Principal speaker
Dr Marleen Westerveld
Other speakers
Dr Jessica Paynter
Students with autism are at increased risk of persistent reading difficulties. This presentation will focus on current evidence-based practice for providing reading instruction for young school-age students with autism.
The presentation will start by providing an overview of autism in the early years of education (prep - Year 4) and the academic challenges many of these students face. This will include highlighting some common myths around the reading abilities of students with autism.
Using the Simple View of Reading as a guiding framework, a brief overview will be provided of the presenters' Autism-CRC supported program of research into the early literacy pathways of children on the autism spectrum. We will then explain how high-quality assessment data can direct reading intervention for this population. Finally, we will provide a summary of current research evidence to guide intervention practice.