Shared Reading brings positive effects in communication to children with Autism?

The use of shared reading activities has been reported to have positive effects on receptive language, expressive communication, and print awareness for children with typical development. In 2019, a bunch of researchers reviewed the past 20 years of related studies and concluded that the positive effects of shared reading are also observed in children with Autism in their systematic review.

Let's have a look at what shared reading is, its positive effects and the typical development of early literacy.

What is Shared Reading and its Positive Effects?

It is a practice of adults (e.g. parents, caregivers, therapists, educators) reading aloud to children while promoting interaction between the adult and child by performing reading behaviour. See types of adult shared reading behaviours and some examples. #readingbehaviour

Reading Behaviours	What it means?	Example
​Pause	Adult stops while reading in order to provide the child with an opportunity to "fill-in-the-blank" (provide information)	"Here is the swing sheep, there is the (pause) _______" Where's the Green Sheep?
Ask questions	Adult makes use of wh- questions to encourage the child to recall and discuss content from the book	"Why the children are all muddy?" We're Going on a Bear Hunt
Relate to experiences	Adult prompts the child to relate their personal experience to the content of the book	​"Did you ever go to a parade like Sussie did?"
Evaluate	Adult provides praise for the child's correct responses and offer alternative labels or answers for incorrect responses	"You're right, it is a truck!"
Expand	Adult repeats and adds information to what the child says	​(After child says "truck") "Yea it is a big red truck."

The above behaviours enrich the book reading experience between you and the child and can be easily blended into reading activities or night time stories. The research showed there were very large effects on the communicative and non communicative acts were observed on children. These include:

Communicative Act

• listening comprehension

• answering questions

• providing a repeated storyline

• initiating

• verbal participation

Non-Communicative Act

• joint attention and eye contact between the book and the adult

• task analysis response

• opening and turning pages

I even happened to have this beautiful experience when I share-read with two children with Autism in a group. They were known among the therapists that they had difficulties with sharing or turn-taking with toys. However, the two boys took turns independently to answer my questions, fill in the blanks, flip the flaps in the shared reading activity. One of them who was more impulsive even controlled himself to stop talking when he knows it wasn't his turn!

When and How Should We Start?

Start Now! It is because language development and literacy development are all co-related. The very early pre-linguistic developing from 9 to 12 months old such as staring at pictures or exploring books are also building the foundation to the later literacy development. Take a look at the literacy development chart below and see where your child is at.

Age for Reference	Skill Descriptions	What to Read
0 to 1 year	​Look at pictures Pad pictures to show interest Explore books by touching, looking, tasting, smelling, listening and putting in mouth	​Cloth books Books with interactive or cause-and-effect elements Nursery Rhymes
1 to 2 year	​Listen to books read aloud Enjoy stories with lots of repetition and rhyme Like information books with photographs of objects - would try to point and label some Start pretending to read by turning pages	Board books Picture books Books that name things
3 to 5 years	​Request adults to read stories Listen attentively to stories Develop preference on books Try to read prints around them (e.g. poster) Knows some numbers & letters Begin to identify beginning, middle and ending sounds in simple spoken words (e.g. cat, dog)	Picture books that have a longer and more complex story plot 4-5 years can read fairytales and legends Books that reflect real-life situations and character feelings
Reception to Year 1	Use letter-sound correspondence, word parts, and context to help identify new words Monitor own reading & self-correct Able to discuss and retell what they read with comprehension Begin to read fluently through constant practice Recognise some sight words	​Most schools include reading scheme in their academic curriculum and have a range of readers for student to follow. Children should be able to choose books of their interests to continue to develop their literacy skills.

I personally recommend Book Share Time online resource developed by a Speechie in Western Australia if you would like more book recommendations.

Don't know how to work on literacy development with your child? Get in touch with us and we will be able to help!

#LiteracyDevelopment #Reading #SharedReading #CommunicationImprovement #ASDandReading