Promoting a Collective Voice from Parents, Educators and Allied Health Professionals on the Educational Needs of Students on the Autism Spectrum.

Providing support for the educational needs of students on the autism spectrum continues to be challenging. Findings from this survey of parents, teachers and specialist staff highlight the need for collaboration between stakeholders who support the education of these students. The main themes to emerge were for school staff to be equipped with the knowledge and expertise to support each student in their learning, and for support with social/emotional needs. Findings highlighted the need for a transparent process for building school capacity to translate research and knowledge into practice by all stakeholders. This collective voice is important to ensure the needs of these students are identified and that appropriate support is implemented to maximise the educational success of these students.

The relationship between parent report of adaptive behavior and direct assessment of reading ability in children with autism spectrum disorder.

PURPOSE: This study was designed to shed light on the profile of reading ability in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A key aim was to examine the relationship between parent report of adaptive behavior and direct assessment of reading ability in these children. METHOD: The authors investigated children's reading ability using the Wide Range Achievement Test­Fourth Edition (Wilkinson & Robertson, 2006) and the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability­Third Edition (Neale, 2007). Parent report data was collected using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales­Second Edition (Sparrow, Cicchetti, & Balla, 2005). Participants were 21 children with ASD (6-11 years) and their primary caregivers. RESULTS: Direct assessment of children's reading ability showed that some children with ASD have difficulty learning to read and exhibit particular weaknesses in comprehension. The results revealed positive relationships between Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales scores in the Adaptive Communication domain and direct assessment of children's reading ability across 3 measures of reading (word-level accuracy, passage-level accuracy, and passage-level comprehension). CONCLUSIONS: Although literacy levels vary among children with ASD, some clearly struggle with reading. There is a significant relationship between parent self-report of adaptive behavior and direct assessment of children's reading ability.