Code-related literacy profiles of kindergarten students with autism.

Sasson et al. (2022) looked at code skills in autistic kindergarteners. They checked letter names, spelling, and simple word reading.

The team used a case-series design. Each child got the same tests so the authors could see how skills scattered across the group.

Some kids aced the alphabet and could read short words. Others could not name half the letters.

The spread was wide. No single profile fit every autistic kindergartener.

Strang et al. (2017) saw the same split in preschoolers. Strong alphabet, weak meaning skills. J et al. simply moved the lens up one grade and found the scatter continues.

Solis et al. (2025) extends the story. They watched upper-elementary classes give almost no time to word-recognition drills even though nearly half their autistic students scored low on that exact skill. The kindergarten scatter becomes a later reading gap when instruction ignores it.

May (2011) shows a fix. Nine small studies proved massed-trial sight-word lessons with prompts and praise work for minimally verbal students. The code skill scatter seen by J et al. is teachable if you target the weak links one word at a time.

Do not trust the label “autism” to tell you who needs what in reading. Start each kindergartener with a quick letter-name and word-reading check. Then group by skill, not diagnosis. Slip in short, prompted sight-word trials for the lowest performers while you build meaning skills for the rest. Five minutes a day can close the gap before it widens.