This comprehensive guide delves into the top three strategies for teaching reading comprehension to autistic students, focusing on unlocking their potential to express ideas despite communication deficits. Understanding their unique learning styles, particularly their often remarkable photographic memory, is the key to overcoming challenges associated with comprehension. As a result, all three strategies focus on using visual aids.
Strategy 1: Utilize Consistent Visuals for Frequent Concepts
Early concepts when teaching reading comprehension include identifying the story’s characters, setting, main idea, or theme. A curated set of visuals, conveniently available, can be a game-changer. Most stories have similar types of characters, themes, or settings. For example, most books have a character that might be a child, animal, mom, or dad. The setting of a story might take place outside, in a school, or at home. Therefore, it isn’t too hard to make those specific visuals available. The ready-made resource seen below can make small reading groups easy to plan. Furthermore, explicitly teaching reading concepts with visuals can help, too. Adapted books contain many visuals and can focus on any topic you choose.
Strategy 2: Sequence the story using pictures
After reading a story, enhance comprehension by engaging students in sequencing the story’s events. It’s vital to allow students with autism to use visuals to sequence the story, rather than asking them to retell the story with words. Why? Because autistic students, even those who seem to have adequate communication skills, struggle with vocabulary, conversational skills, and oral expression. As a result, providing visuals allows the student to focus on the skill at hand.
How can I quickly prep sequencing pictures? I have photographed book pages in the past, and then students can sort the pictures that way. Depending on the level of the student, this may be a worthwhile way to prep.
If that won’t work for your students or you don’t have time to make your own visuals, there are many options on TPT to help. CLICK HERE for a free version of my Reading Comprehension with Visuals resource. It includes pocket chart sequencing and cut/paste sequencing with two levels of differentiation.
Strategy 3: Present Visual-Multiple Choice Questions
You can help overcome communication challenges by framing Wh questions with a set of 2 or 3 visual response choices. The number of response choices can be differentiated based on student needs. Integrating visuals, particularly for students using communication devices, significantly boosts their ability to express comprehension. Once the student is doing well with visual answer choices, you can begin to provide written answer choices. These answer choices look more like typical multiple choice questions.
I hope these reading strategies help your students with autism. With perseverance and appropriate support, all students can learn reading comprehension.
