Reading comprehension in autism spectrum disorders: The role of oral language and social functioning

Ricketts, J., Jones, C. R. G., Happé, F. and Charman, T. (2013) Reading comprehension in autism spectrum disorders: The role of oral language and social functioning. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 43 (4). pp. 807-816. ISSN 0162-3257 doi: 10.1007/s10803-012-1619-4

Abstract/Summary

Reading comprehension is an area of difficulty for many individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). According to the Simple View of Reading, word recognition and oral language are both important determinants of reading comprehension ability. We provide a novel test of this model in 100 adolescents with ASD of varying intellectual ability. Further, we explore whether reading comprehension is additionally influenced by individual differences in social behaviour and social cognition in ASD. Adolescents with ASD aged 14-16 years completed assessments indexing word recognition, oral language, reading comprehension, social behaviour and social cognition. Regression analyses show that both word recognition and oral language explain unique variance in reading comprehension. Further, measures of social behaviour and social cognition predict reading comprehension after controlling for the variance explained by word recognition and oral language. This indicates that word recognition, oral language and social impairments may constrain reading comprehension in ASD.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/28906
Identification Number/DOI	10.1007/s10803-012-1619-4
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Arts, Humanities and Social Science > Institute of Education > Language and Literacy in Education Interdisciplinary centres and themes > ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders) Research Network
Uncontrolled Keywords	Autism spectrum disorders; Reading comprehension; Mentalising; Oral language
Publisher	Springer
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