Emergent Literacy for Speech Pathologist

Emergent literacy for speech pathologists

1. Emergent Literacy:
Making Connections
Michelle Hite, M.S., CCC-SLP
Catherine Zenko, M.S., CCC-SLP
University of Florida
Center for Autism and Related Disabilities
352-846-2761
www.card.ufl.edu

2. Objectives
•Why does ASD affect reading/writing?
•How does ASD affect reading/writing?
•What skills lead to my child being an effective
reader/writer?
•What strategies can I use when reading /
writing with my child?

3. What goes into “reading”, “spelling”,
“writing”?
•Letter knowledge
•Letter and sound correspondence
•Phonological awareness (ex. rhyming, alliteration,
blending/segmenting sounds in words)
•Background knowledge
•Vocabulary
•Language comprehension and expression
•Social comprehension
•Output – verbal/written

4. What is our GOAL with literacy?
One we can all agree on:
For our children to be able to use literacy functionally
Read and Understand
Write and Express
Keep this in mind! Letters and phonics are not the end
of the road for emergent readers – they are a
stepping stone

5. WHY DO AUTISM SPECTRUM
DISORDERS OFTEN
AFFECT THIS PROCESS?

6. Repetitive behaviors,
interests and activities
Differences in
socialization
Differences in
communication
Autism

7. Communication
Trouble with…
•Joint attention
•Comprehending the
language in the text
•Talking about the book –
commenting, etc.
•Relating language skills from
real life to events in books
•Abstract symbols:
understanding drawings,
cartoons
•Figurative language
What this might look like
•Wanting to look at books alone
only; not pointing at pictures;
not following your point at
pictures
•Difficulty with books with a lot
of text, also
•Better word identification than
reading comprehension skills
•No response when you read
books with your child
•May not prefer books (may
need highly familiar/motivating
topics)
•Prefers books with real photos
•May gravitate towards factual
(expository) stories rather than
fiction stories (narrative)

8. Socialization
Trouble with…
•Understanding emotions
•Taking perspectives of
others
•Comprehending the
“human interest” aspects of
stories
What this might look like
•Difficulty understanding
the character’s feelings,
motivations
•Trouble understanding why
events happen and difficulty
predicting what might
happen next
•Gravitate towards factual
stories (expository) vs.
fiction (narrative)

9. Repetitive Behaviors, Interests, and
Activities
Trouble with…
•Repeating a motor behavior
•Focusing on “relevant”
information
•Having a variety of interest
areas
•Flexibility / change in
routine
What this might look like
•May want to focus on sensory
aspects of the book (watch
pages flip, tapping book, etc.)
•Focusing on small details
(pictures, etc.) that do not
relate back to the big picture
•Seek books on a very small
range of topics (ex. only
dinosaurs)
•May insist on reading the books
the same way every time

10. •Motor Difficulties: visual motor, holding books
right way, turning pages, decreased opportunity
for scribbling (emergent writing), being able to sit
and attend to books due to trunk instability
•Sensory Processing: competing sensory input (eg.
Noise while trying to read, books that have
sounds), fixating on sensory aspect of books
(looking at pages moving, etc.), writing- feel of
hand across desk/paper
•Emotional Regulation: trouble comprehending if
their engine is “too high” or “too low”: need to
be at optimal level to attend to the many aspects
of reading and writing!
Additional characteristics affecting
Literacy Development

11. Consider your child’s strengths with literacy

12. Done from memory by a 3 yr old child diagnosed with ASD

13. Parallels to spoken communication
•If a child cannot use speech, we do not give up on
them communicating. We find another route
(pictures, signs, augmentative devices)
•If a child has trouble understanding, we do not
keep teaching them in the same exact way as
everyone else. We modify how we are presenting
information so they can understand.
•Research shows that increasing literacy skills
helps some children with ASD increase their oral
language skills (Colasent & Griffith, 1998; Craig & Sexton
Telfer, 2005; Koppenhaver & Erickson, 2003; Wolfberg, 1999).

14. BEST PRACTICES FOR TEACHING
LITERACY TO CHILDREN WITH ASD

15. The Ultimate Goal:
Silent Reading with Comprehension

16. Principles of Balanced Literacy
•All children can learn to read and write
•Engagement– with another person
•Repetition with variety– variety is the key
•Varied instruction– no one method of reading
instruction works for all kids
•Cognitive clarity– must know “Why are we
doing this? What is the goal? Why is this
important?”

17. Traditional View of Literacy
•Prerequisite skills- “Readiness Model”
•Readers and non-readers
•Literacy instruction is school based
•Literacy is linear and additive
•Literacy instruction waits on oral language
development

18. Current Views of Literacy
•Literacy is emergent
•No single point when literacy begins
•Process of becoming literate is developmental
•Speaking, (including AAC use), listening,
reading, and writing develop concurrently and
are interrelated

19. Current Views of Literacy continued
•Functions of print are as integral to literacy as the
forms
•Written language through active engagement
•Emergent literacy behaviors are fleeting, variable,
and dependent upon text, task, and environment.
•Technologies, media, and materials can dramatically
impact children’s abilities to demonstrate emergent
literacy.

20. Balanced Literacy is…
Four blocks which must be part of every child’s literacy instruction
–Guided Reading
•Goal: develop comprehension skills
• with an adult
–Self-directed Silent Reading
•Goal: help children select reading materials they find interested = motivating
•adult read-aloud and sharing component included
–Working with words
•Goal: help understand how words work
•Learn high-frequency words to increase reading fluency and comprehension
•Teach skills needed to decode and spell words
–Writing
•Goal: help develop independent writing skills
•Wide variety of texts for real purposes
•Use high interest topics
•Allows opportunity to explore writing without rules
Adapted from : Erickson and Koppenhaver (2007)

21. Learning to read
“Thomas”
•1
st
learned to recognize blue
Cloud = Thomas
•Then generalized blue “Thomas” cloud meant all Thomas
and his train friends
•Began to name individual letters
•Name all the letters together to spell “Thomas”
•Moved to writing the letters with assistance then
independently
•Moved to writing the whole word independently
•Spontaneously pointed out to Mom that the English Muffin
package said “Thomas” (successful generalization of
literacy)

22. Allow Reading and Writing to EMERGE
•Scribbling leads to stories (see handout)
•Treat scribbling, drawing as the child’s expression of
stories, recounting events, etc. (this IS their “writing”)
This is developmentally appropriate.
•“Reading” begins through the child’s environment: ex.
knowing the golden arches, your child knows the
“look” of the title of their favorite video or book
•Reading/Storytelling is rooted in language
comprehension and expression: encourage children to
talk about experiences, recount events, reflect on
experiences

23. LITERACY STRATEGIES

24. Literacy is All Around Us!
•Print in the Environment

25. Visual Supports Promote Literacy
Concrete to Abstract
Bathroom
Visual supports help children move along the
continuum in symbolic understanding

26. Visual Supports Promote Literacy
Literacy skills involved
in this example:
-Left to right
orientation
-Top to bottom
orientation
-Return Sweep
-Pictures vs. Words
- Print / Meaning
Correlation
-Sequencing
Pictures from “Picture This” by
Silver Lining Media

27. Types of Books
•Realistic Picture Books
–Family photos
–Familiar objects
–Favorite toys, characters
•Interactive
–Smell
–Touch
–buttons
           

28. Types of Books
•Predictable
•Story books

29. Reading Recommendations in General
•Read storybooks - Storybooks offer lots of
opportunities for joint attention and lots of things
to talk about.
•Point to pictures and words as you talk about
them.
•Always have pictures or symbols representing key
vocabulary and generic comments.
Skotko, B. G., Koppenhaver, D.A., & Erickson, K.A, (2004) Parent Reading
Behaviors and Communication Outcomes in Girls with Rett Syndrome. Exceptional
Children, 70 (.2) 154-166.

30. Reading Recommendations in General
continued
–Start with 2 different pictures and MODEL
–Ask questions that the pictures will answer.
–Increase the number of pictures as your child becomes
more comfortable
•Expect participation and wait when you ask a
question or provide an opportunity to comment.
•Don’t feel like you have to read all the words.
Simplify the language in the book.

31. Reading Recommendations
continued
•Repeat, model, hand-over-hand
•Think about the position of the book,
symbols, switch and you
•Assume competence in your child.
•Be a parent not a behaviorist – HAVE FUN!
•Repetition with variety

32. Targeting Difficult Concepts
•Target things that are difficult for your child
through literacy.
–“When students with ASD are included in frequent
and repeated shared book reading interventions,
some may have increases in oral language and
attention and decreases in echolalia, stereotypic
behaviors, and verbal outbursts” (Lanter and Watson, 2008)
–Books provide visual cues to support language
comprehension. Visual cues do not go away,
allowing for more processing time.

33. Targeting Difficult Concepts
•Communication difficulties:
–Read narratives (fiction stories) with clear
structure, logical sequence of events, and a clear
ending. Match this to child’s language level
–Build joint attention.
•Observe and follow child’s lead (eye gaze, their point,
what they are talking about).
•Comment and expand on what child is attending to.
•Match what child is reading about/writing about with
real things/events.
•Accommodate their sensory/motor needs to help them
pay attention

34. Targeting Difficult Concepts
•Communication difficulties:
–Provide augmentative/alternative ways to respond
–Build comprehension on a variety of language
concepts (ex. find the girl in the RED dress, WHERE
is the dog?)
–Encourage story retelling. Can do this through:
–Dramatic play – act out stories.
–Use Themes to build literacy and vocabulary: pick
one theme and read books, write stories, draw
pictures on that theme.

35. Targeting Difficult Concepts
•Communication difficulties:
–Free (emergent) writing:
•Have children begin to express themselves using
“writing” (on computer, as a power point book, on
paper, journal writing).
•Use pictures of recent events to visually cue children.
•Have them illustrate their story (may be scribble!) by
drawing their own picture, finding pictures in
magazines/online that go with their story, putting real
pictures in order to show the event, etc.

36. Targeting Difficult Concepts
•Socialization difficulties:
–Use books to teach facial expressions. Many books
have pictures of exaggerated facial expressions on
cartoon characters.
–Use books to teach feelings.
•Ex. Three Little Pigs – how does the pig feel? Scared!
Look at his face – can you make that face?
–Use literacy to work through difficult social
situations.
•Ex. social autopsy, social stories, comic strip
conversations

37. Targeting Difficult Concepts
•Repetitive Behaviors, Interests, Activities:
–Teach flexibility through social stories
–Practice focusing on “relevant” pictures, talking
about what the story/pictures are “all about”
•Concept Learning:
–Use books to reinforce new concepts /
experiences.
•Ex. If trying to teach about potty training, can use
books about potty training to provide extra
information.

38. Useful Technologies for Intervention
High-tech -
•Simon Sounds It Out - Don Johnston
•Balanced Literacy - Intellitools
•Powerpoint books
•Talking word processors - Intellitalk,
Write:Outloud
•Word prediction - Co:Writer, Kurzweil, Wynn
•Graphic organizers - Inspiration, Kidspiration,
Draft:Builder

39. Mid-tech
•Picture symbols
•Big Mac
•Adapted books
•Talking picture frames

40. Low-Tech
•Dry erase boards
•Adapted pencils
•Page fluffers
•Letter stamps

41. Power Point Books
•Create your own books with personalized photographs
or images of favorite things = increased motivation and
attention
•Create a book about a recent experience (trip to Disney,
zoo, grocery store) and build up background knowledge
•Create the book together with your child: write down all
their comments about each picture- lets them be the
“author”
•Read books on the computer “slide show” mode or print
out and read as a book
•Incorporate language goals in the personalized books
(e.g. Greetings – see David’s zoo book)

42. Answers to Walk Away With
•What kind of books do I think my child likes?
•How will I read differently with my child?
•How can I build background knowledge with my
child through books and teachable moments?
•How can I give my child more opportunities to
write?
•How can I accommodate my child’s
sensory/motor needs while reading or writing?
•What are some books we can create together?

43. Resources
•http://www.childnett.tv/videos/lectures/
autism_spectrum_disorder_and_literacy_what_y
ou_should_know
•Music by Jack Hartmann. Go to
www.jackhartmann.com. Ex. CD: Shake, Rattle n’
Read.
•Stories online: http://www.symbolworld.org/,
http://pbskids.org/lions/stories/,
http://www.scholastic.com/parents/play/stories/
•Schedules and Pictures:
http://www.do2learn.com/

44. References
–Bear, D. R., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., Johnston, F. (2000).
Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling
instruction. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Prentice-Hall, Inc.
–Colasent, R., & Griffith, P. (1998). Autism and literacy: Looking
into the classroom with rabbit stories. The Reading Teacher,
51(5), 414-420.
-Craig, H. K., & Sexton Telfer, A. (2005). Hyperlexia and autism
spectrum disorder: A case study of scaffolding language growth
over time. Topics in Language Disorders, 25(4), 364-374.
–Cunningham, P.M., Hall, D. P., & Sigmon, C.M. (1999). The
teacher’s guide to the four blocks. Greensboro,NC. Carson-Dellosa
Publishing Company, Inc

45. References
-Erickson, K. & Koppenhaver, D. (2007). Children with
disabilities: Reading and writing the four-blocks way.
Greensboro,NC. Carson-Dellosa Publishing Company, Inc
–Koppenhaver, K., & Erickson, K. (2003). Natural emergent
literacy supports for preschoolers with autism and severe
communication impairments. Topics in Language Disorders,
23(4), 283-292.
–Lanter, E., Watson, L.R. (2008). Promoting literacy in
students with ASD: The basics for the SLP. Language, Speech,
and Hearing Services in Schools, 39, 33-43.
–Leslie, L. & Caldwell, J. (2001). Qualitative reading inventory-
3. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.
–Musselwhite, C.R., Erickson, K., Ziolkowski, R. (2002). The
Beginning Literacy Framework. Don Johnston Incorporated.

46. References
–Rush, Elizabeth S. (2003, January). Adapting books and
creating literacy kits made easy. Presentation at Assistive
Technology Industry Association Conference. Orlando, FL.
–Skotko, B. G., Koppenhaver, D.A., & Erickson, K.A, (2004)
Parent Reading Behaviors and Communication Outcomes in
Girls with Rett Syndrome. Exceptional Children, 70 (.2) 154-
166.
–Sussman, F. & Honeyman, S. (2003). More than Words: The
Hanen Program for parents of children with autism
spectrum disorder. Leader’s Guide. Toronto, Canada: The
Hanen Centre.
–Wolfberg, P. (1999). Play and imagination in children with
autism. New York: Teachers College Press.