Question
What kind of programs do you like/recommend when working on developing literacy skills with children with ASD?
Answer
I recommend using whatever the child has available to him/her, or what is used at school. When I go into their environment, I sometimes bring the Mayer-Johnson reading programs. I also use Clicker 5 software for writing instruction. If a child has a program on his/her computer at home that they have played around with, I try to adapt that and use it. You can use Microsoft Word to construct written language (increase the font size). I also like the Writing the Symbols program that goes along with the BoardMaker program (for writing), Especially if the child needs visual symbols to come up, I think this program can be helpful in early stages of reading and writing. I'm willing to experiment with almost any kind of reading or writing based program for kids with autism that will allow them to respond several times so they can practice a skill.
This Ask the Expert was taken from the course entitled: Literacy Instruction for Children with Autism
presented by Tina Veale, Ph.D., CCC-SLP.
Please visit the SpeechPathology.com eLearning Library to view all of our courses on autism and many other topics in the field.
Tina K. Veale teaches courses at Eastern Illinois University in research methods, child language disorders, neurology, and autism spectrum disorders. Dr. Veale owned and operated a private speech-language-hearing clinic in Cincinnati, Ohio for 28 years, and Wee Talk Preschool for children with developmental challenges for 9 years. She has worked as a clinical speech-language pathologist, educational/behavioral consultant, autism consultant, and special educator.
