Skip to main content

Patterns of Reading Ability in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders volume 36, pages 911–919 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

This study investigated reading skills in 41 children with autism spectrum disorder. Four components of reading skill were assessed: word recognition, nonword decoding, text reading accuracy and text comprehension. Overall, levels of word and nonword reading and text reading accuracy fell within average range although reading comprehension was impaired. However, there was considerable variability across the sample with performance on most tests ranging from floor to ceiling levels. Some children read accurately but showed very poor comprehension, consistent with a hyperlexia reading profile; some children were poor at reading words and nonwords whereas others were unable to decode nonwords, despite a reasonable level of word reading skill. These findings demonstrate the heterogeneous nature of reading skills in children with ASD.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Notes

  1. The Graded Nonword Reading Test is standardised on a UK sample of 653 children aged between 5 and 11 years. The test manual reports age equivalents and centile scores, but not standard scores. Following the procedures of Briscoe, Bishop and Norbury (2001), data from the standardisation sample were transformed to form standard scores which were then used to quantify the performance of children in the present study. Standard scores for the older children in the present study (aged 14 and 15 years) were obtained from a group of 50 15-year old typically-developing adolescents reported by Snowling, Bishop, and Stothard (2000). Consistent with Snowling et al., the test was made more difficult for the older children by adding five nonwords (strumbesh, delathode, tralishent, grikimest, pragendent).

References

  • Aaron, P. G., Frantz, S. S., & Manges, A. R. (1990). Dissociation between comprehension and pronunciation in dyslexic and hyperlexic children. Reading and Writing, 2(3), 243–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, D. V. M., & Adams, C. (1990). A prospective-study of the relationship between specific language impairment, phonological disorders and reading retardation. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 31(7), 1027–1050.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, D. V. M., Adams, C., & Norbury, C. F. (2004). Using nonword repetition to distinguish genetic and environmental influences on early literacy development: A study of 6–year-old twins. American Journal of Human Genetics, 129B, 94–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, D. V. M., & Snowling, M. J. (2004). Developmental dyslexia and specific language impairment: Same or different? Psychological Bulletin, 130, 858–886.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Briscoe, J., Bishop, D. V. M., & Norbury, C. F. (2001). Phonological processing, language, and literacy: A comparison of children with mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss and those with specific language impairment. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 42(3), 329–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Catts, H. W., & Kamhi, A. G. (2005). Connections between language and reading disorders. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

  • Dunn, L. M., Dunn, L. M., Whetton, C., & Burley, J. (1997). The British picture vocabulary scale-II. Windsor, UK: NFER-Nelson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elliot, C. D., Smith, P., & McCulloch, K. (1996). British ability scales (2nd ed.). Windsor, UK: NFER.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frith, U., & Snowling, M. (1983). Reading for meaning and reading for sound in autistic and dyslexic children. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 1, 329–342.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg, T. E., & Rothermel, R. D. (1984). Hyperlexic children reading. Brain, 107(Sep), 759–785.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goswami, U., & Bryant, P. E. (1990). Phonological skills and learning to read. Hove, UK: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grigorenko, E. L., Klin, A., Pauls, D. L., Senft R., Hooper C., & Volkmar F. (2002). A descriptive study of hyperlexia in a clinically referred sample of children with developmental delays. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 32(1), 3–12.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grigorenko, E. L., Klin, A., & Volkmar, F. (2003). Annotation: Hyperlexia: disability or superability? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 44(8), 1079–1091.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoover, W. A., & Gough, P. B. (1990). The simple view of reading. Reading and Writing, 2, 127–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kanner, L. (1943). Autistic disturbances of affective contact. Nervous Child, 2, 217–250.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kjelgaard, M. M., & Tager-Flusberg, H. (2001). An investigation of language impairment in autism: Implications for genetic subgroups. Language and Cognitive Processes, 16(2–3), 287–308.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lord C., & Paul R. (1997). Language and communication in autism. In D. J. Dohen & F. Volkmar (Eds.), Handbook of autism and pervasive developmental disorders (pp. 195–225). NY: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayes, S. D., & Calhoun, S. L. (2003). Ability profiles in children with autism—influence of age and IQ. Autism, 7(1), 65–80.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milosky, L. M. (1990). The role of world knowledge in language comprehension and language intervention. Topics in Language Disorders, 10(3), 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minshew, N. J., Goldstein, G., Taylor, H. G., & Siegal, D. J. (1994). Academic achievement in high functioning autistic individuals. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 16(2), 261–270.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nation, K. (1999). Reading skills in hyperlexia: a developmental perspective. Psychological Bulletin, 125(3), 338–355.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nation, K. (2005). Children’s reading comprehension difficulties. In M. J. Snowling, & C. Hulme (Ed.), The science of reading. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nation, K., Clarke, P., Marshall, C. M., & Durand, M. (2004). Hidden language impairments in children: Parallels between poor reading comprehension and specific language impairment. Journal of Speech, Hearing and Language Research, 47, 199–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nation, K., Clarke, P., & Snowling, M. J. (2002). General cognitive ability in children with poor reading comprehension. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 72, 549–560.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nation, K., & Snowling, M. (1997). Assessing reading difficulties: The validity and utility of current measures of reading skill. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 67, 359–370.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Neale, M. D. (1997). Neale analysis of reading ability-revised (NARA-II). Windsor, UK: NFER.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, I. M., & Klein, P. D. (2004). Exploration of strategies for facilitating the reading comprehension of high-functioning students with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34(2), 115–127.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, N., & Hermelin, B. (1994). 2 Autistic savant readers. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 24(4), 501–515.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perfetti, C., Landi, N., & Oakhill, J. (2005). The acquisition of reading comprehension skill. In M.J. Snowling & C. Hulme (Eds.), The science of reading. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rack, J. P., Snowling, M. J., & Olson, R. K. (1992). The nonword reading deficit in developmental dyslexia—a review. Reading Research Quarterly, 27(1), 28–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rumsey, J. M., & Hamburger, S. D. (1990). Neuropsychological divergence of high-level autism and severe dyslexia. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 20(2), 155–168.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snowling, M., Bishop, D. V. M., & Stothard, S. E. (2000). Is preschool language impairment a risk factor for dyslexia in adolescence? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 41(5), 587–600.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snowling, M., & Frith, U. (1986). Comprehension in hyperlexic readers. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 42(3), 392–415.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snowling, M., Stothard, S. E., & McLean, J. (1996). The graded nonword reading test. Reading, UK: Thames Valley Test Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Szatmari, P., Tuff, L., Finlayson, A. J., & Bartolucci, G. (1990). Aspergers syndrome and autism—neurocognitive aspects. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 29(1), 130–136.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tager-Flusberg, H., & Joseph, R. M. (2003). Identifying neurocognitive phenotypes in autism. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences, 358(1430), 303–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torgesen, J. K., Wagner, R. K., & Rashotte, C. A. (1999). Test of word reading efficiency. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turkeltaub, P. E., Flowers, D. L., Verbalis, A., Miranda, M., Gareau, L., & Eden, G. F. (2004). The neural basis of hyperlexic reading: An fMRI case study. Neuron, 41(1), 11–25.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wahlberg, T., & Magliano, J. P. (2004). The ability of high function individuals with autism to comprehend written discourse. Discourse Processes, 38(1), 119–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler, D. (1992). Wechsler intelligence scale for children (3rd ed.). London: The Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organisation (1993). The ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioural disorders. Geneva: World Health Organisation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, C., Wright, B., Callaghan, G., & Coughlan, B. (2002). Do children with autism learn to read more readily by computer assisted instruction or traditional book methods? A pilot study. Autism, 6(1), 71–91.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from The Wellcome Trust and The Innovation and Research Priming Fund (University of York) awarded to the first author. Some of the data were collected while she was a member of the Department of Psychology at the University of York. We are grateful to the participating families for their help and co-operation. We would also like to thank Maggie Snowling and Dorothy Bishop for providing additional control data for the Graded Nonword Reading Test, Philip Angell for research assistance and Courtenay Norbury and Dorothy Bishop for their helpful comments. We would also like to thank paediatricians Rob Smith and Anne Kelly for allowing us to approach some of the families under their care for this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3 UD, UK

    Kate Nation

  2. Department of Psychology, University of York, York, UK

    Paula Clarke

  3. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Selby and York Primary Care Trust, York, UK

    Barry Wright & Christine Williams

Authors
  1. Kate Nation
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Paula Clarke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Barry Wright
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Christine Williams
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kate Nation.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nation, K., Clarke, P., Wright, B. et al. Patterns of Reading Ability in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 36, 911–919 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0130-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0130-1

Keywords

  • Reading
  • Language
  • Comprehension
  • Autism
  • Hyperlexia