Reading to Understand: Supporting the Reading Comprehension of Students with Autism Spectrum in English Language Arts Classrooms
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Authors
Graham, Jazmine
Date
2023-08
Type
thesis
Language
en
Keyword
Alternative Title
Abstract
Educators have voiced facing numerous barriers at effectively including students with autism spectrum into mainstream classrooms, despite having positive attitudes towards it (Cook & Ogden, 2020; McCrimmon, 2015; Stephenson et al., 2021). Research demonstrates that this is often due to a lack of knowledge, educational resources, supports, and training (Becerra-Murillo, 2020; Cook & Ogden, 2020; Lindsay et al., 2013; Rodden et al., 2019; Stephenson et al., 2021). One area of learning that students with autism spectrum often have difficulty in is reading comprehension. The purpose of this project was to explore strategies that, through research studies, have shown positive results in improving the reading comprehension of students with autism spectrum and create an accessible way to share these strategic outcomes with teachers.
It was found that there are four different intervention types that strategies can fall into that demonstrate an ability to improve the reading comprehension of students with autism spectrum; cooperative learning supports, direct instruction, graphic organizers, and self-directed strategies. A guidebook was created with background information on literature pertaining to the relationship between reading comprehension and autism spectrum. Additionally, strategies that fall under these intervention types, such as character maps, Question Answer Relations, and collaborative strategic reading, are defined and outlined. These are followed by connection to specific curriculum expectations and templates of described strategies. By providing educators with an accessible resource that outlines pertinent information and resources, along with physical copies to utilize, teachers are able to implement reading comprehension strategies into their classroom to create more inclusive learning environments that work to advance the reading comprehension of all students, including those with autism spectrum.