Trapped between the windows, separated from the world: Using miscue analysis to provide windows on the literacy capabilities of children with autistic disorder

This study uses miscue analysis to provide a window of insight on the literacy capabilities of children with autistic disorder. The participants are 9 children with autistic disorder functioning in the middle of the autism spectrum (not Asperger's Syndrome) and includes miscue analysis of 17 readings. The study sets out to identify and/or reveal information about the language the children are aware of in their social surroundings by examining the types of miscues produced. Analysis of the In-Depth Procedure, Procedure II, Classroom Procedure, and Retellings were conducted. Miscue analysis was also used to reveal information about the schemas and strategies children with autistic disorder use to aid them in transactions with text. Information about the patterned reading strategies, as well as the language children with autistic disorder use, understand, and apply to make sense of print are examined and explored. The results of the data tend to challenge what is currently known in this area by indicating new findings about the reading and language capabilities of children with autistic disorder and open new windows of insight into the minds of these children. The study ends by offering alternatives to current pedagogical practices for children with autistic disorder, and areas for future research. This research presents as a progressive theoretical foundational piece of research that points to new information, understanding, and insights about the reading and language capabilities of children with autistic disorder.