Teaching Students with Austistic Spectrum
Teaching Students With Autistic Spectrum Disorders to Read
A Visual Approach
Leslie Todd Broun
As an itinerant resource teacher, my ongoing challenge has been the quest for effective methods and materials to meet the needs of my students with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and other developmental disabilities. Although the development of communication and social and behavioral skills is crucially important for children with ASD, so too is the acquisition of academic skills. Professionals usually suggest that skills in reading be taught but rarely mention exactly how to go about teaching reading to children with ASD. Teachers and paraprofessionals wonder: How? What do I use? What does it look like? What are the steps? Implementing Oelwein's Methodology In the fall of 1995, I read Teaching Reading to Children with Down Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Teachers, by Patricia Oelwein. Many children who have Down syndrome have significant, even severe, difficulty with phonological awareness, as well as Photo
TEACHING Exceptional Children, Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 36-40. Copyright 2004 CEC.
One of my students participating in the selection process of the methodology.
limited auditory short-term memories, making learning to read through a traditional phonics approach difficult. Although auditory skills are an area of weakness, their visual learning skills are generally an area of strength. That year 35% of my caseload consisted of students with Down syndrome—an ideal opportunity to implement Oelwein's methodology. Early in the year, I met with the teachers and the teaching assistants of these students to carefully review the methodology and to distribute the materials each person would need to begin implementing this methodology immediately. Within days, I received tele-
phone calls reporting the students’ success. In the following months, the children continued to show steady progress in the development of their reading skills. It became commonplace for my
A Visual Approach
Leslie Todd Broun
As an itinerant resource teacher, my ongoing challenge has been the quest for effective methods and materials to meet the needs of my students with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and other developmental disabilities. Although the development of communication and social and behavioral skills is crucially important for children with ASD, so too is the acquisition of academic skills. Professionals usually suggest that skills in reading be taught but rarely mention exactly how to go about teaching reading to children with ASD. Teachers and paraprofessionals wonder: How? What do I use? What does it look like? What are the steps? Implementing Oelwein's Methodology In the fall of 1995, I read Teaching Reading to Children with Down Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Teachers, by Patricia Oelwein. Many children who have Down syndrome have significant, even severe, difficulty with phonological awareness, as well as Photo
TEACHING Exceptional Children, Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 36-40. Copyright 2004 CEC.
One of my students participating in the selection process of the methodology.
limited auditory short-term memories, making learning to read through a traditional phonics approach difficult. Although auditory skills are an area of weakness, their visual learning skills are generally an area of strength. That year 35% of my caseload consisted of students with Down syndrome—an ideal opportunity to implement Oelwein's methodology. Early in the year, I met with the teachers and the teaching assistants of these students to carefully review the methodology and to distribute the materials each person would need to begin implementing this methodology immediately. Within days, I received tele-
phone calls reporting the students’ success. In the following months, the children continued to show steady progress in the development of their reading skills. It became commonplace for my