Triveni Goswami Vernal
(Registered Special Educator CRR No: A64010)
The ability to read and comprehend a written text, is a multi-layered complex process, one that is found to be quite challenging for individuals on the Autism spectrum.
WHAT DOES RESEARCH SAY ON READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS AND AUTISM?
Various research studies have pointed towards a challenge in Reading Comprehension skills for individuals with Autism.
A meta-analysis examining 36 studies that compared individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and control groups, in reading comprehension, found that “Individuals with ASD were significantly worse at comprehending highly social than less social texts. Having ASD alone does not predict reading comprehension deficits. Instead, individual skills, especially language ability, must be considered before one can accurately predict whether a given individual with ASD will experience difficulties in reading comprehension.”
(Source: Brown, H.M., Oram-Cardy, J. & Johnson, A. A Meta-Analysis of the Reading Comprehension Skills of Individuals on the Autism Spectrum. J Autism Dev Disord 43, 932–955 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1638-1)
Reading involves both decoding the text as well as assigning meaning to what they read, that is comprehending the written text. A lot of individuals on the Autism Spectrum, have hyperlexia. They are naturally drawn to alphabets, they can read text and decode at a much higher level, than their peers but the ability to read may not go hand in hand, with comprehension. Thus, as they grow older and are at higher grades, they find it extremely difficult to cope with abstract concepts.
The article, “Recognizing Comprehension Pitfalls in Early Readers With Autism”, by Shari Robertson, May 8th 2020 (https://leader.pubs.asha.org/do/10.1044/leader.SCM.25052020.32/full/), sheds light on this issue. She says,
“However, for those with ASD and hyperlexia, reading develops outside of the social context. For these children, learning to read is solitary, self-directed, and isolating, as they seek to find visual patterns, connect sounds and symbols, and impose order on graphemes…Good decoding doesn’t guarantee good reading comprehension. They must compare what they see—strings of symbols—to what they know to make sense of text. When reading comprehension isn’t part of learning to read, students miss out on this connection of symbols to knowledge.”
Therefore, individuals with Hyperlexia, require additional support for Reading Comprehension.
A study carried out amongst 100 adolescents with ASD with varying intellectual disabilities, “aged 14–16 years completed assessments indexing word recognition, oral language, reading comprehension, social behaviour and social cognition.” It was found that “word recognition, oral language and social impairments may constrain reading comprehension in ASD.”
(Source: Ricketts, J., Jones, C.R.G., Happé, F. et al. Reading Comprehension in Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Role of Oral Language and Social Functioning. J Autism Dev Disord 43, 807–816 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1619-4)
WHAT DOES READING COMPREHENSION INVOLVE?
Reading Comprehension includes multiple elements. The website, Hand in Hand Homeschool (https://handinhandhomeschool.com/teaching/reading/5-types-of-reading-comprehension/) provides a description of 5 types of Reading Comprehension. They include, “Lexical Comprehension (understand the key vocabulary in the text), Literal Comprehension (Answer Who, What, When and Where questions), Interpretive Comprehension (Answer What If, Why and How questions), Applied Comprehension (Relate the story to existing knowledge or opinion), and Affective Comprehension (Understand social and emotional aspects).”
Thus, we see, how complex and loaded, Reading Comprehension really is. In my subsequent blogs, I will be looking at the various types of Reading Comprehension, in more detail.
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Author Triveni Goswami Vernal
Triveni Goswami Vernal is an Autism advocate, registered Special Educator (CRR A64010) and an Independent Researcher. Her areas of interest include Autism, Disability Rights, Gender, Art and Northeast studies. She is a mum to an 12 year old on the Autism Spectrum.
Artwork “Autumn”, Artist Kabir Vernal
Acrylic Painting on Watercolour paper
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