A Preliminary Investigation of Evidence-Based Interventions to Increase Oral Reading Fluency in Children With Autism

Abstract

At present, the incidence rates of children identified with autism spectrum disorders are on the rise, leading to an increased number of school-aged children needing specialized services in public schools. Most intervention efforts in the school setting focus on behavioral interventions and/or communication and social skills remediation services for children with autism spectrum disorders. Up to date, only sparse information is available regarding evidence-based academic interventions targeting reading fluency skills for children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders. However, a wide variety of research has demonstrated that stimulus control interventions such as listening passage preview and repeated readings increase oral reading fluency in children with behavioral difficulties, learning disabilities, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The present study aimed to extend the research on reading fluency interventions to the autism spectrum disorder population. A single-subject withdrawal design was used to examine the effectiveness of listening passage preview and repeated readings on oral reading fluency in children on the autism spectrum. Results indicated that all participants increased their overall oral reading fluency, as evidenced by words correct per minute, during the listening passage preview and repeated readings interventions. The repeated readings intervention produced the greatest gains in words correct per minute for all four participants. Thus, the present study provides preliminary evidence for the use of academic, stimulus control interventions to increase oral reading fluency in children with high-functioning autism.