4/11/2018 Literacy: A Target and A Tool in Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Michelle Hite, M.S., CCC-SLP Clinical Instructor University of South Florida mhite@usf.edu Objectives: Be able to verbalize why literacy might be chosen as a priority target in intervention with individuals with ASD. Understand the relationship between the symptoms associated with ASD and literacy difficulties observed. Determine the types of written language skills which are priority targets in intervention. Describe effective strategies to target language concepts in both oral and written language contexts. Literacy as a Target 1
4/11/2018 Why focus on literacy? WRITING READING COMPREHENSION DECODING WORD RECOGNITION SPELLING “The acquisition of written language skills … is integral to academic success and ultimately determines the higher education and/or vocational opportunities that will be available to an individual.” (Fallon & Katz, 2011, p. 3) The National Commission on Writing (2004): Survey from 64 companies in business sector: “Writing is also a “gatekeeper” “Opportunities for salaried employment are limited for employees unable to communicate clearly” This requires “educators to understand writing as an activity calling for extended preparation across subject matters — from kindergarten through college .” 2
4/11/2018 In addition, “written language has become progressively more important in social contexts such as text messages, e-mail, and social networks” (Fallon & Katz, 2011, p. 3) At Risk Readers Children with ASD at risk for decreased written language development (Brown, Oram- Cardy, & Johnson, 2013; Jones et al., 2009; Lanter, Watson, Erickson, & Freeman, 2012; Nation, Clarke, Wright, & Williams, 2006) Children with language impairment in general are at high risk for decreased reading achievement (Catts, Fey, Zhang, Tomblin, 2002; Catts, Adlof, Hogan, & Ellis Weismer, 2005) Figuring out WHAT to Target 3
4/11/2018 Simple View of Reading Gough & Tunmer (1986) Decoding/ Listening Reading Word Comprehension Comprehension Recognition So what is the PROFILE of Reading Development in children with ASD? Listening Word Comprehension Recognition WHICH PROFILE Good Good ? Good Poor Poor Good Poor Poor Subtypes of Reading Difficulty (Kamhi & Catts, 2005; 2011) THERE IS NOT ONE “PROFILE”! Meta-analysis of reading/ASD by Brown, Cardy, & Johnson (2013) 4
4/11/2018 Profiles of Reading Development in Children with ASD Varied reading profiles with wide range of abilities found among children with ASD (Brown, Oram-Cardy, & Johnson, 2013; Jones, Happe ’, Golden, Marsden, Tregay, Simonoff, et al., 2009; Lindgren, Folstein, Tomblin, & Tager-Flusberg, 2009; Nation, Clarke, Wright, & Williams, 2006; Towgood, Meuwese, Gilbert, Turner & Burgess, 2009) • Possibly the one consistent characteristic is heterogeneity • Many studies show that challenges in reading comprehension more common than challenges in word recognition skills (Ricketts, Jones, Happe, & Charman, 2013) • Reading comprehension mirrors the wide range of oral language abilities (Norbury & Nation, 2011) Deficits in social communication Study by Lindgren, Folstein, Tomblin, & and social Tager-Flusberg (2009): interaction Compared ASD + Typical structural language; ASD + SLI Group of Children with ASD + (Structural) Language Deficits = More Structural language deficits likely to have difficulties (phonology, grammar, with word level reading vocabulary difficulties)? skills in addition to Pragmatic language deficits comprehension (social use of language)? difficulties Beyond the Simple View of Reading Recent research suggests that for children with ASD, their reading comprehension involves more than just oral language ability . Social functioning appears to be a factor (Brown, Oram- Cardy, & Johnson, 2013; White, Hill, Happe ’, & Frith, 2009). Ricketts, Jones, Happe ’, & Charman (2013) 100 adolescents all with ASD, varying intellectual ability Reading comprehension scores overall significantly lower than word recognition score (but some that still had trouble with word recognition) Word recognition and oral language predicted reading comprehension Measures of social behavior and social cognition predicted reading comprehension after controlling for word recognition and oral language 5
4/11/2018 The Not-Quite-As- Simple View of Reading Decoding Listening Comprehension Reading Comprehension Social Cognitive Skills The Case of Listening/Reading Comprehension: A Closer Look at Range of Complexity “Broad View of Comprehension” (Catts, 2009) Understanding text is more than just remembering content that is presented Background, content knowledge is combined with new information in the text Reader must create an overall coherent representation of text in memory 6
4/11/2018 Bloom’s (Revised) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Cognitive Process Dimension (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001; Krathwohl, 2002) Higher Order Thinking Skills Lower Order Thinking Skills http://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/dok.aspx Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Complex Some mental Requires students Recall of a reasoning, explain, generalize, fact, processing beyond thinking, and recall & connect/ information, planning over synthesize ideas. or Focus on use of extended time procedure. info, conceptual Focus on reasoning, Use level 3 planning, & use of Focus is on knowledge strategic supporting evidence specific Use context to thinking to facts, define unfamiliar long term definitions, words problem details Written Language Development in ASD: A Language Paradigm What are the underlying reasons for the child’s difficulty in reading and writing? - Language underpinnings - Cognitive-linguistic skills, learning style associated with ASD 7
4/11/2018 “ …what is written is language” (p. 226, Catts & Hogan, 2003) “ …speaking about targeting students’ written language(vs. literacy) is much more aligned with our definition of language… ” (p. 105, Apel, 2014) Language and literacy development are reciprocally related (ASHA, 2010; Justice, 2006) Oral Written Language Language 8
4/11/2018 Language Basic Spoken Interpersonal Language communicative skills (BICS) • Social and everyday uses of language Written Typically less complex • Language/ & abstract Academic Level Cognitive Academic Language Language Proficiency (CALP) Zwiers (2008); Cummins (1979) Academic Language (Zwiers, 2008) Language that is more complex and abstract Crosses all content areas Serves three functions: 1) to describe complex concepts clearly, 2) to describe higher-order thinking, (ex. words to compare, analyze, predict, persuade, etc.) 3) to describe abstract concepts We need Higher Order Language to be able to reflect on/express Higher Order Thinking Looking below the surface “Reading Comprehension” 5 Inferencing skills Comprehension of 1 4 complex sentences Comprehension of cause - effect 3 2 Comprehension of Understanding of complex syntactic multiple constructions perspectives 9
4/11/2018 Linguistic Components: Spoken and Written Foundational Linguistic Related Areas of Components Written Language CONTENT • Semantics • Word Recognition • Morphology* • Reading Comprehension • Spelling of morphologically complex words • Vocabulary use in Writing FORM • Phonology • Phonological Awareness • Syntax • Decoding • Morphology* • Encoding • Writing: Sentence construction USE • Pragmatics • Written expression • Reading Comprehension Given this framework of oral and written language, it is not surprising that Brown, Oram-Cardy, & Johnson (2013) stated : “ Individuals with ASD who also have language deficits may have the most severe reading comprehension weaknesses” (p. 950). Cognitive Learning Styles in individuals with ASD: Impact on Written Language 10
4/11/2018 A . Persistent B. Restricted, deficits in social repetitive A communication patterns of S and social behavior, D interaction interests, or across contexts activities C. Symptoms must be present in early childhood (but may not become fully manifest until social demands exceed limited capacities) D. Symptoms together limit and impair everyday functioning. Graphic from Zenko & Hite (2013) Executive Function (Perner & Lang, 2000) “Executive functions are needed to maintain a mentally specified goal and to bring it to fruition against distracting alternatives.” Involves: Goal setting ▪ Inhibiting ▪ Pacing Planning ▪ Shifting Sequencing ▪ Self – monitoring Prioritizing ▪ Emotional control Organizing ▪ Task Completion Initiating Inhibiting Diehl & Hite, 2013 Executive Function Challenges and Reading ▪ Some suggest that difficulty with executive functioning highly interactive with development of social perspective issues (Jarrold, Mansergh, & Whiting, 2010) ▪ May focus on the act of decoding and not connect reading with meaning (Meltzer, 2007) ▪ Flexibility in connecting meaning ▪ Comprehension Monitoring ▪ Repair ▪ Organizing and integrating multiple pieces of information 11
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