Summary
The Benefits of Natural
Emergent Literacy for
Preschoolers with Autism
By Maggie Stevens
This summary is based on the following research article: Koppenhaver, D. A. & Erickson, K.A. (2003). Natural
emergent literacy supports for preschoolers with autism and severe communication impairments. Topics in language
disorders, 23 (4), 283-292.
Children with autism and severe
communication difficulties can benefit
from the implementation of a natural
emergent literacy approach in their
learning environment. Children with
autism may have deficits in attention
and language and problems with
concept development, memory, and
processing verbal information, but
many
have
visual
strengths.
Researchers have looked at literacy
activities offered for children with
autism and found that there was a
significant lack of early literacy
learning activities available. This
discovery led to the question,
if
children are not exposed to reading
and writing materials, how can they
learn to use them? For the study
described
in
this
summary,
researchers
provided
enhanced
natural literacy learning opportunities
that improved “emergent literacy”
behaviors and examined the effects
on the reading and writing behaviors
of three students.
Study Summary
Participant Profile
 3 preschoolers, approximately 3
years of age, in a segregated
class
 severe communication disorders:
non-verbal, but did vocalize,
scream, cry, and use gestures
 two diagnosed with autism, one
with pervasive development
disorder
 normal vision and hearing, no
physical impairments
 all had age equivalent scores of
under 1.5 for communication,
cognitive and verbal skills
What is Emergent Literacy?
The term emergent reading was first used some
40 years ago in New Zealand by Marie Clay, who
described the early reading behaviors of young
children. Twenty years later the concept became
popular in North America. The term changed to
emergent literacy to include the early writing
behaviors and the understanding of students.
Emergent literacy is commonly defined as the
behaviors of reading and writing that lead to
conventional literacy. Over the years emergent
literacy has been identified as a factor of best
practice for children with developmental
disabilities.




Examples of Emergent Literacy
Looking at a picture
book
Scribbling, then
”reading” what it says
Retelling a story read
by an adult
Reading advertisements
Past Research
To date, research on emergent literacy for children
with autism has been extremely limited. Studies
that have been done focused on three areas:
hyperlexia in older children and adults who had
gifted reading skills but poor comprehension, sight
word recognition to communicate basic needs,
and facilitated communication and its validity.
These past research areas suggest two reasons
to teach literacy:
 people with autism have strengths in sight
word recognition along with global deficits
in comprehension
 people with autism are able to read and
write meaningfully
Before the Intervention
Classroom Environment Observations








play center, where children spent 90 –
120 minutes per day, contained no
reading or writing materials
pencils, markers and paper were kept out
of reach
small selection of books not changed
children given access to book display
only for a few minutes per day
teacher reported children were not
interested in literacy
computer present but rarely turned on
teacher read to class daily
low IPP expectations
Emergent Literacy Behaviors





no self-selection of books due to
absence of activity offered
no emergent writing; students copied,
traced or matched letters
two children flipped pages of books
quickly and often repetitively; one
child tossed them
one child usually sat and listened at
story time; touched pictures in books
if allowed
no evidence of print knowledge
The Intervention
Including Natural Literacy Learning Opportunities
Over five months, researchers were in the class for 60-90 minutes, twice a week, providing
these supports:
 provided a print-rich environment –
lots of reading and writing materials
 allowed children time to explore
materials on their own and with adult
help
 encouraged independent writing
attempts prior to adult modeling, or
showing a different way to do the
task
Emergent Reading Supports
Emergent Writing Supports
 added a vast selection of reading
materials – wordless picture books,
books with electronic sounds, children’s
magazines and comic books,
newspapers, books on tape and
computer disk, touch and feel books,
and homemade picture books using
Picture Communication Symbols (MayerJohnson, Inc.).
 integrated text into routines – flip charts
for words for songs, name cards for daily
attendance, labels on centers
 technology – low-tech, voice-output
communication devices incorporated
 whiteboard utilized by children
 existing computer left on, opened to a
writing and publishing program for
children
 added a laptop opened to a word
processing program with a 24-point all
capital letters font
 added writing tools to play center –
crayons, pencils and paper, post-it-note
pads, white boards, chalkboards and
chalk, ink pads and letter stamps, Etch-aSketch, Magna-Doodle, peel-erase pads,
manual typewriter, Play-Doh and alphabet
cookie cutters
After the Intervention
Independent Book Exploration
Independent book explorations
may be divided into four categories
of increasing skill involvement:
 browsing
 silent studying
 pretend reading
 conventional reading
The three students all increased their levels
of book exploration dramatically by the fifth
month of intervention, demonstrating reading
behaviors of all four categories. However, as
the children were non-verbal, it could not be
clearly shown that pretend and conventional
reading occurred.
Writing
The researchers used six
categories of writing which
increased in sophistication:
 refusal
 random
 wavy
 letter-like
 letters
 conventional
A sign-in routine for the children was used to
explore their emergent writing capabilities. All
of the children showed interest and improved
skill. Of particular note was student #3 who
initially refused to write, then made the
greatest progress by writing his name
conventionally, on the computer, and by
using stamps.
Literacy Activity Choices
Time Spent in Self-Selected Literacy Activities
During Unstructured Time (After Intervention)
100%
11%
% of Time
80%
60%
40%
85%
20%
12%
9%
23%
30%
#2
#3
Writing
Reading
0%
#1
Child
*Note: Before the intervention, the children spent no time in literacy activities.
Additional Observations
Other behaviors were observed that clearly showed the students’ increasing interest in literacy
and improving understanding of print during intervention:
 Student #1 regularly was able to match all seven of her classmates’ names to their
photographs.
 Student #2 spoke letter names out loud, concurrently with using letter stamps to spell his
name. This student also demonstrated his knowledge of over 30 sight words by
activities like matching words to pictures or symbols.
 Student #3 picked up five accidentally strewn letters from the floor, which were out of
order and some upside down. This student promptly rearranged them to spell B-I-N-GO, an interactive song the class used.
Examples
of
Emergent
Literacy
Behaviors
 looking
at a
picture
book
 scribbli
ng,
then
“readin
g” what
it says
 retelling
a story
read by
an
adult
 reading
advertis
ements
Summary and Implications
When given natural learning opportunities for emergent literacy, this group of preschool children
with autism and severe communication impairments blossomed. They showed much interest
with the increased amount and variety of reading and writing tools, demonstrated improved prereading and reading behaviors, and displayed progress with writing. Prior to intervention, the
children did not choose any literacy activities during their unstructured class time. After
intervention, they chose literacy activities an average of 57% of the time. Enhanced literacy
behaviors such as these may have a potential positive impact on future literacy development, as
the groundwork has been laid for future success. It is essential to offer regular activities over a
long period of time to promote optimal literary development, starting at an early age. Other best
practices include allowing sufficient time for independent exploration, occasionally modeling
alternatives, and interacting while engaging in literacy activities.
Resources to Find Out More About Emergent Literacy
Books
Cunningham, P. M. & Allington, A. L.
(1998). Classrooms that work: They
can all read and write. Needham
Heights, MA: Addison-Wessley
Publishing Company.
Erickson, K.A., Koppenhaver, D K,
Yoder, D.E. (2002). Waves of
Words: Augmented communicators
read and write. Toronto: ISAAC
Press.
Book Chapters
Cunningham, J. W., Koppenhaver,
D. A., Erickson, K. A., & Spadorcia,
S. A. (in press). Word identification
and text characteristics. In J. V.
Hoffman & D. Schallert (Eds.),
Texts, Tasks & Teaching Reading in
Elementary Classrooms. Mahwah,
NJ: Erlbaum.
Mirenda, P. and Erickson, K. A.
(2000). Autism, AAC and Literacy. In
A. Wetherby & B. Prizant (Eds.),
Communication and language
issues in autism and PDD: A
transactional developmental
perspective (p. 333-367). Baltimore,
MD: Brookes.
Articles
Erickson, K. A., Koppenhaver, D. A., Yoder, D. E., and Nance,
J. (1997). Integrated Communication and Literacy Instruction
for a Child with Multiple Disabilities. Focus on Autism and Other
Developmental Disabilities, 12(3), 142-150.
Erickson, K. A. and Koppenhaver, D. A. (1995). Developing a
Literacy Program for Children with Severe Disabilities. Reading
Teacher, 48, 676-684.
Erickson, Karen A. (2000). All Children are Ready to Learn: An
Emergent versus Readiness Perspective in Early Literacy
Assessment. Seminars in Speech and Language, 21(3), 193203.
Erickson, K. A. and Koppenhaver, D. A. (1998, Sept/Oct). Using
the "write talk-nology" with Patrik. Teaching Exceptional
Children, 58-64.
Koppenhaver, D. A., & Erickson, K. A. (2003). Natural
Emergent Literacy Supports for Preschoolers with Autism and
Severe Communication Impairments. Topics in Language
Disorders, 23, 283-293.
Mirenda, P. (2003). “He’s not a reader…”: Perspectives on
supporting literacy development in individuals with autism.
Topics in Language Disorders, 23, 271-282.
Pugach, M & Warger, C. L. (2001). Curriculum matters: Raising
expectations for students with disabilities. Remedial and
Special Education. 22(4), 194-196, 213.