A Modified Book Reading Intervention for Students with Complex Communication Needs Who Are English Learners and Have a Severe Intellectual Delay

Background:  Reading comprehension is an important skill for individuals with autism to learn. The research in this area has increased but is still lacking in the area of individuals with ASD that have Complex Communication Needs and are English Learners. This study examined using modified books and a bilingual intervention package to increase reading comprehension.

Objectives: The goal of the study was to determine if the intervention package was successful and if an intervention given to an English Learner bilingually would increase reading comprehension. The researcher measured if the participants answered comprehension questions, if they answered them with accuracy and if they had an increase in independent communication, separate from the reading comprehension questions being asked of them.

Methods:  An alternating treatment design was used in which participants received the intervention package in English on one day and on a different day received the intervention package Bilingually.

Results:  All students demonstrated an increase in independent communication attempts during
the intervention phase. There were no systematic differences between
bilingual or English-only conditions on child outcome measures.

Conclusions:  The results did not show any difference in the measures on the English day compared to the Bilingual intervention day. However, there is still very little research in this area. More research needs to be conducted in this area to determine best practices for students with Autism who are English Learners and have Complex Communication Needs.