200–250 words. THE reply must cite at least 2 sources in current APA format.
Although persons with Autism have a problems with their social skills, they are very diverse in their academic skills. Some excel, some are around average, and some struggle very much. Due to various aspects of their disabilities, they may need to put in a lot of effort in order to succeed. However, many autistic children exceed their peers in academics. Others might be highly specialized, excelling in one or two areas and getting ordinary or below ordinary grades in the rest, and some autistic children do not do well in school at all. According to Boutot (2017), reading and mathematics difficulties contribute to these poor outcomes. Researchers found that when rates of literacy growth were compared and graphed for students with different disabilities, students with autism demonstrated slower reading growth curves compared to students with learning disabilities (LDs). In addition, they indicated that students with autism typically improve in word identification and comprehension between age 7 and 17. However, at 17, word reading ability resembles that of “typically achieving” 10-year-olds and comprehension ability is slightly below a W-score of 500, which is an age equivalence of 10. Mathematics growth statistics are also undesirable. Compared to students with LD, students with autism demonstrated slower growth in math calculation. While these unfavorable outcomes do not impact all students with ASD, it is important for educators to be aware of potential academic deficits to provide remediation of academic risk in school and strive to improve the chances for long-term success. Nonetheless, Boutot (2017) stated that educators should not make broad assumptions about the academic needs of students with ASD because ability levels are often diverse, or heterogeneous and should look for strategies to help improve their academic ability (p159).
Because children with ASDs and other disabilities are expected to be “included” within the general education classroom, it seems important that reading comprehension instruction be an essential component of the curriculum. Teaching children to read for meaning is no easy task as reading comprehension involves a complex set of skills and processes and is sensitive to individual differences, often requiring different kinds of instruction for different learners (Randi et al, 2010). Fortunately, there are reading strategies to help teach children with Autism. Collaborative learning is a strategy that can help with reading. This is a strategy in which peers quiz each other on vocabulary and factual recall and play games based on reading materials. This strategy can help children with Autism not only with their reading skills, but also with their social skills. Another strategy is using structured online reading programs. Because many children with Autism are better at visual- spatial processing, and struggle with verbal instruction or decoding of written text, working with the computer can be a powerful tool to help teach reading for children with Autism.
References
Boutot, E. A. (2017). Autism Spectrum Disorders: Foundations, characteristics, and effective strategies. (2nd ed.) Boston: Pearson. ISBN: -13: 978-0133833690. ISBN-10: 0133833690
Randi J., Newman T., and Grigorenko .E. (2010). Teaching Children with Autism to read for meaning challenges and possibilities. J Autism Dev Disord.; 40(7): 890–902. DOI: 10.1007/s10803-010-0938-6