Strategies for Teaching Reading Comprehension to Students with Autism

Teaching a child with autism to read - including helping with reading comprehension

One of the struggles teachers and parents have with a student who has Autism and other learning difficulties is getting them to comprehend what they read. Children with Autism and other leaning difficulties may be able to read fluently, but when you ask them to tell you what they read, you may met with a blank stare or frustration. This can be challenging because you want to see the child succeed. So, what do you do? Well, here are some strategies for teaching reading comprehension to students with Autism to try:

Build Background Knowledge

If a student is reading something they have no clue about, it’s going to be harder for him or her to comprehend the test. Present information about the topic so the student can better understand. For example, you could show the student a movie related to the text, tell the student a story that is related to the text, or help the student create connections between his or her own experinces. 

Talk Before Reading

If you already know the child can read, but isn’t understanding what he or she reads, you don’t want to jump right into reading. Instead, look at the book, talk about the pictures, and ask questions. Here are some questions that can help trigger comprehension:

  • What do you think this book will be about?
  • What do you think is happening in this picture?
  • Who do you think that person/animal is?
  • Where do you think the story is happening?

You can give options with your questions such as: Do you think this person is the mom, the dad, or the sister? 

Read the Story for Meaning

Then, read the story to find out if the child was correct. Each time you find an answer to a question such as who is that person, stop the child from reading and remind him or her that they just got one of their questions answered. Try to make a list of questions before reading the story, so that each time you find the answer, you can stop and write it down. 

Act it Out

Another way to help teach comprehension is to have the students act out parts of the story. You can give them a character to play, or you can just let them act it out as you read it. If a student is a little shy and doesn’t feel comfortable acting out the story, you can always have them act it out on paper. Drawing things they remember is a great way to help with that comprehension. 

Play Games to Encourage Comprehension

Many times, children will get bored doing the same thing over and over. Playing a game gives the child a break, but can still be educational. You see, students don’t realize they are learning while they play. So, here are a few of my comprehension brain break games:

These strategies are great ways to help those with Autism learn comprehension. If you have a student that isn’t responding to these strategies, consider Reading Patch. This system is focussed on building confidence to enhance reading literacy. 

Ready to help a child with autism learn to read? We have a system that works, EVEN IF your child is non-verbal. Sign up below for a reading test and our free email course.

Madreen Karle and Meeghan Karle Mousaw
Madreen Karle is a master first grade reading teacher with over 30 years of classroom experience. She taught reading in a special needs and English as a Second Language classroom. After retiring she wrote a reading program to help others learn how to teach reading. She is a trusted educator and author of 5 books to help teach children to read and write. In addition to her books, she is a mentor for 3 websites that give reading teacher tips (Mrs. Karle's Sight and Sound Reading, Mrs. Karle's Reading Patch, and Mrs. Karle's Handwriting Patch). Through her teaching she learned that confidence was the key to learning to read. A child who is not confident at reading does not like to read and struggles to read. Mrs. Karle created "sunshine moments" to help teach children how to grow their confidence and learn to read.

Meeghan Karle Mousaw (Madreen’s daughter) has her Master’s in Special Education. She has 7 years experience teaching children to read online. In addition, she developed a curriculum to teach children handwriting called The Handwriting Patch. With the Handwriting Patch learning is fun because children learn to draw and learn handwriting at the same time. In 2019 The Handwriting Patch curriculum became an amazon best seller the first year it was released, helping thousands of kids learn handwriting with a unique, fun method. She is mom to 6 kids, each with differently learning abilities and struggles.

The Reading Patch was established by the creators of Mrs. Karle’s Sight and Sound Reading. Together they have been featured on the NBC media outlets. Over the last 7 years in their online platform, Madreen and Meeghan have worked tirelessly with teachers, homeschoolers and parents looking to help children learn to read to become a trusted authority in teaching children to read and advocating early literacy skills. They often partner with other educational experts to deliver the most current information to the Reading Patch community.

Madreen Karle and Meeghan Karle Mousaw
Madreen Karle is a master first grade reading teacher with over 30 years of classroom experience. She taught reading in a special needs and English as a Second Language classroom. After retiring she wrote a reading program to help others learn how to teach reading. She is a trusted educator and author of 5 books to help teach children to read and write. In addition to her books, she is a mentor for 3 websites that give reading teacher tips (Mrs. Karle's Sight and Sound Reading, Mrs. Karle's Reading Patch, and Mrs. Karle's Handwriting Patch). Through her teaching she learned that confidence was the key to learning to read. A child who is not confident at reading does not like to read and struggles to read. Mrs. Karle created "sunshine moments" to help teach children how to grow their confidence and learn to read.

Meeghan Karle Mousaw (Madreen’s daughter) has her Master’s in Special Education. She has 7 years experience teaching children to read online. In addition, she developed a curriculum to teach children handwriting called The Handwriting Patch. With the Handwriting Patch learning is fun because children learn to draw and learn handwriting at the same time. In 2019 The Handwriting Patch curriculum became an amazon best seller the first year it was released, helping thousands of kids learn handwriting with a unique, fun method. She is mom to 6 kids, each with differently learning abilities and struggles.

The Reading Patch was established by the creators of Mrs. Karle’s Sight and Sound Reading. Together they have been featured on the NBC media outlets. Over the last 7 years in their online platform, Madreen and Meeghan have worked tirelessly with teachers, homeschoolers and parents looking to help children learn to read to become a trusted authority in teaching children to read and advocating early literacy skills. They often partner with other educational experts to deliver the most current information to the Reading Patch community.