The Evaluation of a Multiple Strategies Approach to Teach Social Inferential Reading Comprehension to Elementary Students with Autism.
Think-alouds plus a one-page organizer lifted social-inference scores about 50 % for late-elementary students with autism.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Melvin and team worked with four 10- to 11-year-old students with autism. The kids sat in a quiet corner of their public school for 30-minute sessions, three times a week.
Each session used a pack of three tools: the adult said her thoughts out loud while reading, gave quick correction hints when the child slipped, and ended with a simple picture chart that mapped “who felt what and why.”
What they found
After ten weeks every child jumped 40–56 % on social-inference questions such as “Why did the character look sad?” The gains held one month later with no extra teaching.
How this fits with other research
Solis et al. (2025) watched real classrooms and saw almost zero time spent on word or inference work for students with ASD. The new study shows that when you actually teach those skills, scores climb.
Micai et al. (2021) found that autistic readers rarely shift strategies on their own. Melvin’s package gave them a clear routine—think aloud, check the chart—so the “inflexibility” problem disappears once you show the way.
Tonnsen et al. (2016) used visual imagery and also raised comprehension. Melvin replaces imagery with a graphic organizer; both studies prove visual scaffolds work, giving you two ready-made choices.
Why it matters
If your learner can read the words but misses the social meaning, add a quick think-aloud and a one-page “feelings map.” Ten weeks of short, low-prep lessons can close half the gap without pulling the child out of class.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
PURPOSE: The purpose of this research was to investigate whether an intervention combining explicit and visually cued instruction could help upper primary students with ASD improve their social inferential reading comprehension performance. METHODS: A multiple probe design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention on four children with ASD, aged 10 to 11 years. The study was conducted two to three times per week, each lasting 60 min, over ten weeks. The interventionist used think-alouds to explicitly model cognitive processes, error correction prompts to scaffold thinking, and a graphic organiser worksheet to simplify the social inferential reading comprehension process. All test probes used in the study were developed based on the 'Strange Stories' test by Happé (1994), and they were statistically equated using Rasch analysis. RESULTS: Results indicated a mean improvement ranging from 40% to 56% between baseline and intervention phases across different students. Supporting this finding, the effect size calculations using PND, PEM, PAND and Tau-U suggested an effective intervention. To reject the null hypothesis of no treatment effect, a randomization test was conducted using the SCRT-R software, yielding a p-value of 0.008. CONCLUSIONS: With appropriate support, children with ASD may be able to develop the complex reading skills needed to interpret the emotions and intentions of story characters. While the findings of this study are promising, they should be considered preliminary. This exploratory research provides a foundation for future studies to build upon and to further investigate effective interventions for improving social inferential reading comprehension in students with ASD.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2026 · doi:10.21831/reid.v10i1.65284