Effects of Multisensory Social Story on Reading Comprehension among Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Many studies frequently reported reading comprehension difficulty among students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Present study has developed multisensory social story (VEKITS) to enhance reading comprehension of students with ASD. A single-subject study with multiple-baseline design was conducted. Three students with ASD and two educators who teach children with special needs participated in this study. Results revealed that students with ASD have high decoding but low receptive vocabulary before the intervention. The level of decoding and receptive vocabulary continues to improve across the phases. The improvement in both variables had resulted in better reading comprehension in all participants. Teachers reported several elements to be markedly enhancing decoding and receptive vocabulary in students with ASD including repetitive read aloud activity, simple and repetitive text. This study is significant in providing essential reading comprehension intervention to students with ASD; likewise, imparting the insights of multisensory strategy to educators for children with special needs.