Reading Comprehension Strategies for Your Child With Autism

Learning to read with solid accuracy and understanding is a challenge for many children. Below are some of the best research-based techniques for increasing reading comprehension, particularly in students with autism.

Multi-Sensory Teaching

Students with autism are highly sensory learners. Build skills through a mix of sense-based activities, including anything that will engage sight, hearing, touch, or whole body movement. Utilize visuals, props, and gestures while reading. Have your child physically act out things that happen in the text. Practice comprehension skills with audiobooks or texts read aloud to engage the auditory learner. Practicing verbal comprehension has the added benefit of reducing the cognitive load of decoding or sounding out words, leaving more brain power for the complex task of comprehension.

Predicting and Questioning

Activate prior knowledge and help your child begin to anticipate how story events unfold. When starting a new text, have them preview the title, headings, and pictures and guess what the story will be about. Discuss what your child already knows about the topic at hand. For example, if the story shows kids at a birthday party, you can ask your child to tell you what kinds of things happen at birthday parties. Along the way, stop often and ask them to predict what will happen next. Eventually, they will become more accustomed to the problem/solution structure of fiction, or nonfiction structures such as main idea/details and compare/contrast.

Story Maps and Other Organizers

Keeping track of comprehension in a visible, concrete way is extremely useful for learners with autism. Common graphic organizers include a KWL chart which stands for “What I Know, What I Want to Know, and What I Learned.” Story maps are also very valuable for understanding fiction. Story maps can be as simple as Beginning, Middle, End, or more specific organizers to list elements such as the Setting, Characters, Problem, Action, and Solution. You can fill these out with your child as they read, stopping a few times throughout the text. Add color-coding to make it multi-sensory. 

Frequently Asked Questions

My child can read a text flawlessly but not answer any questions about it. How do I help them?

This is a very common phenomenon. Engage thinking with predictions and questions. Teach the reader to monitor their own comprehension and to ask themselves, “Do I understand what I just read?” If the answer is no, encourage further questions. Make knowledge concrete and visible with the use of graphic organizers and story maps. 

How do I help my child with autism learn to love reading?

Start first with the child’s unique interests. Choose books and other texts according to what they will enjoy. Keep reading practice fun and low-stress. Help them set up an area in the house to be their own special reading nook. Read together and share the joy of reading often!

Positive Reinforcement provides in-home ABA therapy throughout  Northern Virginia, including Ashburn, Purcellville, Leesburg, Sterling, Winchester, Woodbridge, and neighboring communities. Our family-centered ABA programs focus on building communication, social, and daily living skills through individualized treatment plans delivered directly in your home. Families across the region can explore our ABA therapy services.