Associations Between Audiovisual Integration and Reading Comprehension in Autistic and Non-autistic School-Aged Children.
Better sound–sight matching goes hand in hand with better reading in both autistic and non-autistic kids.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Pulliam et al. (2025) asked whether kids who are good at matching sounds and sights also read better. They tested autistic and non-autistic school-age children. The team measured how well each child paired beeps with flashes and then gave reading tasks.
What they found
Kids with stronger audiovisual scores had higher reading comprehension. The link was the same for both groups. The effect was moderate to large, showing that sensory matching matters for reading.
How this fits with other research
Taylor et al. (2010) and Ainsworth et al. (2023) saw that autistic kids start behind on sound–sight timing but catch up by teen years. Grace now shows that once timing is on track, it helps reading just like it does for typical peers.
Burrows et al. (2018) found poorer sensory timing hurt speech perception only in autism. Grace’s work widens the lens: when timing is good, it boosts reading in both groups. The papers differ in outcome—speech vs. reading—but both say timing counts.
Fleury et al. (2018) tracked reading growth and saw autistic kids stay below peers even when they grow at the same rate. Grace gives a new lever: strengthen audiovisual timing to lift baseline reading.
Why it matters
You can add quick sound–sight games to your session. Matching claps with dots on a screen or using apps that pair letter sounds with visuals may sharpen the same skill tied to reading. It’s low cost, fits ABA principles, and helps both autistic and non-autistic learners.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Although not considered a core feature of autism, autistic children often present with difficulties in reading comprehension, which is a multisensory process involving translation of print to speech sounds (i.e., decoding) and interpreting words in context (i.e., language comprehension). This study tested the hypothesis that audiovisual integration may explain individual differences in reading comprehension, through its relations with decoding and language comprehension, in autistic and non-autistic children. To test our hypothesis, we conducted a concurrent correlational study involving 50 autistic and 50 non-autistic school-aged children (8-17 years of age) matched at the group level on biological sex and chronological age. Participants completed a battery of tests probing their reading comprehension, decoding, and language comprehension, as well as a psychophysical task assessing audiovisual integration as indexed by susceptibility to the McGurk illusion. A series of regression analyses was carried out to test relations of interest. Audiovisual integration was significantly associated with reading comprehension, decoding, and language comprehension, with moderate-to-large effect sizes. Mediation analyses revealed that the relation between audiovisual integration and reading comprehension was completely mediated by decoding and language comprehension, with standardized indirect effects indicating significant mediation through both pathways. These associations did not vary according to diagnostic group. This work highlights the potential role of audiovisual integration in language and literacy development and underscores the potential for multisensory-based interventions to improve reading outcomes in autistic and non-autistic children. Future research should employ longitudinal designs and more diverse samples to replicate and extend these findings.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2025 · doi:10.1177/21677026211031543