Reading intervention for preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of a parent-implemented dialogic reading approach—Reading to Engage Children with Autism in Language and Learning (RECALL)—on the emotional competence and story comprehension among preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Thirty-one preschoolers were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group. Six weeks of RECALL significantly enhanced receptive vocabulary, story comprehension, emotion knowledge, social reciprocity, as well as engagement in reading among preschoolers in the treatment group. This might be the first randomized controlled trial testing the effects of RECALL on children with ASD. Our findings suggest that additional instructional support such as the application of a prompting hierarchy during dialogic reading might help children with ASD reap greater benefits from shared book reading.