Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 32 (2017) 667–765

Abstracts

Poster Session B

B-34
A Review of Phonological Processing and Rapid Naming in Children with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/acn/article/32/6/667/4105975 by guest on 24 June 2023

Disorder
Wexler D, Fine J
Objective: The reading profiles of children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD) are often described as
adequate/superior decoding with poor comprehension. Whether underlying neuropsychological subprocesses critical to read-
ing are different for HFASD and typical groups is unknown. The purpose of this review is to critically examine the literature
on reading subprocesses in children with HFASD. Data Selection: Search terms included autism, high-functioning autism,
rapid naming, phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, neuropsychology, and reading. Yielded were eight studies pub-
lished after 2006 on children ages 3 to 19 with measurement of phonological processing (PA) and/or rapid naming (RAN).
Hyperlexia only studies were excluded. Data Synthesis: Two studies indicated no differences between children with HFASD
and neurotypical children (Asberg & Sandberg, 2012; Jacobs & Richdale, 2013). Five found HFASD groups performing
more poorly on PA and RAN (Cardoso-Martins & Ribeiro da Silva, 2010; Gabig, 2010; Hooper, Poon, Marcus, & Fine,
2007; Newman et al., 2007; White et al., 2006). Three showed that PA and RAN predicted word reading for children with
HFASD and neurotypical children similarly (Jacobs & Richdale, 2013; Nash & Arciuli, 2016; White et al., 2006). Methods,
including inclusion criteria and control of intellectual ability/language, may have contributed to differences in findings.
Conclusion: Wide variation in underlying neuropsychological reading subprocesses in children with HFASD was found. Yet,
PA and RAN were found to predict word reading similarly to typically developing children. Thus, similar reading instruction
and interventions may be appropriate. Mixed findings indicate a need for longitudinal designs, consistently controlled vari-
ables across studies, and intervention response studies.

© The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
doi:10.1093/arclin/acx076