Writing Instruction For Children With High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders

In this presentation, I will discuss the cognitive, academic, language and social/emotional characteristics of children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (ASD) that may impact their writing skills. I will provide a brief review of the literature base in the area of writing, with a focus on interventions that support best practice for children with ASD. I will then provide practical solutions that teachers and parents can use to help their children with high-functioning ASD improve their writing skills. Learning to express their thoughts in writing is an important skill for school-aged children to acquire. Writing tasks are the primary means by which students demonstrate their knowledge in school, and the major instrument teachers’ use to evaluate academic performance (Graham & Harris, 2005). For many students, however, writing is a complex task that requires a great deal of time, effort, and energy. Researchers and teachers have recognized and documented the difficulty of writing for typically achieving students (cf. Scardamalia & Bereiter, 1986) and for students with learning disabilities (cf. Graham & Harris, 2005); however, little research has focused on the writing characteristics and the potential of interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This lack of research is surprising, given that writing is an area in which children with ASD have considerable difficulty (Griffin, Griffin, Fitch, Albera, & Gingras, 2006). In one study (Mayes & Calhoun, 2008), for example, 63% of students diagnosed with ASD also exhibited a writing disability. To effectively support this currently underserved population of children, the writing characteristics of children with ASD must be fully documented, and beneficial interventions validated.

What is currently known about children with ASD is that they exhibit a wide variety of characteristics that may inhibit their abilities to write effectively. Cognitive/academic characteristics, such as highly literal thinking, inability to understand abstract concepts, lack of imagination, and difficulty imagining possible future events and scenarios (Harbinson & Alexander, 2009; Myles, 2005; Myles & Simpson, 2001; Winter, 2003) challenge their ability to plan and write an imaginary story. Deficits in theory of mind and ability to take another’s perspective (McCoy, 2011) make it difficult for children with ASD to write for an absent audience. They may also lack organizational skills, working memory, and story recall ability (Gabig, 2008; Moore, 2002), which hinder the act of planning in advance of writing through the use of notes to formalize ideas, then translating those notes into a story. In addition, they may have motor/coordination issues (Falk-Ross, Iverson, & Gilbert, 2004), which could impact their ability to write and/or type papers. Deficits in self-regulation, which are common in many children with ASD (Gomez & Bard, 2005) also impact their writing abilities (Asaro-Saddler & Saddler, 2010). For these children, deficits in several executive function components, including planning, cognitive flexibility, inhibition, and self-monitoring (see Hill, 2004, for a review), which directly impact the ability to self-regulate, may be present. Executive function deficits may impair the carrying out and monitoring of the essential cognitive processes writers need to effectively manage during the writing process (Saddler, Moran, Graham, & Harris, 2004).

Impairments in the domains of cognition, social/emotional functioning, language and communication, sensory integration, motor coordination, and self-regulation can all contribute to the problems children with ASD face while writing and will be discussed in detail in this presentation. Fortunately, some researchers have begun to explore the effects of various writing interventions with children with ASD. These interventions consisted of using technology including voice- and computer- assisted instruction, sentence combining, peer assisted instruction, and strategy instruction, specifically the self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) approach (Graham & Harris, 1989), to teach various writing skills to children with ASD (See Pennington & Delano, 2012 for a review). While some of these interventions were exploratory in nature, several of them are well-aligned with the National Professional Development Center (NPDC) on ASD’s recommended evidence-based practices (EBP) for children with ASD, as well as the National Autism Center’s National Standards Project’s findings of established and emerging treatments for children with autism. The connection of these writing interventions to best practice, such as computer aided instruction, self-management, visual supports, and peer-mediated instruction/peer training, will be explained in this presentation.

In addition to these specific interventions, there are also simple techniques that teachers and parents can implement to create an environment that is more conducive to writing. A variety of basic supports and accommodations, such as providing visuals and mnemonic devices, using technology, and altering the physical environment, will be described so that parents and teachers can support their children’s specific strengths and needs in writing.

Learning Objectives

After this session, attendees will be able to:

1. Explain the characteristics of children with high-functioning ASD that impact writing

2. Describe the research base in writing for children with high-functioning ASD

3. Offer suggestions for how to improve the writing of children with high-functioning ASD

How the session contributes to best practice and advances the field of autism spectrum disorders

As indicated, the interventions in this presentation will be discuss in relation to the best practices National Professional Development Center (NPDC) on ASD’s recommended evidence-based practices (EBP) for children with ASD, as well as the National Autism Center’s National Standards Project’s findings of established and emerging treatments for children with autism. These reports will be briefly presented to session attendees in an attempt to familiarize them with the projects, not only in relation to writing but to alert them to best practices in general for children with ASD. Writing interventions will then be presented with an overt connection to recommended practices.