Adapted shared reading at school for minimally verbal students with autism.
Add pictures, objects, and short sentences to story time and minimally verbal kids tune in and understand far more.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Four minimally verbal kindergarteners with autism took part in shared reading at school.
Each child sat through two kinds of sessions: regular story time and an adapted version.
The adapted version used picture cards, real objects, and shorter sentences.
Researchers switched the two styles back-to-back to see which one worked better.
What they found
During adapted reading, every child stayed tuned in almost the whole time.
Story questions were answered right about four out of six times.
Standard reading produced far lower scores for both focus and understanding.
The simple changes made a big, fast difference.
How this fits with other research
May (2011) reviewed nine studies and found massed sight-word drills help minimally verbal kids name words.
Vargas (2013) moves the same group beyond single words to full story meaning, so the two papers stack rather than clash.
Solis et al. (2025) watched upper-grade classes give almost no word-recognition teaching, even when students needed it.
The new study shows that, in preschool, you can fix both engagement and comprehension with quick visual tweaks.
Together the set says: start early, add pictures and objects, then keep vocabulary work alive later.
Why it matters
If you run circle time or push-in therapy, bring a story kit: a few objects, a short script, and picture cards.
You will see more eye contact, fewer behaviors, and answers that show the child really followed the plot.
No extra staff or tech is needed, just prep once and reuse all year.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
UNLABELLED: Almost nothing is known about the capacity of minimally verbal students with autism to develop literacy skills. Shared reading is a regular practice in early education settings and is widely thought to encourage language and literacy development. There is some evidence that children with severe disabilities can be engaged in adapted shared reading activities. The current study examines the impact of teacher-led adapted shared reading activities on engagement and story comprehension in minimally verbal 5-6-year-old children with autism using a multiple baseline/alternating treatment design. Four students and three teachers participated. Teachers conducted adapted shared reading activities with modified books (visual supports, three-dimensional objects, simplified text) and used specific strategies for increasing student engagement. Student performance during adapted activities was compared to performance during standard shared reading sessions. RESULTS: All four students showed increased story comprehension and engagement during adapted shared reading. Average percentage of session engaged was 87%-100% during adapted sessions, compared with 41%-52% during baseline. Average number of correct responses to story comprehension questions was 4.2-4.8 out of 6 during adapted sessions compared with 1.2-2 during baseline. Visual supports, tactile objects, and specific teaching strategies offer ways for minimally verbal students to meaningfully participate in literacy activities. Future research should investigate adapted shared reading activities implemented classroom-wide as well as joint engagement, language, and literacy outcomes after using such activities over time.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2013 · doi:10.1177/1362361312470495