The Emergent Literacy Skills of Preschool Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Strang et al. (2017) checked early reading skills in preschoolers with autism. They looked at letter names, sounds, and meaning skills like vocabulary and story sense. Kids took tests before and after a school term. No extra teaching was given.

Most children knew their letters well. They struggled with meaning tasks like naming pictures or re-telling a story. Weaker oral language and higher autism severity went hand-in-hand with lower meaning scores.

Sasson et al. (2022) saw the same split in older autistic kindergarteners. Some kids read words easily while others could not, showing the skill scatter starts early.

Giallo et al. (2014) followed the idea into elementary years. They found vocabulary, not decoding, decides who understands text. The preschool gap F et al. saw is the first sign of that same vocabulary wall.

Wicks et al. (2020) looked at shared book reading. More parent questions kept kids looking and talking, yet those moments did not raise letter or vocabulary scores. Warm engagement alone is not enough; direct meaning work is still needed.

Do not assume a child who sings the alphabet is ready to read. Spend preschool minutes on picture naming, category games, and short story re-tells. Track oral language goals along with letter goals. If vocabulary is low, boost words first; the letters are already there.