Autism Linking Cognition and Literacy in Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder Christina R. Caniahan Pamela S. Williamson Jennifer Christman a I S Connor is a 12-year-old boy who has autism. He is in the sixth grade in a large urban school district. Although Connor's schedule changes depending on the academic content covered and his individual needs, he receives instruction in the general education classroom for half of the school day with support (i.e., peers, paraprofes- sionals, special education teacher). He lias a strong interest in transportation, especially street signs and maps. He enjoys socializing but struggles to find peers wiio have similar interests. He is happiest playing with his track collec- tion, watching TV. (a select few episodes of certain shows related to his special interest), or playing a few online computer games. Connor has difficulty when situaäons have out- comes other than what he predicted or would like to happen. Connor communicates verbally, but he often needs directions, questions, and comments repeated several times in novel situations. He decodes on a fourth-grade level but struggles with comprehension. In routine situations, Connor can complete three to four tasks independently when he is first given verbal directions. 54 COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN Literacy skills, especially silent reading comprehension, serve as the founda- tion for learning, independence, and quality of life for all individuals (Car- nahan & Williamson, 2010; Hanser & Erickson, 2007). It is well documented that students on the autism spectrum have difficulties with reading compre- hension even though they demonstrate adequate decoding skills (Chiang & Lin, 2007; Nation, Clarke, Wright, & Williams, 2006). Unfortunately, com- munication differences influenced by the cognitive style of these students' teachers may limit the scope of literacy instruction these students receive (Mir- enda, 2003). This article provides a framework that considers the cognitive style and the relationship of that style to reading comprehension and provides suggestions for supporting reading comprehension for learners with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). What Is Reading Comprehension? Koppenhaver and Erickson (2009) sug- gest that silent reading comprehension is the ultimate instructional goal for all students, including students on the spectrum. Many individuals with ASD are able to decode silently, but without comprehension—this is NOT reading. Reading is both the ability to decode words and the ability to comprehend the meaning of those words. Character- istics related to the reader, the text, and the learning situation all influence comprehension (Jennings, Caldwell, & Lerner, 2006). Therefore, teachers need to identify reader, text, and contextual factors that may influence comprehen- sion for individuals with ASD (see Figure 1). For example, a student's back- ground knowledge, the length of the passage or book, and the interventions or supports available all influence com- prehension. Connor's interest in trans- portation would mediate his ability to access relevant background knowledge when reading a book about trains. However, the characteristics of the text, the length, the complexity of sentences and passages, whether the text has pic- tures, and the genre of the text (e.g., narrative story about trains, informa- tional text about trains), all influence Connor's ability to understand the book. The context of the reading situa- tion is also important. Is Connor expected to read the text independently for pleasure or is the text part of mate- rials he is reading for academic purpos- es as a member of a cooperative learn- ing group? In order for Connor to