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Comprehensive Guide to Autism pp 1031–1042Cite as

Reading and Text Comprehension Skills in School-age Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Abstract

This chapter selectively reviews the research literature on reading skills and text comprehension in school-aged children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). It is argued that a conceptual distinction between the ability to read/decode words and the ability to comprehend text is critical, as many children with ASD experience difficulties only with the latter task. Based on the existent literature, which is rather limited, there is no clear evidence that skills underlying the word reading process differ in ASD from typical development. Possible reasons for the text comprehension difficulties often seen in ASD include oral language impairment, inferencing difficulties, and deficits in social understanding/theory of mind. Potentially promising teaching techniques for supporting comprehension development are also discussed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Jakob Åsberg Johnels

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  1. Jakob Åsberg Johnels
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Correspondence to Jakob Åsberg Johnels .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Westminster, Faculty of Science & Technology, London, United Kingdom

    Vinood B. Patel

  2. Nutritional Sciences Division and Genomics Centre, King's College London, London, United Kingdom

    Victor R. Preedy

  3. Faculty of Society and Health, Buckinghamshire New University, Middlesex, United Kingdom

    Colin R. Martin

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Johnels, J.Å. (2014). Reading and Text Comprehension Skills in School-age Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. In: Patel, V., Preedy, V., Martin, C. (eds) Comprehensive Guide to Autism. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4788-7_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4788-7_23

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-4787-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-4788-7

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science

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