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The Scope and Nature of Reading Comprehension Impairments in School-Aged Children with Higher-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Abstract

This study of 8-16-year-olds was designed to test the hypothesis that reading comprehension impairments are part of the social communication phenotype for many higher-functioning students with autism spectrum disorder (HFASD). Students with HFASD (n = 81) were compared to those with high attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptomatology (ADHD; n = 39), or typical development (TD; n = 44), on a comprehensive battery of oral language, word recognition, and reading comprehension measures. Results indicated that students with HFASD performed significantly lower on the majority of the reading and language tasks as compared to TD and ADHD groups. Structural equation models suggested that greater ASD symptomatology was related to poorer reading comprehension outcomes; further analyses suggested that this relation was mediated by oral language skills.

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This research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, through Grant 1R01MH085904; the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R324A120168; and UC Davis Department of Psychiatry, Lisa Capps Endowment for Research on Neurodevelopmental Disorders (P. Mundy, PI). We are extremely grateful to the dedicated families who took part in this study. We also deeply appreciate the assistance Dr. Ryan Grimm provided with streamlining our statistical methods, and the extensive support of doctoral candidate, Matthew C. Zajic.

Author Contributions

NM participated in the design and coordination of the study, collected data, oversaw statistical analyses, interpretation, drafting and revision of the manuscript; ES participated in the design of the reading battery and interpretation of statistical analyses, and also contributed to drafting and revision of the manuscript; JG provided statistical support on SEM and group comparison analyses and collaborated on drafting and revision of methods section of manuscript; MS made a contribution to the design and coordination of the study and interpretation of study results; LL participated in the design, recruitment, and coordination of the study and collected data; SN participated in the design and coordination of the study, collected data and managed databases; TO participated in the coordination of the study, oversaw hiring and training of data collectors, and collected data; PM conceived of the study, directed its design and coordination, and participated in the drafting of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. Stephanie Novotny

    Present address: Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center, Institute of Living, Hartford, CT, USA

  2. Joseph E. Gonzales

    Present address: Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, University of California, Davis, USA

    Nancy S. McIntyre, Emily J. Solari, Lindsay E. Lerro & Peter C. Mundy

  2. Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, USA

    Joseph E. Gonzales

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, MIND Institute, Imaging Research Center, University of California, Davis, USA

    Marjorie Solomon, Tasha M. Oswald & Peter C. Mundy

  4. Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis, USA

    Stephanie Novotny

Authors
  1. Nancy S. McIntyre
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  2. Emily J. Solari
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  3. Joseph E. Gonzales
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  4. Marjorie Solomon
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  5. Lindsay E. Lerro
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  6. Stephanie Novotny
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  7. Tasha M. Oswald
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  8. Peter C. Mundy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nancy S. McIntyre.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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McIntyre, N.S., Solari, E.J., Gonzales, J.E. et al. The Scope and Nature of Reading Comprehension Impairments in School-Aged Children with Higher-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 47, 2838–2860 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3209-y

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