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INTRODUCTION REASON FOR CHOOSING THE TOPIC Reading comprehension skill is one of skills which need developing for students with Autism Spectrum Disoreder (ASD) in primary school However, this skill is difficult for these students The results of research, theory and practice have shown that among school skills, reading skill, especially reading comprehension skill, is one of the most difficulties for students with ASD A wide range of difficulties faced by students with ASD makes teaching reading comprehension skill a difficult challenge to researchers, teachers and parents Morever, difficulties in reading comprehension skill affect abilities to access documents of other subjects in school and real life, and dirrectly affect abilities to learn national language program In Vietnam, the concept of ASD has been recognized from the first years of the 21st century and researches on ASD are still limited Actually, considering ASD as a difficulty which need special supporting in education has not reached an agreement in Vietnam Primary school students with ASD are now participating in general education program for primary school students and facing a lot of challenges The reading comprehension program for primary school students is designed in form of general class-exercise, in which the teacher may have contact with students with ASD in person more or less in the classroom However, due to limitation of class-exercise format, it is difficult for teachers to create specific teaching methods in order to satisfy individual characteristics of students with ASD Teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD therefore need specific methods designed in form of individual approaching in order to improve quality of teaching reading comprehension for the students, helping them achieve one of the most important skills – reading comprehension skill so that the students can acquire and enrich their knowledge From the theoritical and practical issues mentioned above, I made decision to choose the topic for my doctoriate thesis as: “Strategies of teaching reading comprehension for students with Autism Spectrum Disoreder at the first years of primary school” PURPOSE OF THE STUDY To establish a system of teaching methods on reading comprehension in order to improve the quality of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD at the first years of primary education level, helping students with ASD to form and develop reading comprehension skills in accordance with requirements of early primary school program OBJECTS AND SUBJECTS OF THE STUDY 3.1 Objects of the study Reading comprehension skill for students with ASD at the first stage of primary education level 3.2 Subjects of the study Strategies of teaching reading comprehension skill for students with ASD at first stage of primary school education SCIENTIFIC HYPOTHESIS Students with ASD have limited reading comprehension abilities in comparison with general primary school students and are unable to meet the requirements of education program at the first stage of primary education level This problem is caused by subjective reasons (limited vocabulary, weak concentration ability, limited knowledge, weakness in self-regulation while reading ) and objective reasons (inappropriate reading text, unsatisfying visual level for demands of students with ASD ) If there are suitable methods on teaching reading comprehension, especially focusing on individualized approaching methods in activities of teaching reading comprehension, the results of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD shall be improved TASKS OF THE STUDY 5.1 To research the argument basics on ASD and methods on teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD at the first stage of primary education level 5.2 To assess the actual reading comprehension skill of students with ASD and teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD at the first stage of primary education level 5.3 To propose and apply experimental research of methods on teaching reading comprehension in order to improve quality of teaching reading comprehension skill for students with ASD at the first stage of primary education level SCOPE OF THE STUDY - Studying the process of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD, in which reading comprehension skill is studied as a specific skill in association with reading lessons in Vietnamese subject at the first stage of primary education level - Students with high and medium functioning ASD are main objects in the thesis - The process and methods of teaching reading comprehension in the thesis aim at forming and developing basic reading comprehension skills for students with ASD at the first stage of primary school: identifying, understanding the meaning and responding the reading text - The process and methods of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD are individualized approach via individual education plan, individual teaching period and supporting activities for students with ASD at the first stage of primary education level - The experimential research of methods on teaching reading comprehension are conducted in specialized education environment where individualized approaching methods in teaching activities in general and teaching reading comprehension in particular via individual education plan and individual teaching period for students with ASD are practised as basic and central teaching activites METHODOLOGY AND STUDYING METHODS 7.1 Methodology The topic shall be studied with complex and specific points of view as follows: dialectical materialistic, systematic, practical, normalization, individualization (specilization) points of view 7.2 Studying methods 7.2.1 Theoretical studying methods Collecting, analyzing and summarizing professional studies and documents in order to establish theoretical basis of the studying topic 7.2.2 Practical studying methods Consisting of following methods: testing, conducting survey, interviewing, observing, case study, experimental research 7.2.3 Methods of analyzing data via mathematical statistics Analyzing data from survey and experimental research and using result of analysis as the basis to find conclusion about actual situation and experimental research Using SPSS software version 16.0 to analyze survey data of reading comprehension skill of students with ASD NEW CONTRIBUTION OF THE THESIS 8.1 Theoretical contribution - Contributing to establish and extend theory of ASD and teaching for students with ASD at the first stage of primary educational level - The theory of teaching reading comprehension for general primary school students shall be extended via the study of students with ASD with similar and different aspects - Establishing a set of tools for assessment of reading comprehension skill of students at the first stage of primary education level - Constructing methods on teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD based on characteristics of the students, education program and conditions at the first stage of primary education level in Vietnam 8.2 Practical contribution - Analyzing and clarifying strong points, weak points and other factors that affect teaching for students with ASD, helping to improve effectivenes of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD - Methods on teaching reading comprehension proposed and confirmed via educational experimental research shall be valuable reference for administrative, studying, training and fostering mission for teachers of students with ASD at the first stage of primary educational level CONTENT OF DEFENSE - Characteristics of students with ASD, objective and subjective factors that affect reading comprehension skill of students with ASD shall be bases to identify methods on teaching reading comprehension for the students - Organizing teaching reading comprehension in individualized approach format in order to ensure students with ASD shall develop abilities and overcome limitation to achieve reading comprehension skill successfully - Organizing teaching reading comprehension in order to develop learning abilities based on strong points, focusing on interests and fortes of students with ASD so that teaching reading comprehension for the students shall achieve high result 10 STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS The thesis consists of: Introduction, Conclusion – Recommendation and three chapters: Chapter 1: Theoretical basics of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD at the first stage of primary education level Chapter 2: Practical basics of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD at the first stage of primary education level Chapter 3: Recommendation and experimental research of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD at the first stage of primary education level CHAPTER THEORETICAL BASICS OF TEACHING READING COMPREHENSION FOR STUDENTS WITH ASD AT THE FIRST STAGE OF PRIMARY SCHOOL 1.1 OVERVIEW ON THE STUDY ISSUES 1.1.1 In the world Studies on reading comprehension of students with ASD may be clasified in three main groups: (1) Studies on characteristics of reading comprehension skill of students with ASD (2) Studies on factors that affect the development of reading comprehension skill of students with ASD and (3) Studies on methods on teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD With general analysis of studies in the world, the thesis shall study all three issues mentioned above and focus on the third issue In addition, the thesis consists of new things as follows: survey was conducted with a large number of participants, there is comparison with general primary school students; studying with characteristics of Vietnamese and closely connected to Vietnamese subject at the first stage of primary education level; general approach with adjustment of methods on teaching reading comprehension which proved to be effective through studies in the world 1.1.2 In Vietnam Studies on reading comprehension skill in Vietnam are limited and have not gained enough attention in comparison with its importance Generally, even in special education for students with special needs, there are few studies on reading comprehension skill Studies on reading comprehension skill of students with ASD in particular seem never to have been conducted The thesis shall use existing result of studies on teaching students with special needs in primary education level and teaching reading comprehension for general primary school students in solving the issue of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD The basic approaching method of the thesis is: establishing methods on teaching reading comprehension with individualized approach in process of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD 1.2 STUDENTS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (ASD) 1.2.1 Concept of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) Currently, there is a wide range of autism concepts Basically, autism concept consists of following characteristics: Autism is a form of disorder of development characterized by impairments in communication, social interaction and by restricted repetitive or stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities The scope of thesis shall focus on children with medium and high functioning autism according to Simon Baron Cohen Actually, in most cases, these are two main groups of children with autism who can access primary education and other education levels 1.2.2 Diagnostic criteria, procedures and tools for assessment of ASD 1.2.2.1 Diagnostic criteria for assessment of ASD The thesis shall approach diagnostic criteria for ASD through Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders V (DSM V) 1.2.2.2 Diagnostic procedures and tools for assessment of ASD The thesis shall approach CARS (Childhood Autism Rating Scale) diagnostic procedures and tools 1.2.3 Development of school skills of students with ASD The thesis shall analyze development of school skills of students with medium and high functioning autism in term of reading, writing, mathematics skills and some common difficulties faced by students with ASD at primary education level such as difficulties in doing homework and test, typical behaviors that affect studying school skills and participating in education procedures 1.2.4 Education models for students with ASD Education system for student with ASD born later than education system of others disabilities but remains basically three models of basic education: specifically, integration, inclusive 1.3 THEORY OF READING COMPREHENSION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF READING COMPREHENSION SKILL OF STUDENTS WITH ASD 1.3.1 Theory of reading comprehension 1.3.1.1 Concept of reading comprehension and reading comprehension skill * Concept of reading: Reading is a process of decoding symbols to translate symbols into sounds and to translate symbols into meaning (to comprehend what is read) The thesis shall focus on the second stage of decoding process * Concept of reading comprehension: Reading comprehension is both a level and a target of reading activities; via interaction with a text, readers shall comprehend what is read and purpose of the text so that they can give response about content and purpose of the text * Concept of reading comprehension skill: Reading comprehension skill is a skill to implement actions in reading comprehension in order to comprehend what is read and purpose of a text so that readers can give responses about content and purpose of the text Reading comprehension skill are assessed based on result of reading comprehension actions 1.3.1.2 Classification of reading comprehension skill in primary education level The thesis shall consider reading comprehension actions as criteria to classify reading comprehension skills: Group 1: Skill to identify language Group 2: Skill to comprehend the content and purpose of a text Group 3: Skill to response a text 1.3.2 Characteristics of reading comprehension skill of students with ASD 1.3.2.1 Psychological factors that affect reading comprehension skill of students with ASD * Influence of cognitive factor on reading comprehension skill of students with ASD: Sensation, perception, attention, memory, thinking, imagination * Influence of linguistic factor on reading comprehension skill of students with ASD * Influence of social communication on reading comprehension skill of students with ASD * Influence of behavioral factor on reading comprehension skill of students with ASD 1.3.2.2 Characteristics of reading comprehension skill of students with ASD * “Empty” reading phenomenon among students with ASD * Students with ASD can understand explicit meaning but may have difficulties in understanding implicit meaning of a text, which means they can understand the meaning of specific words but have difficulties in understanding abstract words * Students with ASD often have difficulties in exploring ideas of writers in a text * Students with ASD have difficulties in summarizing a text * Students with ASD have self-control weakness while reading comprehension * Students with ASD have difficulties in responding a text * The development of reading comprehension skill of students with ASD faces challenges due to weak summarization abilities of the students 1.4 THEORY ON TEACHING READING COMPREHENSION FOR STUDENTS AT THE FIRST STAGE OF PRIMARY EDUCATION LEVEL 1.4.1 Concept of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD at the first stage of primary education level Teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD an activity of two subjects: teacher and student with ASD in order to help students with ASD form and develop reading comprehension skill 1.4.2 Basic requirements in teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD at the first stage of primary education level * Individualized approach in teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD * Adjustment in teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD * Teaching reading comprehension based on strong points of students with ASD 1.4.3 Procedures of individualized approach in teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD The procedures of individualized approach in teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD are originated from procedures of general teaching reading comprehension in primary school and shown the typical features of teaching for students with special needs in general and students with ASD in particular There are steps: Step Assessment of characteristics of students with ASD and their reading comprehension skill; Step Planning the teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD; Step Prepare the syllabus of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD; Step Assessment of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD 1.4.4 Methods on teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD at the first stage of primary education level 1.4.4.1 Concept of methods on teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD Methods on teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD within the thesis are identified as: detail measures to organize activities in teaching reading comprehension based on characteristics of students with ASD and to satisfy requirements of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD in order to form and develop reading comprehension skill for students with ASD 1.4.4.2 Basics for identifying methods on teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD with individualized approach In order to identify strategies of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD, teachers should assess characteristics and reading comprehension skill of each student (Objective factor) as well as analyze conditions of teaching reading comprehension for students (Subjective factor) The process of assessment and analysis shall help teachers identify methods to interfere objective and subjective factors that affect reading comprehension of students with ASD 1.4.4.3 Classifying methods on teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD with individualized approach Within the scope of the thesis, we choose to classify based on the impact of strategies to process teaching reading comprehension, including strategies Premise – core/main - supporting In addition, the thesis also derives from the subjective and objective factors affecting process teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD CHAPTER PRACTICAL BASICS OF TEACHING READING COMPREHENSION FOR STUDENTS WITH ASD AT THE FIRST STAGE OF PRIMARY SCHOOL 2.1 EXPERIENCE OF TEACHING READING COMPREHENSION FOR STUDENTS WITH ASD IN THE WORLD The actual practice of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD in the world provides essential experiences in order to establish methods on teaching reading comprehension in current situation in Vietnam The thesis shall show several experiences related to basic issues of teaching reading comprehension, including: assessment of reading comprehension skill, program of teaching reading comprehension and methods on teaching reading comprehension 2.2 PROGRAM OF TEACHING VIETNAMESE READING COMPREHENSION AT THE FIRST STAGE OF PRIMARY EDUCATION LEVEL Currently, a specific Vietnamese program for students with ASD in education environment is incomplete Therefore, Vietnamese subject that consists of reading comprehension is significant practical base for studying methods on teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD Within this chapter, the thesis shall analyze basic factors in terms of goal, content and tools for teaching reading comprehension in program of teaching reading comprehension at the first stage of primary education level 2.3 ACTUAL SITUATION OF TEACHING READING COMPREHENSION FOR STUDENTS WITH ASD AT THE FIRST STAGE OF PRIMARY EDUCATION LEVEL 2.3.1 Introduction of survey process 2.3.1.1 Purpose of survey To analyze and assess actual situation of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD and actual reading comprehension skill of students with ASD in order to outline methods on teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD 2.3.1.2 Content of survey - Actual situation of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD at the first stage of primary education level: knowledge of teachers about students with ASD and characteristics of reading comprehension skill of students with ASD, several objective and subjective factors that affect the development of reading comprehension skill of students with ASD 2.3.1.3 Methods of survey: opinion poll, observation, testing, case study, analyzing date with statistic software SPSS 16.0, etc 2.3.1.4 Tools for survey: interview form, investigation form, observation form, and tools for assessment of students with ASD which are directly or indirectly used within the thesis 2.3.1.5 Area and objects of the survey a Area of the survey The survey was conducted at some education units for students with ASD in Hanoi (Khanh Tam, Be Van Dan, Kim Giang, Mai Dich, Dich Vong…centers) b Object of the survey * Teachers participating in the survey: 48 teachers of students with ASD * Primary school students participating in the survey When testing set of tools, a random survey was conducted with the participation of 96 students in grade – – (32 students each grade) in two primary schools in Hanoi (Be Van Dan and Kim Giang) In main surveying step, 243 students in grades – – in two primary schools mentioned above were selected at random to participate in the survey * Students with ASD participating in the survey In term of age, students with ASD participated in the survey are from to years old (M = 7.3, SD = 0.8) In a group of 33 students, students in age predominate (39.4%), age (36.4%) The rest are aged (6.1%) and aged (18.2%) In term of grade: within groups of 33 students, most of the students are in grade (51.5%), the ratio of grade and are the same with 24.2% In term of autism level, all the students participated in the survey are diagnosed to be autistic in National Hospital of Pediatrics by using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale – CARS Within 33 students, 16 in 33 students (48.5%) are diagnosed 30 – 36.5 which means Low – Medium level of autism, 17 in 33 students (51.5%) are diagnosed 37 and higher which means Severe level of autism In term of education model: the survey was conducted with participation of 33 students with ASD, in which 16 students are studying in specialized class (48.5%) and 17 students in integrated class (51.5%) The students of integrated class are given support in specialized class for half day or individual support at home by their tutors The ratio between level of autism and form of education is r = 0.76 That means children with low – medium level of autism often study in integrated class and children with severe level of autism often study in specialized class All children participate in the survey have reading comprehension skill that meets demand for students in grade (30 words/minute), students in grade (50-60 words/minute) and students in grade (70 – 80 words/minute) [3] 2.3.2 Survey result of actual situation 2.3.2.1 Actual situation of teaching reading comprehension for students at the first stage of primary education level a Understanding of teachers about students with ASD and characteristics of reading comprehension skill of students with ASD In conclusion, the teachers have had basic assessment that is suitable with strength and weakness of students with ASD and understand difficulties of the students, subjective and objective factors that affect the development of reading comprehension skill of students with ASD The teachers also understand the importance of reading skill for students with ASD, indicating that difficulty in reading comprehension is one of typical difficulties faced by students with ASD However, most of the teachers have not understood the essence or causes of problems in reading comprehension of students with ASD, and this in turn shall affect their methods on teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD b Actual situation of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD * Actual situation of using basic teaching methods for students with ASD Teaching methods for students with ASD have not been used regularly and the level is varied Some typical education methods applied for students with ASD have not gained much attention This situation occurred due to the fact that most of the teachers not have thorough understanding of strength and weakness of students with ASD in order to outline suitable teaching methods to help students improve strength and overcome weakness * Level of individualized approach in teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD Step Assessment of characteristics of students with ASD and their reading comprehension skill: 100% in 33 students with ASD participated in the survey are assessed in term of development in education process All of them were assessed in early intervention stage or in pre-grade stage 21 students (63.6%) continued to be assessed in primary education stage However, these assessment are still general, none of the students received specialized assessment on separated skill (math, reading, writing, etc) The teachers often give general description about reading comprehension skill of the students without combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis in assessment Step Establishing plan of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD: As mentioned above, establishing individual education plan plays an important role in education for students with ASD, however, not all the students with ASD is given access to individual education plan Actually, only students with ASD in specialized schools receive individual education plans Students with ASD in integrated schools rarely have individual education plan 16 in 33 students with ASD (48.5%) have individual education plans with unclear goal of reading comprehension skill and none of the methods on teaching reading comprehension is stated in the plans Step Preparation and implementation of the syllabus of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD: almost all of the syllabi are prepared according to typical teaching program In integrated syllabi, there is no clear adjustment for students with ASD (in which specific goal, teaching method and assessment are stated) In specialized syllabi (class – exercise form) the teachers identify specific goal and teaching methods for each group in the class, however, these syllabi have not met individual demands of each student with ASD, especially student with weak learning ability Specialized syllabi (individual form) concentrate on individualization level but teaching methods proposed by teachers are still insufficient The teachers still apply typical methods for general primary school students and there are few specific methods on teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD During reading comprehension lesson, teachers mainly focus on supporting and give guidelines for students with ASD so that they can understand a text, the teachers not have measures to help students apply their knowledge and vocabulary into reading comprehension as well as to increase interest of students with ASD or to control behavior of students during reading and to provide more opportunities for practice after reading, etc During lessons in integrated class, participation of students with ASD is very limited due to large number of students and teachers themselves are not ready to implement individual supporting activities for students with ASD Observing several periods in classroom, we realize that students with ASD not read the text, some of them even play and leave their seats In periods in specialized schools, participation of students with ASD is higher thanks to a small number of students in class (about 12 students per class), however their interests in reading are not high, some of the students also leave their seats Step Assessment of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD: The students with ASD who participated in integrated class shall be assessed like general primary school students without any individual approach in assessment Many students with ASD not complete tests in school, some of them only the multiple choice without doing long answer questions, etc The assessment of teaching reading comprehension is mainly based on scores of students Therefore applications in teaching reading comprehension are still low * Actual situation of adjustment in teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD Adjustment in goal of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD: Few periods state specific goal for students with ASD Some periods have goals but the goals are designed in “reducing study load” As a result, teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD is implemented in unclear way Adjustment in goal is only clearly stated in individual teaching periods Adjustment in content of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD: students with ASD use the general students’ books and read texts like general students under general guidelines of teachers Questions in students’ books designed to help understanding the idea of texts are used for all students Teachers may provide some further questions for the whole class Most of the teachers (including teachers in specialized school) have not identified clearly reading comprehension skill that need developing and practicing for students with ASD, based on reading comprehension skill for general primary school students In fact, teachers teach reading skill according to the learning of students Adjustment in methods on teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD: the teachers have combined traditional and modern methods in teaching reading comprehension, in which traditional methods predominate The proactive and positive characteristics of students have not been encouraged In specialized classes, the teachers use specific methods related to ASD such as: using visual charts, explaining difficult words, adjusting the comprehension questions, underlining the main idea, allowing the students to read summary before reading in detail, etc However, these methods have not been in normal use Adjustment in tools for teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD: reading exercises with illustration images, vocabulary explanation, questions and exercises are main tools for teaching reading comprehension used by the teachers to teach both general students and students with ASD The teachers may provide additional information to explain vocabulary, provide additional tasks and enlarge illustration images, etc However, the teachers have not used these tools regularly In specialized school, the use of education tools is higher Adjustment in format of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD: Due to limited time for reading comprehension in class, the teachers often ask good and excellent students to give answers, the rest of class including students with ASD listen to those answers and sometimes are required to repeat the answers Few periods use the exercise forms that are allocated to all students; normally the teachers only use exercise forms to help students review their knowledge when examination is coming Therefore, organizing self study of students is ineffective, team work is rarely applied and if applied, students with ASD are not supported to participate Adjustment in assessment of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD: Most of teachers not expect the students with ASD complete the reading comprehension test but none of them prepares specific test for these students There are many students with ASD who took mid-term and final examination did not complete exercises, not because these students could not a single question but mainly because they did not understand why they had to take examination and try to it Most head teachers thought that they only had to remind students with ASD “please the test” then the students would (take no account the accuracy or inaccuracy), however during the examination, the class head teachers were not proctors so they could not remind their students with ASD any more These situations show that currently, primary schools are still not flexible and unready to organize integrated education for students with ASD * The actual situation of teaching based on strength of teaching reading comprehension for students Analyzing knowledge of teachers about students with ASD shows that many teachers not have enough belief in strong points of students, especially a certain teacher said that she could not find “any strong points of students with ASD” (Ms M.T.H) Therefore, during teaching reading comprehension the teachers not use method based on strong points of the students (using visual images, structure – diagram of information, multiple choice/matching, texts which students are interested in, encouraging mechanical memory…) Numerous teachers have not paid enough attention to the individualized point of view and adjustment in teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD As a result, they have not strongly applied methods to encourage strong points of students This situation is found in every integrated class and is not positive in specialized classes where the teachers use individualized teaching methods flexibly for students with ASD without worrying about time limitation In conclusion, all three basic requirements in teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD have not been applied thoroughly The implementation of individualized approach in teaching reading comprehension plays key role in adjustment and teaching based on strong points of students with ASD When the teachers have not made good use of this approach, other methods may be difficult to be achieved Hence, the thesis selects individualized approach as the base for constructing methods on teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD (Chapter of the thesis) c Actual situation of applying teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD The analysis of methods on teaching reading comprehension of teachers once indicates that teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD now have not met the basic demands This situation shall affect result of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD, especially affect the development of reading comprehension skill of the students This effect shall be analyzed in detail in following parts of the thesis 2.3.2.2 The actual reading comprehension skill of students with ASD at the first stage of primary education level a Comparing assessment of reading comprehension skill between general primary school students and students with ASD * Summarizing the assessment result of reading comprehension skill of general primary school students The average scores of primary school student groups in grades – – are above 80 points (above the good grade) The scores of following classes are often higher than previous classes but the gap between them is small * Summarizing the assessment result of reading comprehension skill of students with ASD The survey shows that the average scores of reading comprehension of students with ASD in grade – are under the satisfactory grade, average scores of students in grade are satisfactory grade The reading comprehension score of students with ASD in grade is the lowest (M = 43.75, SD = 3.53), in which (12.5%) in students with ASD has satisfactory grade, the rest students have scores below the satisfactory grade The reading comprehension score of students with ASD in grade is higher in comparison with grade but does not meet the satisfactory grade (M = 48.24, SD = 2.46), there are 11 students (64.7%) achieve the satisfactory grade The reading comprehension score of students with ASD in grade is not much higher than in grade 2, however most students achieve the satisfactory grade, only two students (25%) have scores under the satisfactory grade * Comparing the reading comprehension scores between students with ASD and general primary school students The reading comprehension skill of students with ASD in three grades is much lower than that of general primary school students However the survey shows that the gaps between them are gradually narrow from grade to grade Unlike general primary school students, there is a big difference between scores of students with ASD in previous and following classes The reading comprehension skill as well as other skills of students with ASD is influenced by many factors including: ability to develop the skills and related factors like behavior and habit… Gradually improving the behaviors and habits can help to increase abilities to develop learning skills This phenomenon has been mentioned above In the next part, the thesis shall compare separated components of reading comprehension skill between the two groups b Analyzing the identifying – understanding – responding skills of students with ASD * Comparison of identifying – understanding – responding skills The assessment results show that reading comprehension skills of students with ASD in three grades are developed in orders: responding skill – understanding skill – language identifying skill This reflects the goal of teaching reading comprehension at the first stage of primary education level The reading comprehension exercises in students’ books focus on identifying and understanding skills This also reflects the difficulty of reading comprehension skill Despite the low achievement of these skills of students with ASD, the situation still reflects the rule of reading comprehension development of students at the first stage of primary education level The result shows that the achievement of identifying – understanding – responding skills of students with ASD in grades – – is likely to improve like that of general primary school students The difference is that the scores of these skills of students with ASD are much higher in following class in comparison with previous class while the scores of general students are relatively stable This phenomenon shows clear improvement of students with ASD, in which the most improvement is responding skill, increasing 16.66% from grade to grade * Analyzing identifying – understanding – responding skills The skill of identifying language is highly assessed This reading comprehension skill requires readers to read exactly and recognize words, sentences and paragraphs… In standard texts, there are signs to help identifying linguistic agents Therefore, identifying language of a text is considered to be feasible task for students with ASD During process of identifying language, students with ASD often identify correctly when the same linguistic signs appear in both questions and text However, the students meet difficulties when the linguistic signs in questions not directly appear in the text and the questions require summarizing ability of students (the students often recognize partial meaning instead of whole meaning) or require inference ability The students with ASD have better identifying skills with multiple choice questions because this type of question are more “visual” and provide more suggestions in comparison with other types of question Some of the students have tendency to “guess” the answers through the attitudes of their teachers On the contrary, students with ASD have a lot of difficulties with long answer questions because they have difficulties in expressing themselves via written language The skill of understanding the meaning are assessed as below satisfactory grade, ranked the second in three skills Meaning of word and text includes explicit and implicit meanings The explicit meaning is often used in scientific, social communication and administration documents while implicit meaning often appears in artistic documents – this type of document dominates reading practice in students’ books, so students with ASD have difficulties in understanding the meaning of words and texts The skill of responding is in weak grade However this skill has not been strongly focused at the first stage of primary education level The responding questions often require finding connection and moral lessons These questions are big challenge for students with ASD because the students often have difficulties in understanding and connecting the attitude/emotion of other people (characters in the text, authors of the texts) with those of themselves Moreover, expressing via 10 oral/written language is difficult for students with ASD In conclusion, students with ASD often have more correct answers in multiple choices than in long answer questions c Analysis of factors that affect the reading comprehension skill of students with ASD * Influence of mental ability The results show that the Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI) has highest average value (M = 100) and the Processing Speed Index (PSI) has lowest value (M = 72) Children with ASD have the “visual reasoning” and this outstanding characteristic helps children tasks related to images easily This also explains why the Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI) has highest average value It is the same studies conducted by American scientists led by Oliveras-Rentas RE The average reading comprehension score of the sample group is also under the satisfactory grade (M = 48.49) In conclusion, difficulties in reading comprehension are common for students with ASD, even for students with high – functioning ASD There is close correlation between Full Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ) and reading comprehension score of students with ASD (r = 0.88), this means in most cases, mental ability has direct proportion with reading comprehension ability of the students All mental components have connections with reading comprehension ability of students with ASD and there is small difference among correlations and Full Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ) still have the strongest correlation with reading ability The results of the study show that reading comprehension ability of students with ASD has direct proportion to mental ability identified by WISC – IV – VN scale In other word, mental ability is important factor that predict the reading comprehension ability of students with ASD The correlation between reading comprehension ability and components of mental abilities (Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Reasoning, Working memory, processing speed) are also important to develop methods to improve reading comprehension ability of students with ASD, focusing on visualization and using diagram to develop strong points in the reasoning of children so that the reading comprehension skill can be improved * Influence of behavior The results of survey show that 4/5 behaviors are considered to appear regularly during the students with ASD read the texts The most common behavior is doing personal tasks while reading (M = 2.6, SD = 0.49), then the behavior of leaving the reading passage (M = 2.33, SD = 0.47) Students with ASD often like images and have the habit of guessing meaning from images, hence, the behavior of paying attention to illustrations without looking at the texts also occur regularly (M = 2.08, SD = 0,73) Especially, sometimes some students with ASD read the passages aloud instead of in silence (M = 1.69, SD = 0.77) The students have such behaviors because they may not realize that reading or speaking aloud shall affect surrounding people Due to failure in behavior control, students may shout or read loudly in the class * Influence of type of reading text The comparison result shows that the average score of everyday reading texts is the highest (M = 12.57), the lowest is the average score of artistic reading (M = 10.39), while the average score of administrative reading (M = 10.74) ranked the third but still much higher than score of artistic reading In conclusion, within the designed assessment tools for reading comprehension skill, the type of reading texts can affect the result of 33 students with ASD In order to have a more reliable conclusion, we need to conduct a survey on large scale with a numerous texts * Influence of type of reading comprehension exercise The results show that students with ASD have highest score in multiple choice questions (M = 3.21) and lowest score in long answer question (M = 1.22) Scores in multiple choices and Matching are nearly the same and much higher than scores in other types of questions Multiple choices and Matching provide relatively clear suggestions which help students select the right answers easily such as providing linguistic visuality and actions such as tick √ or x or matching are more simple than filling words/phrases or writing a long answer This situation not only occurs among students with ASD but also occurs among general primary school students However there is a big gap between scores of students with ASD due to their limited abilities to express in written 11 language The students with ASD may write their understanding incorrectly, using signs of this questions for another… This situation also explains why responding skill of these students is very limited CHAPTER RECOMMENDATION AND EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH OF STRATEGIES OF TEACHING READING COMPREHENSION FOR STUDENTS WITH ASD AT THE FIRST STAGE OF PRIMARY SCHOOL 3.1 RECOMMENDATIONS STRATEGIES OF TEACHING READING COMPREHENSION FOR STUDENTS WITH ASD AT THE FIRST STAGE OF PRIMARY EDUCATION LEVEL 3.1.1 Principle of constructing methods 3.1.1.1.Ensuring the methods shall be suitable with reading mechanism and requirements of reading comprehension for students at the first stage of primary education level 3.1.1.2 Ensuring the methods shall be suitable with characteristics of development and reading comprehension skill of students at the first stage of primary education level 3.1.1.3.Ensuring the thorough education, development, systematic and synchronous, detail and flexible characteristics 3.1.1.4.Ensuring the combination of teaching and therapy; individualized teaching method are predominant however collective teaching is also important 3.1.1.5.Ensuring the inheritance and improvement of previous experiments in teaching reading comprehension in general and teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD in the world and Vietnam in particular 3.1.2 Methods on teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD at the first stage of primary education level Strategy 1: Assessing and planning the teaching reading comprehension Stategy 2: Adjusting the documents of teaching reading comprehension Stategy 9: Creating and maintaining the interest of students while reading Stategy 10: Maintaining the concentration of students while reading Stategy 11: Controlling behaviors of students while reading Stategy 12: Applying therapy activities to support reading comprehension Supporting strategies of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD Stategy 3: Adding basic information related to topic and reading passage Stategy 4: Improving understanding ability and using of words related to reading passage Stategy 5: Using typical methods on teaching reading comprehension Stategy 6: Integrating reading activites into other educational activities Stategy 7: Extending the reading topic based on abilities and demand of students Stategy 8: Adjusting way of assessment of teaching reading comprehension 3.1.2.1 Premise strategies of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD Strategy 1: Assessing and planning the teaching reading comprehension strategies a Purpose and meaning 12 Main strategies of teaching reading comprehension for students with Main strategies of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD ASD Premise strategies of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD Basing on information surveyed from students with ASD and conditions of teaching reading comprehension for individual with ASD to construct the suitable plan for teaching reading comprehension, which help the teaching reading comprehension process achieve positive results Teaching reading comprehension plans are important orientation for teachers to create and implement teaching reading comprehension activities as well as assess the result of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD b Requirements Assessment process of reading comprehension skill must be implemented professionally and thoroughly, in addition to assessment of reading comprehension skill, it is necessary to assess other development aspects related to reading comprehension skill in order to collect thorough and professional information about reading comprehension skills of students with ASD and help to create suitable reading comprehension plan Besides, it is necessary to have assessment on teaching reading comprehension conditions as objective factors that have influence on reading comprehension of students with ASD The teaching reading comprehension strategies for students with ASD are based on characteristics of individuals with ASD, however those strategies must also meet the basic demand of general teaching reading comprehension program at the first stage of primary education c Contents The assessment of reading comprehension skill of students with ASD at the first stage of primary education includes: assessment of basic actions related to reading comprehension skill; assessment of reading comprehension skill of students with ASD including the identifying, understanding and responding skills according to requirements of each grade; assessment of other development aspects related to reading comprehension skill The assessment of conditions for teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD at the first stage of primary education: assessment of the suitability of general reading comprehension program at the first stage of primary education for students with ASD; assessment of teacher ability for teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD; assessment of other conditions for teaching reading comprehension Plan of teaching reading comprehension comprises two main parts: objectives of teaching reading comprehension and methods on teaching reading comprehension Teachers shall depend on methods of teaching reading comprehension to build and implement detailed reading comprehension lessons d Implementation The process of assessing and planning the teaching reading comprehension shall include following steps: (1) Describing students with ASD in general (2) Carrying out assessment methods to collect information (3) Analyzing and summarizing the assessment results (4) Planning teaching reading comprehension strategies Using following assessment methods: interviewing, monitoring, testing, researching products in action… Using following tools to assess: the main tool is reading comprehension test prepared by teachers and other standard designed tools The supporting tools are to assess factors related to reading comprehension skill such as: intelligence assessment scale, behavior monitoring table, etc Tools for assessing conditions of teaching reading comprehension may comprise: monitoring table of teaching reading comprehension period, teacher interview form, etc Notes: the group to assess and plan teaching reading comprehension strategies shall have the participation of experts, teachers and parents of students with ASD; the assessment and planning the teaching reading comprehension shall be implemented at the begining of education process and continually in particular cycle, for example, in specialized school the cycle is once a month and once three month for intergrated school Assessment of academic results through mid-term and final-term tests is undertaken according to general plan of the class; reading comprehension skill of students with ASD should be assessed from pre-reading stage in order to make necessary predictions as well as provide basic skills for the development of reading comprehension skill Strategy Adjusting the documents for teaching reading comprehension a Purpose and meaning Adjusting documents of reading comprehension in order to make them suitable with characteristics of students with ASD, the adjustment shall concentrate on improving the strength, overcomingg the difficulties and creating favourable conditions for teaching reading comprehension so that students with ASD are able to form and develop reading comprehension skills in accordance with objectives of teaching reading comprehension b Requirements 13 Adjusting documents for teaching reading comprehension should take into account the characteristics of students with ASD and conditions for teaching reading comprehension for each individual; however the adjustments must assure the basic requirements of teaching reading comprehension at the first stage of primary education c Contents The adjustment of reading comprehension documents may be applied at different levels: the highest level is to replace reading documents; the second is to adjust one or more parts of given texts so that the texts are more suitable for learners The adjustment may differ in form, content, quantity or difficulty level, etc d Implementation For reading practice texts, teachers may apply adjustments in form, content, quantity or difficulty level, etc For reading comprehension texts, teachers may make adjustments in form, contents and ways of answering questions, etc Notes: The adjustment shall increase the difficulty level gradually in order to assure the development of reading comprehension skill of students with ASD In addition to difficulty level, reading comprehension documents should be adjusted to satisfy the interests, strength and levels of interest of students with ASD via expanding topics and exercises of reading comprehension, etc 3.1.2.2 Main strategies of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD Strategy Provide basic knowledge related to topics and reading passages a Purpose and meaning Providing basic general knowledge is an important measure to develop reading comprehension skill as a thinking skill, helping students with ASD connect their own knowledge with information stated in reading texts When students with ASD are provided with suitable and precise knowledge, the process of teaching reading comprehension can take place smoothly and achieve high results b Requirements The important thing to be considered when providing basic knowledge for students with ASD is such knowledge must be closely connected with the content of reading texts for the students To satisfy this requirement, the basic knowledge shall be provided according to topics and particular reading passage In addition, provision of basic knowledge shall be combined with providing more vocabulary to help students with ASD associate knowledge with vocabulary c Contents The basic knowledge to be provided to students with ASD comprises: information relating to reading passage, knowledge which helps students understand the reading passages; ideas which helps students connect their reading with real life and implement the responding activities c Implementation Teachers may provide basic general knowledge for students with ASD when starting a topic or at the beginning of reading practice texts Teachers may use different measures to help students achieve knowledge about the reading passage and connect such knowledge with their vocabulary: spoken lecturing combined with visualization (using illustrative images), making diagram of information, guiding students with ASD to collect more information about the topic via student books and encyclopedia for children, discussing to revive knowledge the students have already had, etc In individual approaching method, provision of basic knowledge for students with ASD may be undertaken smoothly in individual periods and it is not imperative to be undertaken in reading periods Thus, teachers already integrate teaching reading comprehension activities into other educational activities Notes: The main measure in providing basic knowledge for students with ASD is visualization in order to take advantage of strength in visual thinking; it is necessary to apply measures which are suitable with cognitive levels of students with ASD For topics that students have not had basic knowledge about, teachers should introduce separate parts of the topics; for topics that students have some basic knowledge but such knowledge need systematizing, teachers should make diagrams of information, etc Strategy Improving understanding ability and using of words related to reading passage a Purpose and meaning 14 Improving vocabulary about topics and reading passages helps students with ASD understand reading passages precisely and entirely as well as express personal ideas about contents achieved in reading texts b Requirements Vocabulary provided to students with ASD must be closely associated with the topics and each reading text In addition, students with ASD should have chances to access vocabulary in different channels (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and different levels (realize, understand, remember, apply and create) Thus, students can use provided vocabulary well in reading comprehension and other studying tasks c Contents The improvement of vocabulary for students with ASD can be considered in several aspects including quantity and quality; students need to know, understand and use provided vocabulary so that such vocabulary is actually useful for their reading comprehension process The improvement of vocabulary is not only restricted to provide more words and help students understand word meanings but also include measures that help students overcome other shortcomings in language d Implementation Vocabulary is only useful if it is connected to basic general knowledge, therefore the vocabulary improvement for students with ASD should be associated with provision of basic general knowledge; teachers may provide vocabulary for students with ASD before he/she start a new topic or lesson Teachers may also provide new words after the students have read the text once and found out the words that they not know or understand The following measures are proved to be effective in improving vocabulary for students with ASD: visualizing words, using synonyms and antonyms to explain new words; explaining words by analyzing a word into smaller parts (syllables) and explaining each part; explaining by definitions; using study games, etc Notes: It is necessary to help students expand their vocabulary with multi-senses, multichannel and multi-meaning based approach; vocabulary need repeating and using in many situations, activities and texts so that students with ASD can remember and understand the pragmatic meaning of words Students with ASD need to learn vocabulary in different activities so that they can use them in a flexible and clever way Teachers should guide students with ASD to realize and know how to ask for help when they have difficulties with difficult and new words Strategy Using typical methods on teaching reading comprehension Strategy 5-1: Visual supporting a Purpose and meaning Students with ASD are learners who have natural tendency of using visual sense and meet difficulties in understanding abstract things, therefore it is easier for them to understand a given reading text with visual supporting Besides, visual supporting also helps to draw interest and concentration of students with ASD to the reading texts and eventually, increasing the effectiveness of teaching reading comprehension b Requirements Due to the special importance of visual images to students with ASD, it is considered to be one of typical methods on teaching reading comprehension The visual supporting need regular applying in teaching reading comprehension process, however they are not to affect the nature of teaching reading comprehension with main materials are written texts c Contents For primary school students, visual aspect comprises using illustrative images and using explicit languages, clearly structured texts, which are suitable with understanding level and acceptance levels of the students The demand for visual support from students with ASD is much higher than general primary school students d Implementation The following tools are proved to be effective in visual supporting for students with ASD in reading a given text: illustrative images and diagrams Strategy 5-2 Think – aloud a Purpose and meaning This teaching measure encourages students with ASD to speak aloud what they are thinking of, and then teachers can guide students to understand the content of a given text precisely Speaking 15 aloud what they are thinking also restricts inattention when reading and helps teachers quickly find out distraction or inattention when reading which are very common among students with ASD b Requirements Teachers should select reading passages which have medium length, attractive content and are closely connected to the content of whole texts When using this measure, teachers should keep encouraging attitude towards students with ASD Students with too limited expressive vocabulary are not suitable with this teaching measure while students who have good expressive vocabulary but lack of activeness or have limitation in expressing their thoughts are suitable with this measure c Contents Using think – aloud measure helps students with ASD learn in accordance with following strategies: identifying problems, understanding problems, figuring – imagining, predicting next actions, comparing – opposing, commenting – reviewing, etc d Implementation Basic steps which need implementing include: Selecting passages; teachers make samples by reading aloud the passages while students are required to read silently and keep track by eyes When the students practise this measure fluently, teachers can skip the sampling step; teachers and students apply the measure into reading process, after texts are read aloud (by teachers or students), teachers and students pause to discuss their thoughts, mostly related to the content of given texts The discussion should be clear; teachers should show students with ASD words which help them to open their thinking Directly guiding and helping students with ASD be familiar gradually with the above measures Students should be encouraged to talk about their own thoughts, directly answer questions themselves and develop their questions for teachers This is the indirect bridge which helps students with ASD think about the texts independently Using colour codes and visual supporting signs to help students with ASD remember the reading strategies Notes: This measure is suitable for texts which contain difficult words/phrases for students with ASD because it encourages the demand of expressing ideas; it is essential for teachers to be flexiable in guiding, teachers may read aloud while allowing students to read silently and then asks them questions about what they not understand Strategy 5-3: Structuralizing reading comprehension activities a Purpose and meaning Teachers should design pre – during – post reading activities in order to improve the effectiveness of teaching reading comprehension and help students with ASD understand the structure so that they can improve self-control during reading, maintain their concentration and complete the reading tasks In addition, students with ASD shall complete the reading tasks better if the tasks are clearly structured and repeated, which eventually develop their independence in completing tasks b Requirements The structuralized activities must comply with teaching reading comprehension process in programs, be clear and easy for students with ASD to complete The stability and unity of activities are highly regarded in order to develop suitable habits during reading for students with ASD c Contents According to requirements of teaching reading comprehension program, activities can be structured as follow: pre-reading activities, during – reading activities and post – reading activities d Implementation Teachers can introduce to students with ASD the list of activities that they need to complete during reading periods and guide them to complete each activity (when they complete an activity, teachers can tick that activity) if there are changes in activities, teachers should inform students when starting lesson For students with ASD who are newly introduced to structured reading activities, teachers should provide them with the list of activities which need completing during reading before the reading lesson begins and tick or mark when finishing the activity For students with ASD who are familiar with structured reading activities, teachers only need to remind them when they forget and allow them to tick/mark when they finish an activity The pre – during – post reading activities may differ depending on reading texts, however they must ensure basic principles when building reading activities The highest purpose is to help students with ASD develop better reading skills so that they can read books and learn other subjects on their own 16 Strategy Integrating reading activites into other educational activities a Purpose and meaning Students with ASD naturally meet with difficulties in adapting themselves and putting into practice what they have learnt Integrating reading activities into other educational activities helps to connect their reading comprehension skills to their practical activities so that reading skills become tools for students to learn and achieve information as well as study other school subjects Actually this measure helps to strengthen and stabilize the reading comprehension skill of students with ASD b Requirements Educational activities are built to strengthen reading comprehension skills of students with ASD must be reasonable, vary from simple to complicated and especially connected to interests of students Thus, such activities can help students feel and explore the joy of reading and confidence in their own abilities so that they can choose and participate in the activities voluntarily Such activities should be implemented regularly to strengthen the reading comprehension skill and maintain the reading habit In addition, the individual-based approaching method in teaching reading comprehension has limitations in term of chances to contact with friends at the same age therefore educational activities should compensate these chances for students c Contents Integrating reading activites into other educational activities is to create environment with favourable conditions for reading in order to develop reading ability of students with ASD The environment with favourable conditions for reading is the environment where script plays an important role It can be classes, places and activities where drawings, symbol drawings and written passages/texts are displayed In class, students with ASD can read different books or stories and participate in different forms of reading at reading corners Many types of equipment in class are marked with names to support students with ASD to practise their reading comprehension skills Pictures, drawings, paragraghs/texts written by students as well as posters of numbers and letters created by students, list of students or list of words, etc should be on the class wall d Implementation When reading activities are integrated with daily activities, students with ASD shall have chances to read at school all day Daily activities at school should create chances for students to experience the value and usefulness of books These are several suggestions for integrated educational activities: assigning reading comprehension task for students with ASD in other subjects; daily chat; reading hours at “bookstore” or at “reading throne”; school library; drama team… Strategy Extending the reading topic based on abilities and demand of students a Purpose and meaning Extending the reading topic based on abilities and demand of students helps students with ASD strengthen and expand reading comprehension skill, improve their vocabulary, extend their knowledge, foster their habit and joy of reading as well as explore their demands b Requirements: Extending reading topic for students with ASD should be based on abilities and demand of each student Teachers orient and guide students with ASD in reading extended topics c Contents Students with ASD have limited abilities in extending the reading topic on their own because they have not known their demand clearly; therefore teachers need to support them However, the next target is the ability to choose their own reading topics Those topics can be similar to topics students have learnt if such topics are interesting to the students or can be brand new topics according to choices of students Extending topics can be selected from referential books for primary school students, magazines, newspapers for kids, etc Students who have interest in “collecting” knowledge may choose one topic for a long time such as insects, universe, computer, etc Teachers should orient students to explore new topics d Implementation Teachers should understand ability, demand, interest and strength of students with ASD to orient the extending topics, ask students with ASD for their opinions and monitor to know their favourite topics Teachers guide students with ASD how to read and may use structured reading activities or test to assess the understanding level of students with ASD about the extending topics Strategy Adjusting way of assessment of teaching reading comprehension results 17 a Purpose and meaning The adjusting of way of assessment of teaching reading comprehension results helps to define study results of students with ASD and helps teachers to gain more information to adjust their teaching reading comprehension activities b Requirements In addition to scores and comments on each reading comprehension skill, the assessment of reading comprehension results of students with ASD need to take into account other progress of the students: their interest, concentration, skills of completing tasks and behaviors, etc For students with ASD, the assessment results not focus mainly on grading the students but focus on developing the next teaching reading comprehension strategies which are more effective for the students c Contents Most of students with ASD can not complete the test like general primary school students Adjustment in assessing the results of reading comprehension for students with ASD also includes the adjustment in term of difficulty level, length, test form and test duration in order to suit abilities of the students For individual education program, the assessment of reading comprehension skill should be implemented right after each reading lesson and considered to be one of teaching reading comprehension activity d Implementation If it is possible, the students with ASD should be arranged to the test in another room which is quieter and there are no factors drawing their attention from the test It is possible to give students with ASD more time to complete the test, provide them with easier questions, using more types of questions which are easier for students with ASD to complete such as: multiple choices, matching and filling the blanks, etc as well as reduce the number of questions in the test, mark or underline the guideline, allow the students with ASD to type or record their answers 3.1.2.3 Supporting strategies of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD Strategy Creating and maintaining the interest of students while reading a Purpose and meaning The purpose of creating interest is to make the teaching reading comprehension activities more attractive and practical in order to raise the effectiveness of reading comprehension for students with ASD b Requirement Creating interest for students with ASD in reading comprehension should be balanced between personal demand/interest and the general demand of the academic program so that students with ASD can participate proactively in learning process without feeling to be forced regardless of their demand and interest – what makes them feel interested in c Content Creating entire interest for students with ASD in reading comprehension should be based on teaching reading comprehension process with typical components, in which contents, methods and assessment of results are especially important d Implementation These are suggested ways of creating interests: using rewards to encourage students with ASD; helping students with ASD find interesting things in topics/reading lessons; using teaching method of encouraging interests Notes: creating and maintaining the interests in teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD are difficult challenges, which require the continual creativeness of teachers Creativity in teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD can be out of normal rules as long as it ensures education and effectiveness; the highest target of teaching reading comprehension is to develop the self-study ability, self-reading ability for students to achieve knowledge, and then the reading comprehension skills are not skills which need practicing but become tools for studying other subjects To achieve that target, the internal interest (contents of study and ways to achieve the contents) are the real importance Strategy 10 Maintaining the concentration of students while reading a Purpose and meaning 18 The purpose of this measure is to maintain the concentration of students with ASD while they are reading and completing the reading comprehension tasks so that the students achieve higher results in learning b Requirements Maintaining the concentration of students with ASD should be developed from teaching reading comprehension process with guidances of teachers and activities of students with ASD It is necessary not to use compulsory influence to maintain the concentration of the students Some students with ASD meet difficulties in maintaining the concentration therefore teachers need to “accept” the highest concentration levels which are possible for the students and adjust their teaching reading comprehension process c Contents Concentration is, like interest, influenced by internal and external factors Therefore, it is necessary to make influence on both internal and external factors in order to maintain the concentration of students with ASD during reading Internal factors are related to contents (reading comprehension documents), teaching methods of teachers, etc External factors are related to physical environment (sound, light, room temperature, etc), activity environment (acitivities of surrounding people), time and duration of activites (when and how long the students have to undertake reading activities) etc Measures to maintain concentration of students with ASD should be built based on those factors d Implementation Clearly explaining the implementation of reading comprehension tasks to help students with ASD have good spirit during reading (not impatient, inattention and leave in the middle of reading…) Visualizing and using illustrative images for each reading lesson Creating environment withoud obstacles for concentration: avoiding noise and activities which cause inattention, etc Teachers should maitain the moderate duration for reading activities and avoid long duration When the students with ASD can not concentrate any more, teachers should use supporting activities such as light movement, singing, playing study-games and seeing pictures, etc Teachers should use positive teaching methods so that students with ASD can achieve positive progress; diversify activities during reading period: using different form of reading, using different ways of answering questions, creating interests, avoiding boring activities For students who have many difficulties in concentrating, teachers should choose the right time to teach It is possible to undertake several therapy activities to improve the concentration level to visual activities and maintain the patience of students with ASD Teachers should raise the duration of concentration by designing the reading activities with increasing duration For students who have many difficulties in concentration, teachers can separate the reading texts and reading comprehension exercises into smaller parts Strategy Controlling behaviors of students with ASD during reading a Purpose and meaning The purpose of adjusting behaviors during teaching reading comprehension is to develop and encourage positive behaviors during reading, reduce and replace negative behaviors which affect reading comprehension activities of students with ASD b Requirements Measures to controlling behaviors should comply with principles of behavior development and behavior characteristics of students at the age of primary education It is necessary to ensure that the control of behavior has positive effects for teaching reading comprehension, helping students with ASD maintain and concentrate better in reading comprehension c Content Measures to develop positive behavior during reading should be undertaken in parallel with measures to reduce and replace negative behaviors affecting reading comprehension activities of students with ASD d Implementation Teachers use model of controlling behavior ABC in monitoring and planning the adjustment of behaviors for students with ASD whose behaviors affect reading comprehension activities and other activities of the class Teachers may prepare a table of behavior principles to remind students to have positive behaviors and using supporting measures such as rewarding or rebuking in order to increase the positive behaviors and reducing negative behaviors of students with ASD while reading In addition to 19 develop positive behaviors, it is importance to reduce the risks of negative behaviors during reading by taking into account the reading duration, difficult level and other negative factors from surrounding environment, etc Teachers should remind students timely, firmly but not cause tension for students with ASD, which may affect the result of understanding the reading texts It is essential to examine the relationship among behavior, interest and concentration to design synchronous and effective measures Strategy 12 Applying therapy activities to support reading comprehension a Purpose and meaning This measure does not have direct effect on teaching reading comprehension, however if it is undertaken regularly and suitably, it will indirectly affect the factors relating to reading comprehension skill of students with ASD b Requirements Therapy activities should be undertaken regularly and maintained for a long period of time so that they can improve characteristics, positive habit of students with ASD Therapy activities should be suitable and not create pressure for students It is best to use exercises with both entertaining effect and practicing effect so that students with ASD can participate voluntarily with interest c Contents Therapy activities tend to factors related to reading comprehension ability of students with ASD such as: increasing the feeling of essence in order to create and maintain concentration level; practice visual sense; improve cooperation between senses; overcome partial perception; practice organizing characteristic in implementing academic activities; etc d Implementation The first thing to is to assess and make plan for therapy activities The implementation of therapy activities should be undertaken regularly, integrated into periods or as independent activities Depending on each student with ASD, following activities can be taken into account: role-playing, games, movements, etc Different from teaching which is an organized activity to achieve clear target that affects learners, in particular, students achieve specific skills and knowledge after periods, the therapy activities need a lot of time (months, or even years) so that they can have influence on characteristic, mental and physical features of learners, and in turn, indirectly affect the learning process of students Thus, therapy activities should be applied in patient and basic way It is necessary to help students with ASD practice themselves and practice with their friends voluntarily 3.1.3 Relationship between strategies All methods on teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD have interactive relationship with each others and have same goal to improve the effectiveness of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD Within the interactive relation, each method play different important role in the success of teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD - Premise methods in teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD: Knowledge and vocabulary are important factors that directly affect the development of reading comprehension ability of an individual, they are typical difficulties faced by most students with ASD Methods on increasing vocabulary and knowledge should be implemented at the same time and support each other Methods on assessing abilities and demands of students with ASD have relation with all other methods in its group and another group, the assessment shall help to identify the problems in language, knowledge, concentration, interests and behavior, etc relating to reading comprehension skill of students with ASD Assessing the abilities and demands also helps teachers adjust learning documents in suitable way for students with ASD The adjustment itself is originated from the goal to create interests, maintain the concentration and control the behaviors, etc - Main methods in teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD: Methods on creating interest, maintaining the concentration and controlling the behaviors and using specialized methods on teaching reading comprehension, etc shall not be practical if there are no premise methods such as assessing the abilities and demands, adjusting the learning documents… The effectiveness of these main methods can not be maintained if there is no opportunity to extend abilities of students with ASD in other educational activities Students with ASD who are provided basic knowledge, vocabulary can not complete reading comprehension requirements thoroughly if we not ensure the interests, maintain the concentration and adjust the behavior by typical methods - Supporting methods in teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD: this group of methods plays the supporting role in teaching reading comprehension, including extensive activities for students with ASD so that the students have opportunities to practice their reading 20 comprehension skill Occupation Therapy – OT helps to support the concentration, visual Perceptual ability, perseverance…which are necessary factors in the studying of students with ASD in general and reading comprehension in particular The interaction and dependency create the systematic and synchronous characteristics of methods on teaching reading comprehension, ensuring that the constructing methods shall be implemented thoroughly 3.1.4 Orientation of using methods on teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD at the first stage of primary education level The requirements for students differs in different grades, therefore the selection and use of teaching methods also have different features In addition, a specific method shall be applied to overcome specific difficulties of an individual student with ASD and improve their reading comprehension ability For students with ASD in grade 1: focusing on methods on creating basic reading comprehension skill like method 5-3: structuring the reading activities in order to form the habit of implementing reading action for students with ASD and method 12: Using supporting therapy to create necessary premises of concentration ability, self control ability while reading In addition, visual images and adjustment of language documents need using more regularly in comparison with grade and For students with ASD in grade 1: focusing on methods on creating basic reading comprehension skill like method 5-3: structuring the reading activities in order to form the habit of implementing reading action for students with ASD and method 12: Using supporting therapy to create necessary premises of concentration ability, self control ability while reading In addition, visual images and adjustment of language documents need using more regularly in comparison with grade and For students with ASD in grade 3: focusing on methods on extending reading comprehension topic and responding skill while the visual level and adjustment of language documents maybe reduce in comparison with grade and grade in order to increase the effort of students while reading Students with ASD have typical difficulties in behavior and in expressing language so it is necessary to focus on specialized methods to overcome these difficulties as well as improve their reading comprehension 3.1.5 Conditions for implementation of the methods - In term of students with ASD: students with ASD must have satisfactory aloud reading skill with appropriate speed and accuracy; students with ASD must have participated in the early intervention program, preschool program and have had basic learning skill; students with ASD without severe behaviors; students with ASD without severe problems in eyesight that affect the accessibility to reading passages - In term of teachers of students with ASD: The teachers should understand the characteristics of students with ASD as well as each student’s strength and weakness related to reading comprehension, understand the nature and methods on teaching reading comprehension for primary school students These understandings are basics for applying methods on teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD and maintaining encouraging attitude and patience during teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD - In term of conditions for teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD: students with ASD shall be given access to individualized teaching method (1 teacher – student) at least hour per day, the methods shall be applied reasonably at specialized schools/centers and integrated schools where individualized teaching hours for students with ASD are available The method can be applied in education environment at home where the students with ASD are supported by tutor who was trained with some certain methods The education programs at school diverse in forms (individual/group/whole class) and are harmonious between obligatory activities and optional activities for students according to their interests The material facilities consisting of tools for teaching reading comprehension, library with books for reference, etc are multifarious and suitable with abilities and interests of students with ASD - In term of family of students with ASD: In addition to conditions mentioned above, family of students with ASD also plays an important role in teaching reading comprehension process: parents and teachers should have agreement on expectation level, education methods for the students, which ensures that students with ASD shall attend classroom regularly and receive support from tutor or parents when studying at home; creating more opportunities for students with ASD to access reading activities based on demands and interests of the students (taking students to libraries and bookshops, 21 reading and talking with students about content of what is read, explaining when students have difficulties in reading, etc) 3.2 EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH OF METHODS ON TEACHING READING COMPREHENSION FOR STUDENTS WITH ASD AT THE FIRST STAGE OF PRIMARY EDUCATION LEVEL 3.2.1 Experimental research 3.2.1.1 Purpose of experimental research To verify the effectiveness of the method on teaching reading comprehension skill for students with ASD at first stage of primary education level as proposed 3.2.1.2 Contents of experimental research Experimental research uses proposed methods on teaching reading comprehension for three students with ASD through individualized approach The experimental case shall be assessed in term of ability and demand and have individual education plan and teaching reading comprehension through individual teaching periods (1 teacher – student) 3.2.1.3 Area and subjects of the experimental research The experimental research was conducted at Khanh Tam Center (Khanh Tam Specials Education Center, directly under The Organ of Vietnam Relief Association for Handicapped Children) Table 3.1 List of Subjects of the experimental research No Full name Year of birth Education form Experimental research P.L 2005 Specialized Term – grade T.P 2005 Specialized Term – grade L.S 2004 Semi-integrated Term – grade 3.2.1.4 Process of experimental research The process of experimental research was carried out in individualized approaching method with following basic steps: Step Pre-experimental evaluation; Step Construction and implementation of experimental research plan; Step Post-experimental evaluation 3.2.2 Result of experimental research The results of experimental research show that all three students with ASD made clear progress The proposed methods on teaching reading comprehension brought positive result - Personal characteristics of student with ASD create a difference in the experimental results Chart 3.4: Comparing the results of three cases in experimental research T.P is the students with highest result of experimental research and the only one ranked good grade This result was due to higher mental ability of T.P in comparison with that of the others T.P could quickly understand guidelines of the teacher and had least odd behaviors; T.P was relatively well-behaved and well-cooperated with the teacher The most difficulty faced by T.P was the passivity, T.P was not very open-hearted and the way of expressing in oral/written language was not very fluent L.S ranked the second in experimental research score but had the highest increasing level (increase by 17.81 points in comparison with 15 points of T.P and 13.12 points of P.L) The progress of L.S reflected the physical changes of primary school students from the first stage to final stage in primary education level L.S made progress not only in reading comprehension skill but also in other school skills The most difficulty faced by L.S was the mechanical imitation without creativity On the contrary, this helped L.S to develop the studying habit in methodical style that even some general primary school students might not have 22 P.L ranked last in experimental research score and increasing level P.L was typical for students with ASD who have conflict behaviors From results of P.L, we can see that in most cases, the behavior, instead of learning ability, plays the decisive role in integration and participation into the education program of students with ASD In comparison with two cases mentioned above, P.L was more active and flexible, however that was not enough for P.L to participate better in an activity that requires high consciousness like reading comprehension activity - Individualized approarch in teaching reading comprehention for confirmed is needed in all three cases Process teaching reading comprehention is applied thoroughly has brought positive results - The experimental results show that the system strategies teaching reading comprehention not only contribute to improving student outcomes in reading comprehension but also create multifaceted development of the children, such as increasing awareness and language training positive study habits, reduce negative behaviors - The conditions are similar education but their results differ quite clearly, this shows that the subjective element of students with ASD the strongly influence the outcome teaching reading comprehention, such direction personalized approach is reasonable , especially in the early stages of primary school - Students with ASD has many strengths, even some defects (the stereotype) has certain advantages in the process of formation and development learning skills, including reading comprehention CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION Conclusion 1.1.The thesis asserted there is a big gap between reading comprehension results of students with ASD and general primary school students, even with group of students with ASD with IQ ≥ 70 The thesis analyzes internal factors (characteristics of cognition, language, social interaction, behavior, and so on) and external factors (topic, type of reading text, type of questions, visualization level, teaching methods, etc.,) have influences on teaching outcomes of reading comprehension for students with autistic spectrum disorders at the first stages of primary education Therefore, teaching strategies of reading comprehension for students with autistic spectrum disorders need to take these factors into consideration to improve teaching outcomes of reading comprehension for students 1.2.The actual situation shows that most of the teachers have not had thorough understandings about strength and limitation as well as subjective and objective causes that affect the development of reading comprehension skill of students with ASD The process of teaching reading comprehension therefore has not met the basic demands The teachers have not had suitable methods on teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD as well as have not undertaken the basic requirements of teaching reading comprehension in appropriate way 1.3.Thesis identified solution to improve teaching outcomes of teaching reading comprehension skills for students with autistic spectrum disorders at the first stages of primary education is individualized approach, be sure that teaching is based on the strengths and modifications and adaptations for each student 1.4.The thesis proposed three categories of teaching strategies, including prerequisite strategies (such as strategies of assessment, planning of teaching reading comprehension for individuals; modification and adaptation of reading comprehension materials), core strategies (such as strategies of providing additional knowledge on the topic; promoting the ability to understand and use words; use of specialized teaching methods in reading comprehension; integrating reading activities into other educational activities; expanding reading topics based on abilities and needs; adapting the assessment of reading comprehension), and supporting strategies (such as strategies of developing and maintaining motivation; maintaining attention; behavior management; and therapy activities) Among them, specialized teaching methods in reading comprehension play an extremely important role 1.5 The experimental results demonstrate teaching strategies of reading comprehension for students with autistic spectrum disorders not only improve reading comprehension skills of 23 students, but also help them develop other areas such as behavior, language, learning habits ; teaching strategies of reading comprehension for students with autistic spectrum disorders will make positive effects if certain conditions are considered, for example, the student with autistic spectrum disorders has above-average intellectual capacity, he/she has been given to early intervention, he/she meets the basic requirements of reading aloud smoothly; he/she has been made a plan of and had individual teaching sessions of reading comprehension, his/her teacher has understandings about characteristics of students with autistic spectrum disorders as well as teaching skills suitable to each individual with autistic spectrum disorders Recomendations 2.1 The teachers should identify the role of subjective and objective factors that affect the reading comprehension ability of students with ASD in order to establish suitable methods on teaching reading comprehension During teaching reading comprehension, the teachers should respect personal interests of students with ASD as well as individual characteristics Family and school should cooperate in the implementation of education plan for students with ASD 2.2 Methods on teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD need further studying on larger scale and establishing specific conditions to apply methods in integrated and harmonized education environment It is necessary to extend studies of methods on teaching other skills for students with ASD 2.3 The bodies which control education mission for students with special needs in general and students with ASD in particular need to set up guideline rules for specialized, integrated and harmonized education units to implement education mission for students with ASD, in which focusing on adjusting the education program and way of assessment These bodies should provide orientation for development of education models, form of school/class for students with ASD with specific standards of material facilities, human resources and procedures, etc in order to improve the education quality for students with ASD 2.4 In near future, it is necessary to construct specialized program for students with ASD in every education level, design and apply assessment tools for students with ASD in Vietnam in order to serve the studying and education mission for students with ASD, constructing and implementing training courses on large scale for administrative officials, teachers on methods on teaching for students with ASD in general and teaching reading comprehension in particular 2.5 The integrated schools need to prepare necessary conditions in order to accept students with ASD to study, in which focusing on training teachers In order to apply methods on teaching reading comprehension for students with ASD in integrated schools, it is essential to implement individualized supporting activities for students with ASD Students with light ASD can participate independently in integrated learning program; however some adjustments in program are still necessary 2.6 All the students with ASD in each education environment need assessment on ability and demand, constructing and implementing individual education plan It is vital to assess and classify students in order to avoid the common situation of “wrong name” and “wrong class” at current time Specialized and integrated education units should cooperate to support students with ASD in the case integrated units not have class head teacher who majored in education for students with ASD 2.7 Socializing the education mission for students with ASD by allowing tutors of the students to come to integrated class to support their students However, it is necessary to ensure education principles toward a professional integrated supporting system in order to improve the quality of integrated education for students with ASD 24 ... assessed like general primary school students without any individual approach in assessment Many students with ASD not complete tests in school, some of them only the multiple choice without doing long... general primary school students and students with ASD * Summarizing the assessment result of reading comprehension skill of general primary school students The average scores of primary school student... (32 students each grade) in two primary schools in Hanoi (Be Van Dan and Kim Giang) In main surveying step, 243 students in grades – – in two primary schools mentioned above were selected at random