Vocabulary and Main Idea Reading Intervention Using Text Choice to Improve Content Knowledge and Reading Comprehension of Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Kostulski et al. (2021) worked with three middle-school students who have autism. Each kid got daily 20-minute lessons that taught new words and how to find the main idea.

The twist: before every lesson the student picked the reading topic—sports, animals, or space. The teacher still ran the lesson the same way, only the passage changed.

At first scores bounced around. After a few weeks every student showed a clear climb in content knowledge and reading comprehension. The lines stayed high and steady.

Parents and teachers said the kids talked more about the texts at home and in class.

Koegel et al. (2013) used the same multiple-baseline design and also let students choose—only they chose lunch-time activities instead of texts. Both studies show choice itself can drive engagement for kids with ASD.

Spriggs et al. (2015) reviewed 11 reading studies for middle-schoolers with emotional/behavioral disorders and found a medium overall effect. Michael’s study adds autism to that picture and shows choice can push the effect higher.

Davison et al. (1995) tried a computer reading program for autistic children. Scores went up during the program but dropped after it ended. Michael’s newer study keeps the teacher in the loop and builds maintenance into daily lessons, a clear update to the older tech-only approach.

You don’t need new curriculum—just let the student pick the passage. Keep the same vocabulary and main-idea steps you already use. One quick choice moment can turn a flat lesson into a steady upward trend in comprehension.