Using Sound Partners Curriculum with Two Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Students with autism spectrum disorder face several challenges in modern education. A tremendous challenge for students with autism is being a proficient reader. This is especially true for students with autism in Level IV educational facilities. This study examined the effectiveness of Sound Partners, a systematic phonics intervention, with two students with autism in a Level IV setting. The two students demonstrated significant deficits in foundational reading skills despite being in fourth and seventh grades. Sound Partners was based on evidence-based research that students need to master foundational skills regardless of their age. Without mastery of the fundamental reading skills students can’t progress to more complex components of literacy. It was implemented for thirty-minute daily sessions for ten weeks. Both students displayed significant improvements in oral reading fluency and accuracy and showed large intervention effect sizes. The findings of this study support the use of structured, systematic phonics and phonemic awareness instruction for students with autism spectrum disorder. The visual supports and student-paced instruction displayed strong improvements for both students. These results built upon the limited research on evidence-based reading interventions for students who have severe needs due to their disability. It also highlighted the importance for strong systematic fundamental reading instruction for students of all ages