Question
When using Think-alouds with children with autism spectrum disorder, can you work on social skills and literacy at the same time?
Answer
You can absolutely work on both of those at the same time. That is the beauty of working with literacy activities. Many times we are targeting other skills as well. Because stories are about people and the interactions of people, you can talk through nonverbal cueing strategies, various politeness strategies, etc. You can do that through a Think-aloud when you are talking about texts that have to do with those kinds of interactions.
Tina Veale, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is Program Director and Professor in the Speech-Language Pathology Program at Midwestern University. Dr. Veale teaches courses in research methods, child language disorders, autism spectrum disorders, neurology, and motor speech disorders. Clinically, she addresses the needs of clients with autism and other developmental disabilities.
