Effects of Wh-Question Graphic Organizers on Reading Comprehension Skills of

Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Author(s): Keri S. Bethune and Charles L. Wood
Source: Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities , June 2013,
Vol. 48, No. 2 (June 2013), pp. 236-244
Published by: Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23880642

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms

is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Education and Training
in Autism and Developmental Disabilities

This content downloaded from

129.237.35.237 on Sat, 07 Aug 2021 13:14:22 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 2013, 48(2), 236-244
© Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities

Effects of Wh-Question Graphic Organizers on

Reading Comprehension Skills of Students with
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Ken S. Bethune Charles L. Wood
James Madison University University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract: Students with autism spectrum disorders often have difficulty with reading comprehension. This study
used a delayed multiple baseline across participants design to evaluate the effects of graphic organizers on the
accuracy of wh-questions answered following short passage reading. Participants were three elementary-age
students with autism spectrum disorder. Results indicated improved accuracy of responses to wh-questions,
generalization, and maintenance of gains following intervention. Implications for future research and practice
are discussed.

Many students with autism spectrum disorders Several researchers have examined ways to
(ASD) acquire reading decoding skills, but teach reading comprehension to students
continue to struggle with reading comprehen- with ASD. Chiang and Lin (2007) conducted a
sion (Nation, Clarke, Wright, & Williams, literature review to investigate reading com
2006). Comprehension occurs when the prehension strategies for students with ASD.
reader actively obtains meaning from written They included 11 studies that examined par
text (Bursuck & Darner, 2011). Newman et al. ticipants, setting, text (academic reading)
(2007) found that students with ASD had sta- comprehension, functional sight words, com
tistically significant lower scores on reading prehension, and instructional methods. Re
comprehension compared to scores by their viewed studies included 49 students with ASD
typically developing peers, even when control- (many of whom also were diagnosed with an
ling for sight word recognition. Saalasti and intellectual disability) who were 3 to 17 years
colleagues (2008) showed that students with old. Four studies occurred in traditional
Asperger syndrome had significantly lower schools (two in inclusion classrooms), three in
scores on a comprehension of instructions private clinics or specialized schools, one in a
subtest compared to scores of their typically home setting, and three studies did not spec
developing peers. Walberg and Magliano ify the setting. Four studies examined text
(2004) identified possible reasons for the dis- comprehension and the remaining seven
crepancy between word reading and compre- studies examined sight word comprehension,
hension skills for students with ASD: (a) in- A wide variety of instructional methods were
ability to use background knowledge to represented including progressive time-delay,
interpret information and ambiguities pre- discrete-trial training, peer tutoring, coopera
sented in text, (b) fundamental deficits in live learning groups, incidental teaching,
language abilities, (c) difficulties with linguis- computer-assisted instruction, priming, use of
tic processing at the sentence level, and (d) in- a cloze task (filling in blanks), and cueing
ability to resolve ambiguity in text. students to attend. The authors stated that
future research needs to apply National Read
ing Panel (2000) identified strategies for in
Correspondence concerning this article should structing students with ASD, further explora
be addressed to Charles L. Wood, Department of tion of literacy instruction of students with
Special Education and Child Development, 9201 Asperger syndrome, and further research on
University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 29223. E-mail: instructional methods for teaching reading
clwood@uncc.edu comprehension to students with high func

236 / Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities-June 2013

This content downloaded from

129.237.35.237 on Sat, 07 Aug 2021 13:14:22 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
tioning autism or Asperger syndrome in the strategy on reading comprehension test
general education setting. scores. They used a multiple probe across par
Other studies have examined reading com- ticipants design with four phases to anal
prehension skills of students with ASD. First, the impact of teaching the test-taking strat
Reynhout and Carter (2008) studied the ef- to students with high-functioning ASD.
fects of a social story intervention on appro- suits showed a functional relation between a
priate group reading behavior and specific quisition of the test-taking strategy and
attention on reading comprehension difficul- increase in reading comprehension test
ties. They used a single-subject, ABC design to scores. Results also demonstrated gener
evaluate the impact of the social story review tion and maintenance of the test-taking str
prior to group read aloud on the behavior of egy.
looking at the book. The participant was an Finally, Hundert and van Delft (2009) u
8-year-old diagnosed with ASD, intellectual a multiple probe across behaviors design
disability, and limited language skills. The re- analyze the effects of a system of least promp
suits failed to demonstrate a functional rela- on students' ability to answer three types of
tion between the social story and appropriate ferential "why" questions: (a) questions based
group reading behavior. The targeted behav- on a three-card picture sequence (a vi
ior also failed to improve after adding a verbal representation of a short sequence of event
prompt to read the story. The authors suggest paired with a short text), (b) questions base
that one possible explanation for the lack of a on a vocally presented story, and (c) genera
functional relation could be that the partid- information questions. Participants w
pant was unable to comprehend the social three children with high functioning auti
story text and/or the text being read to the Results showed a functional relation between
class. The authors stated that future research the embedded instruction and the students'
is needed to examine comprehension skills ability to answer the three identified types
that act as prerequisites to social stories and to of inferential "why" questions; however, stu
implement rigorous designs including multi- dents' responses did not generalize to u
ple baseline across behaviors, settings, or par- trained inferential "why" questions. One nota
ticipants. ble limitation of this study is the insufficient
Flores and Ganz (2007) analyzed the effects baseline data collected pr
of a Direct Instruction (DI) reading program tion of intervention. At
on reading comprehension skills. DI involves sufficient data to establ
carefully designed explicit instruction, scripted other times an increa
lessons, high rates of student responses, and lished in baseline. The a
immediate feedback (Watkins & Slocum, future research is needed to
2004). DI has been successful with students results in school settings during classroom
with disabilities and students at risk for failure routines and implemented by general educa
(Bursuck & Darner, 2011; Camine, Silbert, tion teachers, special education teachers, or
Kame'enui, & Tarver, 2010). They used a mul- paraprofessionals. The authors also stated that
tiple probe across behaviors design to mea- further research is needed to determine if an
sure the impact of DI on reading comprehen- increase in ability to answer inferential "why"
sion skills and behaviors of students with questions would translate into an increase in
developmental disabilities, including ASD. Re- overall reading comprehension skills,
suits showed a functional relation between One method suggested for increasing read
DI and reading comprehension skills. The ing comprehension skills for struggling read
authors stated that future research is needed ers (e.g., students with learning disabilities) is
to examine the effects of the complete DI graphic organizers (Jiang & Grabe, 2007).
program (rather than just the selected por- Graphic organizers are visual representations
tions used in this study), the modifications of the information conveyed in a text (Jiang &
needed for students with ASD, and feasibility Grabe, 2007). Graphic organizers have been
of implementation of this program. used to increase reading comprehension skills
Songlee, Miller, Tincani, Sileo, and Perkins in young readers and second language stu
(2008) examined the effects of a test-taking dents (Jiang & Grabe, 2007). Graphic organiz

Graphic Organizers / 237

This content downloaded from

129.237.35.237 on Sat, 07 Aug 2021 13:14:22 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
ers are currently in wide use by reading ex- mentary school in a separate classroom de
perts and classroom teachers, and studies have signed for children with autism due to a corn
shown a positive effect on reading compre- bination of his challenging behaviors, such as
hension (Carnine et al., 2010; Jiang & Grabe, aggression, tantrums, and lack of academic
2007). progress. Aaron's IQ was tested with the Reyn
Graphic organizers and visual supports have olds Intellectual Assess
also been recommended to teach reading ported as 94. Aaron wa
comprehension skills to students with ASD ¡n conversational lan
(Gately, 2008). Visually cued instruction, in- person was of inter
eluding graphics, story/visual maps, and goal most often used his la
structure mapping, can help students with wants and needs. Aa
ASD focus on key information, increase inde- struction using a l
pendence and memory (Gately, 2008). Al- program. The teache
though graphic organizers and visual supports Aaron could read
have been successful teaching reading com- fluently, he was una
prehension skills to nondisabled young read- sion questions abou
ers, and have been recommended as an effec- Mark was a 10-yea
tive teaching tool for students with ASD, autism and was Cauca
further empirical research is needed to dem- same public elemen
onstrate its use to teach reading comprehen- was placed in a diff
sion to students with ASD. Therefore, the pur- designed for childre
pose of this study was to examine the effects of onstrated severely r
wh-question (i.e., who, what, where, what do- reoCypit behavio
ing) graphic organizers on reading compre- demk Mark
hension skills in students with ASD. ^ , ct- , ui * n
reported as o7. Mark was able to vo
municate his wants and needs and r
Method some intraverbal questions (e.g., "What's on
your head?" "A hat."). Mark was begi
Participants read sentences and paragraphs, but his flu
~ . . . . ^ , ency and intonation were not yet mastered.
Participants were three elementary students 7 , 7
j . , «or* i j * * r» Mark s teacher reported that Mark was unable
diagnosed with ASD who demonstrated deh- r
. . r j • u to answer any comprehension questions about
cits in the area of reading comprehension. / r n
Convenience sampling was used to identify a Passa8e he had
(a) ability to orally read text at a minimum of Joe was a 10-year-
a 1st grade level, (b) ability to match written nosed with autism a
nouns to picture representations, (c) inability Joe also attended th
to accurately answer literal wh-questions (who, school and was
what, where, and what doing) about a previ- designed to meet
ously read text, (d) inability to sort written autism. Joe demonst
text into a graphic organizer according to the and stereotypic
corresponding type of literal wh-question 'n academic progr
(who, what, where, and what doing), and some limitations in
(e) signed parental consent and student as- difficult to under
sent. Although the participants of this study tion. Joe demonstra
represent a range of races and ethnicities, language; however,
participants were not selected based on race phrases, gestures, and
or ethnicity, rather this range was the result of his wants and nee
the convenience sampling used to identify the Leiter Intern
participants meeting the above criteria. and was reported as
Aaron (pseudonyms used throughout) was sentences and pa
an 8-year-old boy diagnosed with autism and he read aloud it w
was Hispanic. Aaron attended a public ele- his speech. The teacher reported Joe was

238 / Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities-June 2013

This content downloaded from

129.237.35.237 on Sat, 07 Aug 2021 13:14:22 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
unable to answer comprehension questions student wrote the word "mom" into the "who"
about passages he had read. category. When presented with the word "run
ning," the response was scored correct if the
student wrote "running" in the "what doing"
Setting
category. This resulted in the student having a
The study took place in a public elementary completed graphic organizer where key text
school located in an urban area of the south- from the story was sorted into the appropriate
eastern United States. Instruction occurred at categories.
the students' desk or at a designated reading The primary dependent variable was accu
instruction table in each student's classroom. racy answering eight, literal recall (i.e., stated
The classrooms were each designed specifi- in the text) wh-comprehension questions,
cally for students with autism, but were not This occurred after the student completed the
otherwise modified for this study. Each class- graphic organizer. The eight questions corn
room was staffed with one special education prised two questions from each category: who,
teacher and one paraprofessional. The first what, where, and what doing. The researcher
author served as the experimenter and con- asked two questions of each type to ensure
ducted the intervention and probes through- that students had to respond according to the
out the study. A graduate student from a local type of information requested and ensure that
university served as a data collector for inter- the response was correct according to the pas
observer reliability and procedural fidelity. sage. For example, if the passage read "Nancy
played with dolls on the floor. Mom cooked
dinner in the kitchen." The student would
Materials
have sorted "Nancy" and "mom" into the
The graphic organizer was an 8.5" by 11" pa- "who" category and "floor" and "kitchen" i
per divided into four columns. Each column the "where" category of the graphic organi
was labeled in large font according to the type Students had to use knowledge from the
of wh-question as follows: Who? (person), to answer "Who cooked dinner?" If th
Where? (place), What? (thing), and What do- dent responded "mom," his respons
ing? (event). Reading materials were selected scored correct. If the student respo
from the students' current level in a Direct "Nancy," it was scored incorrect and m
Instruction reading program and was between indicate that the student did not compreh
two to four pages in length. During each in- the passage and answered based on the
tervention and probe session, students read mation found on the graphic organizer
from the next story, ensuring that they never If the student responded "kitchen," it w
encountered the same story twice. Targeted counted incorrect and might indicate t
text was changed for each session and probe did not comprehend the type of ques
to prevent students from memorizing re- asked. Aaron and Mark answered the q
sponses. tions vocally. Joe answered vocally, but also
pointed to the written word on the grap
Data Collection
organizer. Responses were recorded as corr
or incorrect, and the number of independ
Dependent variables. Data were collected on correct responses was gr
two dependent variables. First, data were col- interval graph (see Figur
lected on the accuracy of sorting words (pre- Interobserver reliability
sented as text) into the graphic organizer cor- ability was conducted by co
responding to the type of wh-question. In ond observer's scores with
these probes, occurring after reading the pas- scores. Reliability sessions w
sage but prior to answering wh-questions, stu- uted across baseline, interv
dents were shown a list of words by the re- tenance phases for all student
searcher and were asked to sort (i.e., write) reliability was scored item
each word into the corresponding category. Heron, & Heward, 2007)
For example, when presented with the word dividing the total disagree
"mom," the response was scored correct if the opportunities and mult

Graphic Organizers / 239

This content downloaded from

129.237.35.237 on Sat, 07 Aug 2021 13:14:22 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 BL GO
BL GO Maintenance
Maintenance disagree and five representing strongly agree.
8 " O
o 0 0
The experimenter read five questions to stu
o o
dents and they reponded by circling the word
6■
(paired with a symbol) yes or no.
4 *
" o ÍV\>
2■

0 -
V Experimental Design
Aaron
This study used a delaye
across participants desig
q. 88 cited in Cooper et al., 200

nT
\T
1/1

cd b6 designs are a common re

t3 44 ■
cu
gle-subject research and
o 2 " with special needs popula
u
sample of participants is
Mark
Mark
et al., 2007; Kennedy, 20
<D
-Q
1984). There was a basel
E
by an intervention phas
o
0 nance phase. The second
o duced to the intervention once the first stu

\/y~
Yw
dent's data path showed a change in level
and/or trend. The third student was intro
duced to the intervention in the same manner
Joe
once the second student's data path demon
strated a change in level and/or trend. The
10 15 20 25 30
intervention ended once the student correctly
Sessions answered at least seven out of eight compre
Sessions
hension questions about a text in three con
Figure 1.
Figure 1. Number
Numberof
ofcorrect
correct responses
responses on on
wh-wh
secutive sessions and at least five data points
questions
questionsfor Aaron,
for Mark,
Aaron, and Joe
Mark, and Joe per phase were established.
(open data points). Solid, horizontal
lines show mean correct words sorted

in graphic
in graphicorganizers.
organizers.BLBL = Baseline, Procedure
= Baseline,
GO = Graphic Organizers.
Baseline. Data were collected during each
baseline session by asking the student to corn
Aaron, interobserver reliability was conducted plete two types of probes: (a) sor
in 31.25% of total sessions and averaged words into corresponding wh-question
97.5% (range = 87.5%-100%). For Mark, in- ries on a graphic organizer (two of
terobserver reliability was also conducted in of wh-question), and (b) answering
31.25% of total sessions and averaged 97.5% questions about a text (two of each t
(range = 87.5%-100%). For Joe, interob- question). The experimenter did not
server reliability was conducted in 33.33% of corrective feedback on students'
total sessions and averaged 100%. during probes. Once a minimum of five data
Social validity. Social validity question- points and a stable or decreasing trend was
naires can obtain stakeholders' (e.g., partici- established, the first student began the inter
pants, teachers, parents) opinions about an vention phase. Baseline probes were con
intervention's goals, outcomes, and methods ducted daily following completion of the read
(Cooper et al., 2007). After the maintenance ing passage. Reading passages were changed
phase of the study the students and their class- for each probe to ensure students were unable
room teachers completed questions that ad- to memorize responses. Each probe was con
dressed social validity. The teachers' question- ducted in the classroom during typical instruc
naire included six items ranked on a Likert tional time and lasted approximately 10 min.
scale with possible scores ranging from one Graphic organizer. The intervention using
through five with one representing strongly the graphic organizer was conducted in the

240 / Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities-June 2013

This content downloaded from

129.237.35.237 on Sat, 07 Aug 2021 13:14:22 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
same manner as the baseline sessions with the curacy of implementation of the intervention,
exception of the introduction of prompting to The second observer watched sessions and
teach the students to use the graphic orga- completed a procedural reliability checklist,
nizer correctly. The experimenter used a least Procedural reliability was evenly distributed
to most prompting hierarchy (independent, across baseline, intervention, and mainte
verbal, gesture, and physical) to teach each nance sessions. Reliability was conducted in
student to sort words into corresponding cat- 31.25% of Aaron and Mark's sessions and av
egories on a graphic organizer and answer eraged 100%. Procedural reliability was con
corresponding comprehension questions from ducted in 33.33% of Joe's sessions and aver
a short passage. For example, the experimenter aged 100%.
presented the graphic organizer and a list
of eight words (two from each category). The Results
experimenter asked the student to write (i.e.,
sort) the words into the corresponding cate- Figure 1 shows the number of independent
gories, providing least to most prompting as correct responses to the wh-questions for
needed. After the words were successfully Aaron, Mark, and Joe. The x-axis represents
sorted, the experimenter presented a short probes and the y-axis represents the number
reading passage (passages were never re- of independent correct responses during each
peated), the student read it aloud, and then probe. The solid, horizontal lines indicate the
the experimenter presented eight corre- mean of words sorted correctly in the graphic
sponding wh-questions about the text, and organizer per phase. All three participants
prompted the student to use his graphic orga- demonstrated an immediate change in level
nizer. As described previously, the eight ques- after instruction on the graphic organizer be
tions included two questions from each cate- gan, and quickly met the criteria to move to
gory: who, what, where, and what doing. This maintenance.
was to ensure that students had to respond During baseline, Aaron's performance aver
according to the type of information re- aged 3.8 correct answers on comprehension
quested and ensure that the response was cor- probes. The data were low and somewhat vari
rect according to the passage. Students were able. During baseline Aaron averaged 4.8 in
able to look back at the text or graphic orga- dependent correct words sorted in the
nizer at any point. graphic organizer. During the intervention
Generalization and maintenance. Generaliza- phase Aaron averaged 7.2 correct answer
tion data were taken once in baseline and wh-questions. The data in this phase w
once in maintenance by scoring permanent high and stable. During the interve
products from each student's responses to phase Aaron 7.8 independent correct
questions from their reading in their special sorted in the graphic organizer. During m
education classrooms. The students partid- tenance Aaron averaged 7.6 independe
pated in a leveled Direct Instruction reading rect answers to wh-questions per pro
program that contained reading comprehen- data in this phase remained high and
sion worksheets. The examiner scored the stu- During maintenance Aaron average
dents' responses to literal wh-questions on dependent correct words sorted ont
these worksheets that were completed with graphic organizer.
their regular teachers during reading instruc- During baseline, Mark's performan
tion. The students did not use the graphic aged 2.7 correct answers to wh-questio
organizers during their teachers' reading in- probe. The data were low and showe
struction. Maintenance data were collected variability. During baseline Mark avera
once per week after the student completed independent correct words sorted i
the intervention phase. Aaron had five weeks graphic organizer. During the interv
of maintenance data, Mark had four weeks of phase Mark averaged 6.4 correct ans
maintenance data, and Joe had three weeks of wh-questions per probe. Mark's data
maintenance data. phase were high, stable, and showed an in
Procedural reliability. Procedural reliability creasing trend. During the interventi
served as the primary method of assessing ac- Mark averaged 7.0 independent corre

Graphic Organizers / 241

This content downloaded from

129.237.35.237 on Sat, 07 Aug 2021 13:14:22 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
sorted in the graphic organizer. During main- an appropriate way to help teach wh-questions
tenance Mark averaged 7.25 correct answers about a text, (c) the student has answered
to wh-questions per probe. His data in this wh-questions in the classroom, and (d) the
phase remained high and stable. During student increased his ability to answer wh
maintenance Mark averaged 7.5 independent questions from reading in general. Finally,
correct words sorted onto the graphic orga- teachers had some disagreement on whether
nizer. the student had been able to accurately an
Joe's performance in baseline averaged 3.6 swer reading
correct answers to wh-questions per probe. ing regular En
The data were low with a fair amount of vari- homework. One teacher rated this as a 2,
ability. During baseline Joe averaged 5.6 inde- another as a 4, and the last as a 5. Teachers
pendent correct words sorted in the graphic also had the opportunity to make open ended
organizer. During the intervention phase Joe comments. Two teachers responded, "The
averaged 6.1 independent correct answers to graphic organizer has been very helpful to my
wh-questions per probe. His data in this phase student in making progress on reading corn
were higher than the baseline phase, but ini- prehension. The hands-on visual approach is
daily demonstrated some variability before great," and "Using the graphic organizer
stabilizing. During the intervention phase helped clarify the important information from
Joe averaged 7.4 independent correct words extraneous information."
sorted in the graphic organizer. During main- Students all responded "yes" to the follow
tenance Joe averaged 7.0 correct answers to ing questions: (a) "Did the graphic organizer
wh-questions per probe. Joe's data in this help you learn about the types of wh-ques
phase remained high with a small amount of tions?," (b) "Do you read a lot during your
variability. During maintenance Joe averaged day?," and (c) "Did you like learning this way?"
7.3 independent correct words sorted in the Two of the three students reponded "yes" to
graphic organizer. the following two questions: (a) "Did you like
the lessons?," and (b) "Did the graphic orga
.o ,. .. nizers help you answer questions about what
Generalization ....
you read?"
Data were collected in the form of percent of
wh-questions answered correctly fromDiscussion
stu
dents' reading instruction from their special
education teachers. All three students' scores The purpose of this study was to exami
improved from baseline to generalization. effects of wh-question graphic organ
Aaron's baseline score was 0%, and improved reading comprehension skills in student
to 100% during the generalization probe that ASD. A functional relationship was
was conducted during the maintenance phase. tween the use of graphic organizer
Mark's baseline score was 33%, and improved students' correct responses to literal wh
to 75% during the generalization probe that tions from short passages. The stud
was conducted during the maintenance phase. formance also demonstrated a high
Joe's baseline score was 40%, and improved maintenance, and they were able t
to 100% during the generalization probe that wh-questions from three to five weeks
was conducted during the maintenance phase. stopping the intervention. Additio
three students were able to demonstrate gen
eralization to their reading program work
Social Validity
sheets administered during regular reading
Teachers reported that they strongly agreed instruction.
that reading comprehension is useful in the Graphic organizers have been use
student's daily life. The teachers rated the fully to teach reading comprehension
following questions as either a 4 or 5 on a a wide range of students such as youn
5-point scale: (a) they agreed that graphic and second language students (Cami
organizers helped the student answer compre- 2010; Jiang & Grabe, 2007). Addi
hension questions, (b) graphic organizers are graphic organizers and visual suppo

242 / Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities-June 2013

This content downloaded from

129.237.35.237 on Sat, 07 Aug 2021 13:14:22 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
been recommended to teach reading compre four-column wh-question graphic organizer
hension skills to students with ASD as a way to (available from the corresponding author)
utilize visually cued instruction (Gately, 2008). used in the study was low cost and easy to
This study demonstrates that use of graphic make on a word processor, making it easy
organizers can help students with ASD im for teachers to supplement their reading in
prove their ability to answer literal wh-ques struction. Social validity findings from teach
tions about a text. However, this study focused ers were generally positive, suggesting that
on students with ASD who met a narrow set of graphic organizers might be a strategy they
criteria and the extent to which graphic orga would use when teaching reading comprehen
nizers can help other students with ASD im sion to students with ASD.
prove reading comprehension is unclear. This
study focused on students with ASD who were References
vocal, able to communicate basic wants and
needs, able to read aloud, but had difficulty Bursuck, W. D., & Damer, M. (2011). Reading in
with reading comprehension. Specifically, struction for students who are at risk or have disabilities
(2nded.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
they lacked skills at answering literal compre
hension questions. Therefore, the extent to Camine, D. W., Silbert, J., Kame'enui, E. J., &
Tarver, S. G. (2010). Direct instruction reading (5th
which a graphic organizer could help students
ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
with ASD answer inferential comprehension
Chiang, H., & Lin, Y. (2007). Reading comprehen
questions is not clear. sion instruction for students with autism spec
trum disorders: A review of the literature. Focus

Limitations and Future Research on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 22,
259-267.

This study was the first to use graphic organiz Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L.
ers to teach reading comprehension skills to (2007). Applied behavior analysis (2nd ed.). Upper
students with ASD. Additional replications of Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Flores, M. M., & Ganz,J. B., (2007). Effectiveness of
this study with a variety of participants, set
direct instruction for teaching statement infer
tings, and researchers are required in order
ence, use of facts, and analogies to students with
for the use of graphic organizers to teach developmental disabilities and reading delays. Fo
reading comprehension, specifically answer cus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities,
ing literal wh-questions, to become an estab 22, 244-251.
lished intervention.
Gately, S. E. (2008). Facilitating reading compre
A second limitation of this study is the hension for students on the autism spectrum.
experimenter's role as primary instructor TEACHING Exceptional Children, 40(3), 40-45.
throughout implementation of the study. Heward, W. L. (1978, May). The delayed multiple base
Classroom teachers were not asked to admin line design. Paper presented at the Fourth Annual
Convention of the Association for Behavior Anal
ister the intervention. This limits the authors'
ysis, Chicago.
ability to predict whether teacher implemen
Hundert, J., & van Delft, S. (2009). Teaching chil
tation would maintain high treatment fidelity.
dren with autism spectrum disorders to answer
Future studies could use classroom teachers to
inferential "why" questions. Focus on Autism and
deliver the graphic organizer intervention. Other Developmental Disabilities, 24, 67-76.
A third limitation was that instruction was
Jiang, X., & Grabe, W. (2007). Graphic organizers in
delivered during one-to-one sessions. Since reading instruction: Research findings and issues.
group instruction is commonly used in class Reading in a Foreign Language, 19, 34-55.
rooms, future research could evaluate instrucKennedy, C. H. (2005). Single-case designs for educa
tion with graphic organizers during small ortional research. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Nation, K-, Clarke, P., Wright, B., & Williams, C.
whole group instruction.
(2006). Patterns of reading ability in children
with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism
Implications for Practice and Developmental Disorders, 36, 911-919. doi:
10.1007/sl0803-006-0130-l
Results of this study suggest that graphic orga
National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children to
nizers might help students with ASD improve read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific re
their literal reading comprehension. Thesearch literature on reading and its implications for

Graphic Organizers / 243

This content downloaded from

129.237.35.237 on Sat, 07 Aug 2021 13:14:22 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 reading instruction. Washington, DC: National In
stitute of Child Health and Human Development.
Newman, T. M., Macomber, D., Naples, A. J., Babitz,
T„ Volkmar, F., & Grigorenko, E. L. (2007). Hy
perlexia in children with autism spectrum disor
ders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders,
37, 760-774. doi: 10.1007/sl0803-006-0206-y
Reynhout, G., & Carter, M. (2008). A pilot study to
determine the efficacy of a social story interven
tion for a child with autistic disorder, intellectual
disability and limited language skills. Australasian
Journal of Special Education, 32, 161-175. doi:
10.1080/10300110802047210
Saalasti, S., Lepisto, T., Toppila, E., Kujala, T.,
Laakso, M., Nieminin-von Wendt, T Jansson
Verkasalo, E. (2008). Language abilities of chil
dren with Asperger syndrome. Journal of Autism
and Developmental Disorders, 38, 1574-1580. doi:
10.1007/sl 0803-008-0540-3
Songlee, D., Miller, S. P., Tincani, M., Sileo, N. M.,
Perkins, P. G. (2008). Effects of test-taking strat
egy instruction on high-functioning adolescents
with autism spectrum disorders. Focus on Autism
and Other Developmental Disabilities, 23, 217-228.
doi: 10.1177/1088357608324714
Tawney, J. W., & Gast, D. L. (1984). Single subject
research in special education. Columbus, OH: Mer
rill.
Wahlberg, T., & Magliano, J. P. (2004). The ability
of high function individuals with autism to com
prehend written discourse. Discourse Processes, 38,
119-144.
Watkins, C. L., & Slocum, T. A. (2004). The com
ponents of Direct Instruction. In N. Marchand
Martella, T. Slocum, & R. Martella (Eds.), Intro
duction to direct instruction (pp. 75-110). Boston:
Allyn & Bacon.
Received: 9 February 2012
Initial Acceptance: 5 April 2012
Final Acceptance: 10 June 2012

244 / Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities-June 2013

This content downloaded from

129.237.35.237 on Sat, 07 Aug 2021 13:14:22 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms