Agenda: Day 2
Addressing Literacy Outcomes in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Speaker Bio:
Dr. Sylvia Diehl has supported children with autism spectrum disorders and their families for over twenty-five years. She is a faculty member of the University of South Florida Communication Sciences and Disorders Department where she teaches courses in augmentative and alternative communication, autism spectrum disorders, pediatric language disorders, and developmental disabilities. In addition to her frequent local and national speaking engagements, she serves as a consultant to many school districts and the Florida Inclusion Network. She has authored both web courses and a master clinician workshop on autism spectrum disorders for the American Speech Language and Hearing Association. Her research and publication interests focus on consistent frameworks to support children with ASD in classroom settings.
Brief Workshop Description:
This workshop is intended to impart a wide range of information relating to literacy learning in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The participant will journey through the recent research related to neurological issues, literacy development in children with ASD, and the evidence related to joint attention and shared reading. Instructional strategies and interventions that address phonological awareness, vocabulary, fluency, reading comprehension, and writing in children with ASD will be explored through lecture, case study presentation, videos, and learning activities.
Learning Objectives for Participants
Participants will be able to:
- Identify neurological issues related that may influence literacy abilities in children with ASD
- Identify differences in literacy development between typically developing children and children with ASD
- Discuss the evidence base on joint attention and shared reading in children with ASD
- Discuss the current evidence related to literacy outcomes in children with ASD
- Consider a variety of ways to support literacy development in the areas of phonological awareness, vocabulary, fluency, reading comprehension, and writing in children with ASD
