WHAT IS AUTISM?
Autism describes a variety of developmental conditions and has broad diagnosis criteria.
Approximately 1.9% of children are diagnosed with autism. Each child with autism differs in the characteristics they present. Diagnosis typically occurs in early development.
Individuals with autism have significant difficulties in:
- social relationships
- nonverbal and verbal communication
- reciprocating emotions
- repetitive behaviors
- overly restricted interests
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
- Form – Syntax, Morphology, Phonology
- Experience delays in all three aspects of form
- First words often imitations with little meaning
- Content – Vocabulary & Semantics
- Delayed onset of verbal language
- Expressive language (communicating) is stronger than receptive language (understanding) for many children with ASD
- Use – Pragmatics
- Pragmatic language impairment is a universal deficit for children with autism
LITERACY SKILLS
- Wide range of literacy and reading skills
- Levels of oral language abilities and literacy skills are related
- Strengths:
- Word reading
- Phonemic awareness
- Spelling
- Weaknesses:
- Struggle decoding mechanics necessary for reading
- Difficulties with reading comprehension
- Struggle with narrative production
- Negative attitudes towards reading
INTERVENTIONS
- Communication Skills
- Variety of levels and types of interventions
- One common type is naturalistic intervention
- Important aspects: following the child’s lead, responsive interaction, embedded learning opportunities, and using the natural environment as a learning context
- The video below demonstrates how to implement naturalistic intervention by taking advantage of learning opportunities
- Literacy Skills
- Reading comprehension instruction should be a crucial part of the curriculum
- Direct instruction
- Addresses reading comprehension and oral language skills
- Computer-based intervention
- The video below explains further how to implement direct instruction
Helpful Links for More Information
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Informational Video: