According to autismspeaks.com “Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech, and nonverbal communication.”
Statistics from the Center for Disease Control reveals that autism affects 1 in 59 children in the United States.
The degree of effects of autism carries from one child to the other, depending on the level of communication challenges faced by the child and how pronounced their learning difficulties are.
The spectrum of autism carries from mild to severe.
How To Teach Reading To a Child With Autism
The traditional approach to teaching may not be effective when teaching children with autism.
Many autistic children rely on sound to learn, some need visual cues to aid their thinking, there are others who need multiple-sensory learning methods.
There are a few methods that can be used while teaching children with autism to read.
Multi-sensory Approach
Children with autism may find it difficult to read books with a lot of text, but they may learn faster with a combination of audio and visual aids. It is therefore important to include a multi-sensory approach for a better learning experience.
Teaching children on the spectrum new words can be successful with the use of specially designed tools like flashcards, which allows children to have a visual cue that they can relate to specific words like objects or pictures.
Books that have more pictures and little texts are a great way to encourage children with autism to read.
You can also urge them to act out the characters of the book as they read in order to make reading more fun and to develop their imagination.
Create a Reading Friendly Environment
Children with autism tend to have a higher sensitivity to bright lights, sounds, pictures in their environment.
They can easily get distracted by the lowest hums and clicks from a home appliance and lose their concentration while learning to read.
In many cases, these distractions can trigger repetitive behaviors such as pacing to and fro, flapping their hands, etc.
Ensure that your child in a relaxed and comfortable position before commencing the reading exercise.
Check their environment for distractions and unwanted and sudden sources of noise.
Teach them indoors where they are less likely to be distracted by passing cars- in other words, avoid open spaces.
Don’t oversaturate the room with light- a moderately lit room will do just fine.
The better controlled and distraction-free space is the better the child learns to read.
Make Use Of Their Interests
If a child has autism, it does not mean that they lack the ability to develop specific interests.
In fact, many children on the spectrum have interests that they tend to engage in for long periods of time.
These interests can be diverse, including toys, pets, graffiti, etc.
The approach here is to integrate these interests into their reading exercises.
If you are keen on encouraging them to read, you can help by reading books that are focused on the child’s interests.
If a child is interested in dogs, look for a book about dogs. If you can’t find a book about your child’s interests, you can simply create a fun story about that specific interest.
Always endeavor to be positive every time you are teaching children with autism to read. Use encouraging and kind words, as they go a long way in building the child’s confidence.