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

Some children with autism may require additional support to meet academic expectations for comprehension. Because an extensive set of research links oral narration to listening and reading comprehension, the promotion of narrative-based skills may be a viable intervention 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 after hearing and decoding novel stories. Four children with autism aged 7 and 9 years old participated in this multiple baseline across participants single-case experimental design study. Behavioral therapists delivered the narrative intervention, which included explicit 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 (TauU ES range = 0.64–1.06) and reading (TauU ES range = 0.72–1.15) retells, but they required extended use of the icon strategy to achieve the most benefit. When icons were completely removed, three of the four participants performed above baseline levels on the listening and reading comprehension measures.