Project: Effect of Narrative Intervention with Strategy Instruction on the Listening and Reading Comprehension of Children with Autism

Some children with autism may require additional supports to meet academic expectations for comprehension. Oral narration, which is linked to listening and reading com-prehension, may be a viable approach. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of narrative intervention with explicit strategy instruction on the listening and reading retells of children with autism when novel stories are used. Four school-aged children with autism participated in this multiple baseline across participants single case experimental design study. Behavioral therapists delivered the narrative intervention, which included explicit strategy instruction on the use of story grammar icons, to each child individually within the course of their therapy. Results showed that all participants improved their listening and reading retells, but they required extended use of the icon strategy. When icons were completely removed, three participants performed above baseline on the reading comprehension assessment but only one participant was able to perform above baseline on the listening comprehension assessment.