The Effects of Functional Reading Activities to Motivate and Empower for Autistic Young Adults: A Single-Case Design Study.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Functional Reading Activities to Motivate and Empower (FRAME) on use of reading comprehension strategies in intellectually and/or developmentally disabled young adults.

Method: A single-case, multiple-probe design across functional literacy stimuli (e.g., text messages, e-mails) was replicated across three intellectually or developmentally disabled 23- to 26-year-old young adults, all of whom had a primary diagnosis of autism. Within FRAME, reading comprehension strategies were taught and practiced within the context of functional texts or activities of daily living that involve written language (e.g., text messages, e-mails). Each session followed the teach-model-coach-review approach and was conducted via telepractice. Participants' use of reading comprehension strategies was measured in baseline, intervention, maintenance, and with generalization probes.

Results: Visual analysis of the data indicated a functional relation between FRAME and the use of reading comprehension strategies for two of the three autistic young adults. All participants maintained increased use of reading comprehension strategies post-intervention.

Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence that FRAME is associated with improved use of reading comprehension strategies that maintains over time. Thus, FRAME has the potential to support continued improvement of functional reading skills throughout the lifespan, which is critical as autistic individuals make the transition from adolescence to adult life. Further research is needed to evaluate the effects of the intervention on more distal outcomes of written language and to examine how to best tailor the intervention to individual differences to optimize outcomes.

Supplemental material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.26882422.