Effects of ABRACADABRA Literacy Instruction on Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Emerging research suggests that children with ASD may be receptive to evidence-based literacy instruction designed for typically developing children. Evidence-based instruction delivered via computers is anticipated to be particularly beneficial as it appeals to the preferences of many children with ASD. For these reasons, the current research was designed to explore the effects of evidence-based instruction using the computer-assisted ABRACADABRA program on the literacy skills of children with ASD. Study 1 in this program of research investigated the effects of ABRACADABRA on the reading abilities of children with ASD. Children who received ABRACADABRA instruction achieved statistically significant, large gains in reading accuracy and comprehension relative to a wait-list control group of children with ASD. Study 2 examined the spelling profiles of children with ASD to determine whether ABRACADABRA might also improve aspects of spelling for these children. Children with ASD varied in their conventional spelling accuracy but produced spelling attempts which contained evidence of the same skills known to support spelling for typically developing children. This suggests that evidence-based literacy instruction designed for typically developing children may be effective in improving the spelling abilities of children with ASD. Study 3 therefore explored the effects of ABRACADABRA on the spelling abilities of children with ASD. ABRACADABRA was found to have no significant effects on children’s spelling accuracy but was highly effective in improving children’s ability to encode linguistic information in their spelling attempts. This research extends the existing literature by showing, for the first time, that ABRACADABRA can improve the reading accuracy, reading comprehension, and linguistic spelling accuracy of children with ASD.