Promoting active participation in book reading for preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A preliminary study

A common literacy practice in early childhood classrooms is reading aloud to children. Little is known, however, about the quality of engagement in shared reading activities for young children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Dialogic reading is one method of shared reading in which adults encourage children to actively participate in the reading process by asking them a variety of questions while reading a book. The current study used a multiple baseline design across participants to examine the effect of a dialogic reading intervention on book reading participation for three preschool boys with ASD. Compared to baseline book readings, dialogic book reading resulted in increased rates of child verbal participation and longer duration spent engaged with printed materials. Based on these preliminary findings we suggest that this reading strategy may be a promising practice for early childhood educators that warrants further exploration.