According to the National Institutes of Health, autism is a development disorder where symptoms start in the first 3 years of the child's life. As a result of abnormal biology and chemistry in the brain, normal development of the child's social and communication skills are affected. Autistic children have underdeveloped language skills, which can impede their abilities to learn to read.
Communication Problems
Children with autism have issues with communication. Autistic children have lesser developed language skills compared to normally developing children. Examples of communication problems are the child being unable to start or maintain a conversation, communication only through gesturing, slow or no development of language, nonsense rhyming and repetition of words or memorized passages. These communication problems can impact the child's ability to read.
Phonetics
One technique that can help an autistic child learn to read is the use of phonetics. Phonetics is the sounds that make up a language. Once the child knows the phonetics, he can piece together the sounds that make words, and use that to read. In the beginning stages, the child can shape the sounds with his mouth. In addition, flash cards and pictures can also be helpful in learning phonetics.
Memorization
Because autistic children use memorization when speaking, it can be applied to learning how to read. A visual image can be used to connect a meaning to the word that the child already says. Once the child recognizes the meaning associated with the word, she will retain the spelling of that word, according to Kids and Reading. However, problems can arise with the memorization method. While it may be advantageous when the autistic child is beginning to read, the memorization technique can be difficult to use when the child is learning new words.
Positive Techniques
A key factor in teaching an autistic child is to keep the atmosphere positive, and reward the child when he does well. In addition, eliminating distractions and keeping the reading lessons short can keep the child's attention. Kids and Reading recommends using different techniques and integrating the child's interest to find his best learning method.
