Steven was not an independent reader at the fourth-grade level, he performed better on the Behavior expository passage and was able to answer all of the Challenging and repetitive behaviors are common literal questions and two of the inferential ques- in school-age children with ASD (e.g., Machalicek, tions. He was unable to answer any of the inferen- O’Reilly, Beretvas, Sigafoos, & Lancioni, 2007). They tial questions in the narrative text, which required manifest in a variety of ways (e.g., type, intensity, the reader to understand character motivation and duration) and may occur and interfere with learning feelings. The inferential questions in the expository when students with ASD encounter non-preferred text were fact based. For example, the inferential activities. The behaviors can be challenging enough question Steven answered correctly, “What animal to limit students’ access to educational and social did Jim trap?” was one he could figure out by doing opportunities and may affect how teachers interact a close read of the text and synthesizing informa- tion presented in it. Steven had some difficulty with these students (Carr, Taylor, & Robinson, 1991). distinguishing between the more and less impor- Providing structured support in the classroom (e.g., tant elements in both stories. During the retell, he visuals, token economy, checklists) minimizes mal- included many details that were not critical in com- adaptive behavior and promotes prosocial behavior municating the main point of the passages. In addi- during academic activities (e.g., Hef lin & Alberto, tion, Steven had more trouble staying on task when 2001). reading the narrative passage; however, he was able to focus and enjoyed reading the expository text, Attentional Issues which was an adventure story about a man who Attentional challenges and lack of motivation con- lived in the mountains. Ms. Flor administered the tribute to academic challenges for students with ASD IRI until she determined that Steven’s instructional (Koegel, Singh, & Koegel, 2010; Mayes & Calhoun, level was third grade for expository passages and 2007) and are related to executive functioning. Short his independent level at a second-grade expository attention span or inflexibility in switching activities passage. Steven’s instructional and independent lev- may be attributed to students’ repetitive behaviors els were lower with narrative text. and circumscribed interests. This limits their ability Ms. Flor now had a better understanding of to entertain new interests or topics (Klin, Danovitch, Steven’s reading abilities based on his assessment Merz, & Volkmar, 2007). Students with ASD may have results. He could decode and comprehend exposi- difficulty staying on task, particularly if the activ- tory text independently at the second-grade level. ity does not relate to the topics they prefer. Specific Although he was far below grade level in compre- self-regulation interventions can increase academic hension, Steven was much better at deriving mean- engagement and improve focus (Jahromi, Bryce, & ing from expository text compared with narrative Swanson, 2013). Using highly preferred activities or text. He had difficulty intuiting what a fictional char- objects as positive reinforcement can improve moti- acter might be thinking, and he had some trouble vation and, subsequently, reading comprehension, distinguishing important details from unimportant once the student is able to focus and benefit from the ones. He also found it hard to focus when a pas- instructional task. Another way to enhance motiva- sage was less interesting to him but could sustain tion to read is to choose texts that feature the stu- attention if it was a topic he liked. Ms. Flor reviewed dent’s interest (El Zein, Solis, Lang, & Kim, 2016). several common strategies (see Table 1) matched to 257 The Reading Teacher Vol. 74 No. 3 November/December 2020literacyworldwide.org This content downloaded from 204.235.148.90 on Mon, 11 Nov 2024 21:01:17 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Feature Article Table 1 Reading Comprehension Instructional Strategies for Students With ASD Strategy Description Assessment of A comprehensive assessment of reading allows a teacher to decide if a student can decode comprehension but not comprehend or has impaired fluency that interferes with comprehension. Tools such as DIBELS provide a variety of measures, such as letter naming fluency, phonemic segmentation fluency, nonsense word fluency, word reading fluency, oral reading fluency, and maze passages (Amendum, Conradi, & Pendleton, 2016). Informal reading inventories offer insight into the types of comprehension skills a student has, including literal and inferential comprehension (Bieber, Hulac, & Schweinle, 2015; Rubin, 2011). Cooperative Collaborative activities such as peer tutoring, class-wide peer tutoring, cooperative learning learning groups, and cooperative pairs can improve reading comprehension of students with ASD as well as neurotypical students (Finnegan & Mazin, 2016; Law, 2008). When engaged in cooperative learning activities, students with ASD work collaboratively with neurotypical peers to accomplish common learning tasks: identifying the main idea, learning new vocabulary, question generating and response, and comprehension self-monitoring. Students with ASD may need adaptations to prepare for the social interaction that cooperative learning requires. The multi-strategy Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) is a structured approach to collaborative activities effective for students with ASD (Reutebuch, El Zein, Kim, Weinberg, & Vaughn, 2015). Each phase of CSR (before reading, with preview strategies; during reading, with fix-up techniques; and after reading, with question generation and summary) has built-in supports: priming, prompting, social skills instruction, self-monitoring checklists, and use of graphic organizers to support summary production. See the More to Explore sidebar for a resource on how to use CSR. Explicit Explicit instruction (Adams & Carnine, 2003; Rosenshine, 2008; Stockard, Wood, Coughlin, & instruction Khoury, 2018) begins with a review of previously learned material, after which new material is introduced in small steps using detailed explanations and models. Students practice each step or concept as it is introduced, and then copious active practice is provided for the lesson objectives. The teacher checks for understanding throughout the lesson practice. Students are given immediate systematic feedback and error correction. When working with students with ASD, it is important to check for understanding to make sure the concepts and information students use lead to appropriate inferences. Explicitly and frequently letting students know whether the information they are recalling and applying to the text is relevant or irrelevant will aid comprehension (Carnahan et al., 2011). Explicit instruction is effective for students with ASD when teaching concepts such as perspective taking, text structure, and making inferences (Flores & Ganz, 2007, 2009; Zipoli, 2017). Principles of In behavioral terms (Pierce & Cheney, 2017), reinforcement is when a consequence is applied reinforcement in response to a student’s action that will increase further occurrences of the action. When teachers tell a student that he or she is doing good work (verbal praise) or give a “ticket” (token economy) or a small prize such as a sticker, they are using positive reinforcement because they are giving the student something that may increase the likelihood that the student will perform the action again. Positive behavior support is a theory of behavior management that emphasizes offering positive reinforcement for prosocial behaviors such as task completion, paying attention, cooperating with others, and being polite (Paciotti, 2010; Simonsen & Myers, 2015). (Continued) 258 The Reading Teacher Vol. 74 No. 3 November/December 2020literacyworldwide.org This content downloaded from 204.235.148.90 on Mon, 11 Nov 2024 21:01:17 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Feature Article Table 1 Reading Comprehension Instructional Strategies for Students With ASD (Continued) Strategy Description Perspective To address perspective taking, scaffolding and guiding readers’ understanding of character taking emotions can be done using several techniques (Hodges, McTigue, Wright, Franks, & Matthews, 2018; Randi, Newman, & Grigorenko, 2010). Vocabulary instruction focused on emotions and feelings, along with visual representations of facial expressions of different emotional states, cues students with ASD to attend to these markers (Bosseler & Massaro, 2003). Discussing illustrations accompanying the narrative provides an opportunity to work on perspective taking. Teachers can use a strategy of “emotional thermometer” to teach students with ASD to recognize the strength of character emotions (e.g., “very sad” vs. “a little sad”) by using different shades of color to illustrate the intensity of the emotion (Gately, 2008). Additionally, readers can be taught to recognize the causal links between characters’ emotions, actions, and intentions. They can be instructed to identify a character’s feelings, recall what happened to characters in the past, and draw conclusions and generalizations (Randi et al., 2010). Using graphic organizers for these tasks will make clearer the relationships among the various elements and help keep track of the information. Self-regulation Self-regulation strategies such as self-monitoring can improve behavior and strengthen executive functioning, which includes tasks such as planning, self-monitoring, and organizing (Pugliese et al., 2016). Because executive functioning may be weaker in students with autism, deliberate instruction is required (Reid, Mason, & Asaro-Saddler, 2013). For example, a simple self-monitoring strategy in which a student uses a daily checklist to indicate whether he or she has completed an activity (Menzies, Lane, & Lee, 2009) ensures a clear awareness of the task and signals that it is the student’s responsibility to complete the task independently. An additional component can be added to the checklist in which the student self-evaluates how well the task was executed. Reinforcers can be used to motivate students to make improvements in task completion and quality. Some teachers use a token economy as a reinforcement system, and simple reinforcers such as verbal praise are quite effective. For some students with ASD, having consistent time with the teacher to review their progress on a self- monitoring checklist is reinforcing. A clear relationship has been established between students’ ability to self-regulate and their achievement in reading (Skibbe, Montroy, Bowles, & Morrison, 2019), so taking the time to develop this skill is critical. Text structure Explicitly and systematically teaching text structures (e.g., cause and effect, description, compare and contrast) and signal words associated with text patterns (e.g., therefore, so, similarly, in contrast) will cue students to the meanings associated with them. Understanding the difference between main events or items of importance and details will help students with ASD who may not recognize the “big ideas” in a text and who tend to focus on extraneous details (Carnahan & Williamson, 2016; Williamson et al., 2012). Another type of attention to text features, anaphoric cueing, can address the trouble students with ASD may have with pronoun referents (O’Connor & Klein, 2004). Not understanding who or what pronouns refer to is a serious barrier to comprehension because pronouns are so frequently used in text, particularly in narrative fiction. Teachers can implement two strategies for teaching anaphoric cueing: a graphic organizer and a cloze strategy. A graphic organizer for anaphoric cueing lists all the pronouns used in a passage as referents for a particular character, along with the contexts that influence pronoun use. For example, the organizer might spotlight three contexts: (a) a narrator- led story line with the character referred to as she and her, (b) parts of the story in which the narration switches to the character’s first-person perspective and uses I and my, and (c) parts of the story with direct speech in which the character is referred to by you and your. When using a cloze strategy for anaphoric cueing, the teacher can either create a cloze exercise with possible referents for pronouns used in the text (with one correct and some incorrect choices) or provide passages for students to identify referents for various pronouns by color-coding them in the text. Each technique relies on explicit directions from the teacher and provides a structure to help the student attend to the pronoun and identify its referent (Finnegan & Accardo, 2018). (Continued) 259 The Reading Teacher Vol. 74 No. 3 November/December 2020literacyworldwide.org This content downloaded from 204.235.148.90 on Mon, 11 Nov 2024 21:01:17 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Feature Article Table 1 Reading Comprehension Instructional Strategies for Students With ASD (Continued) Strategy Description Visual supports Visual supports provide structure and focus attention (Rogers, 2013). For example, one type of visual support is a visual schedule that orients students to the day’s routine. It is a reminder of the expectations for beginning and completing activities, and it reduces stress by providing predictability. Another type of visual support is graphic organizers such as thinking maps, which can be used to help with literary elements such as metaphors (Mashal & Kasirer, 2011). Visual supports specific to reading instruction can be grouped into three broad approaches. The first provides pictures for specific vocabulary known to be difficult to understand for students with ASD: spatial words, words specifying emotional states, words with multiple meanings, and figurative language (Rao & Gagie, 2006). Illustrations help students with ASD access the meaning of written and oral text more accurately. The second approach, color-coding, assists in teaching text structure by contrasting similarities and differences and visually differentiating between main idea and details. The third approach condenses lengthy narratives to comic- strip conversations and social stories to help students understand social situations in the narratives (Constable, Grossi, Moniz, & Ryan, 2013). Social stories distill key descriptive, directive, and perspective sentences from the text. Descriptive sentences highlight events critical for understanding of the social context. Directive sentences focus on characters’ intentions and viewpoints. Perspective sentences emphasize characters’ emotional states. Comic-strip conversations focus readers’ attention on the key dialogues in narratives and emphasize specific phrases that drive development of the narrative or reveal important character traits. Steven’s areas of need in anticipation of developing Although Steven’s instructional level is with his instructional plan. third-grade expository text, Ms. Flor felt the sup- port he would receive in a small group targeted to his area of weakness, inferring characters’ An Instructional Plan for Steven feelings and motivations, will make tackling Ms. Flor reflected first on Steven’s strengths when narrative text at the third-grade level appro- reviewing his assessment results to determine which priate. She planned to assess his comprehen- instructional techniques she would use. He was able sion using a once-a-week progress monitoring to sustain attention when he found the text interest- probe and adjust the text difficulty depending ing, and he could decode fluently. He was also better on Steven’s improvement (and note the change at comprehending expository or informational text in text level, if needed, in his progress monitor- than narratives or fiction. Ms. Flor decided to create ing chart). lessons that would improve Steven’s ability to under- Choose several expository texts at Steven’s stand narratives but would leverage his strengths by independent level based on his interests. Check choosing expository texts for his independent read- for comprehension by allowing Steven to choose ing activities. She also decided to use a behavioral from a variety of options, such as working with intervention designed to help Steven finish his read- a peer to retell or share his opinion of the pas- ing assignments and visual supports to keep him sage, completing a short graphic organizer for on task. Ms. Flor designed his instructional plan as the teacher to review, or creating an illustration follows: of selected texts. The focus of this activity is Create a series of explicit instruction lessons for Steven to read for enjoyment, so Ms. Flor did focused on interpreting a character’s feel- not want to make checking for comprehension ings and motivations using short texts at the tedious and possibly reduce his motivation to third-grade level to improve Steven’s ability read. She planned to check for comprehension in perspective taking. These would take place as needed or periodically. during small-group instruction with another Create a visual schedule for Steven that high- student whose instructional level was similar. lights small-group instruction and independent 260 The Reading Teacher Vol. 74 No. 3 November/December 2020literacyworldwide.org This content downloaded from 204.235.148.90 on Mon, 11 Nov 2024 21:01:17 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Feature Article reading time so he can anticipate the task. In addition, Ms. Flor would create a visual support TAKE ACTION! to guide Steven in what to do if he struggles with a text. This will be a form recommended 1. Use curriculum-based measures, such as decoding by Carnahan and Williamson (2016) that says, and fluency probes, and an informal reading inventory to identify a student’s specific strengths “When I need help, I should follow these steps: and challenges. 1) Check the directions. 2) Ask a friend. 3) Ask the teacher.” Each step will have an accompa- 2. Use observational and anecdotal information to nying picture. She planned to review this with determine a student’s reading preference, including Steven and model how to use it. types of text and topics of interest. Implement a self-monitoring chart that tracks 3. Assess for attentional issues through observation Steven’s on-task behavior during small-group and input from other school personnel as to whether and independent reading time. Provide rein- a self-regulation intervention or support is warranted. forcers for increases in on-task behavior. 4. Based on the diagnostic information, choose Decrease the frequency of reinforcement as on- instructional strategies to align with the student’s task behavior increases. areas of need. Check in weekly with the resource specialist 5. After consistent implementation, reassess at teacher Steven works with each day for pull- periodic intervals and adjust the instructional plan as out services. Steven receives instruction on needed. pragmatics (using context clues to understand another’s communicative intent), and Ms. Flor thought she could incorporate texts that will REFERENCES assist in this area. Adams, G., & Carnine, D. (2003). Direct instruction. In H.L. Swanson, K.R. Harris, & S. Graham (Eds.), Handbook of learn- Ms. Flor has more confidence about proceeding ing disabilitie (pp. 403–416). New York, NY: Guilford. Amendum, S.J., Conradi, K., & Pendleton, M.J. 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Dynamic indicators of basic early lit- Reutebuch, C.K., El Zein, F., Kim, M.K., Weinberg, A.N., & eracy skills (8th ed.). Eugene: University of Oregon. Vaughn, S. (2015). Investigating a reading comprehension Williamson, P., Carnahan, C.R., & Jacobs, J.A. (2012). Reading intervention for high school students with autism spectrum comprehension profiles of high-functioning students disorder: A pilot study. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, on the autism spectrum: A grounded theory. Exceptional 9, 96–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2014.10.002 Children, 78(4), 449–469. https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402912 Ricketts, J., Jones, C.R.G., Happé, F., & Charman, T. (2013). 07800404 Reading comprehension in autism spectrum disorders: Zipoli, R.P., Jr. (2017). Unraveling difficult sentences: Strategies The role of oral language and social functioning. Journal of to support reading comprehension. Intervention in School Autism and Developmental Disorders, 43(4), 807–816. https:// and Clinic, 52(4), 218–227. https://doi.org/10.1177/1053451216 doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1619-4 659465 MORE TO EXPLORE Assessment of comprehension DIBELS: Assessment of Reading Skills: https://dibels.uoregon.edu IRIS Center: Module on Progress Monitoring: https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/pmr/ National Center on Intensive Intervention: Identifying Assessments: https://intensiveintervention.org/tools-charts/ identifying-assessments Reading Rockets: A Critical Analysis of Eight Informal Reading Inventories: https://www.readingrockets.org/article/critical- analysis-eight-informal-reading-inventories Cooperative learning Jacobs, G.M., Power, M.A., & Inn, L.W. (2002). The teacher’s sourcebook for cooperative learning. New York, NY: Corwin. Klingner, J.K., & Vaughn, S. (n.d.). Using Collaborative Strategic Reading. https://www.readingrockets.org/article/ using-collaborative-strategic-reading National Education Association: Research Spotlight on Cooperative Learning: http://www.nea.org/tools/16870.htm Explicit instruction High-Leverage Practices in Special Education: Use Explicit Instruction: https://highleveragepractices.org/701-2/ Hollingsworth, J.R., & Ybarra, S.E. (2018). Explicit direct instruction: The power of the well-crafted, well-taught lesson. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. The University of Kansas: Explicit Instruction: http://www.specialconnections.ku.edu/?q=instruction/direct_instruction 263 The Reading Teacher Vol. 74 No. 3 November/December 2020literacyworldwide.org This content downloaded from 204.235.148.90 on Mon, 11 Nov 2024 21:01:17 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Feature Article Principles of reinforcement The Association for Positive Behavior Support: https://www.apbs.org Center on Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports: https://www.pbis.org Fisher, W.W., C.C. Piazza, & H.S. Roane (Eds.). (2011). Handbook of applied behavior analysis. New York, NY: Guilford. Perspective taking How to ABA: Teaching Theory of Mind and Perspective Taking: https://howtoaba.com/theory-of-mind-perspective- taking / Speech and Language Kids: How to Teach Perspective-Taking to Children: https://www.speechandlanguagekids.com/ how-to-teach-perspective-talking-to-children/ Winner, M.G. (2019). Social behavior starts with social thought: The four steps of perspective taking. Retrieved from https://www.socialthinking.com/Articles?name=social-behavior-starts-social-thought-perspective-taking Self-regulation IRIS Center: Module on Self-Regulation: https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/sr/#content Meltzer, L. (Ed.). (2018). Executive function in education. New York, NY: Guilford. Zelazo, P.D., Blair, C.B., & Willoughby, M.T. (2016). Executive functioning: Implications for education (NCER 2017–2000). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Research, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from https://ies.ed.gov/ncer/pubs/201720 00/ Text structure All About Adolescent Literacy: Text Structure: http://www.adlit.org/strategies/23336/ Lapp, D., Wolsey, T.D., & Wood, K. (2015). Mining complex text, grades 2–5: Using and creating graphic organizers to grasp content and share new understandings. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. Reading Rockets. (2018, December 17). Teaching anaphoric reference improves comprehension [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1ikjmVOosk Visual supports Bennie, M. (2017, October 8). Visual supports for autism: A step by step guide. Retrieved from https://autismawareness centre.com/visual-suppor ts-best-way-use/ Cohen, M.J. (2017). Visual supports for people with autism: A guide for parents and professionals (2nd ed.). Bethesda, MD: Woodbine House. Loring, W., & Hamilton, M. (2011). Visual supports and autism spectrum disorders. Retrieved from https://www.autis mspeaks.org/sites/default/files/2018-08/Visual%20Supports%20Tool%20Kit.pdf/ 264 The Reading Teacher Vol. 74 No. 3 November/December 2020literacyworldwide.org This content downloaded from 204.235.148.90 on Mon, 11 Nov 2024 21:01:17 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms

Reading Comprehension Instruction for Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder 2020 PDF

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