Segment-Unit Reading Comprehension Training for Japanese Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Learning Disabilities

Mikimasa Omori; Junichi Yamamoto

doi:10.1007/s40617-021-00671-8

Segment-Unit Reading Comprehension Training for Japanese Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Learning Disabilities

Behav Anal Pract. 2022 Feb 8;15(3):857-866. doi: 10.1007/s40617-021-00671-8. eCollection 2022 Sep.

Authors

Mikimasa Omori^{1

2}, Junichi Yamamoto³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Human Relations, Keio University, 2-15-45, Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345 Japan.
² Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University, 2-579-15, Mikajima, Tokorozawa-shi, Saitama, 359-1192 Japan.
³ Department of Psychology, Faculty of Letters, Keio University, 2-15-45, Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345 Japan.

Abstract

Students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and learning disabilities (LDs) often experience reading difficulties. In particular, reading long passages can cause comprehension problems. We examined whether 8 Japanese students with ASD, 7 students with LDs, and 13 typically developing (TD) students improved their reading comprehension through two types of repeated reading training: whole-sentence-unit reading (WSUR) training and segment-unit reading (SUR) training. Participants undergoing WSUR training read whole sentences repeatedly. In SUR training, they repeatedly read a segment of a sentence in its correct spatial location. Results indicated that students with ASD and LDs showed greater improvement in reading comprehension after SUR training than after WSUR training, whereas both procedures were equally effective for TD students. Moreover, students with ASD showed only negligible reading comprehension improvements, whereas students with LDs showed intermediate improvements after WSUR training. These results suggest that sequentially presenting word segments can improve the reading comprehension of students with ASD and specific LDs.

Keywords: Reading comprehension; Reading difficulties; Repeated reading; Segment-unit reading training; Students with developmental disabilities.