Strategies for Increasing Reading Comprehension Skills in Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Review of the Literature

As the number of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) being prepared for statewide assessment rises, there is increased demand for effective instructional strategies to improve reading comprehension scores in these students. The authors synthesized the findings of 15 studies, which included 88 school-aged students identified with ASD. The studies were conducted between 1989 and 2015. Findings indicate that Direct Instruction (DI) and graphic organizers have positive effects, while cooperative learning, anaphoric cueing, and question generation show promise. Electronic supported text shows little to no effect on reading comprehension measures in students with ASD.