Emergent literacy skills are the building blocks of learning to read and write. These early skills are essential for all children to learn. For young autistic children, it's important to consider their individual strengths and interests when deciding how best to support their emergent literacy skills.

What early literacy skills are important to learn?

Vocabulary – Knowing as many words as possible so that it’s easier to learn new words and gain meaning from stories.

Story understanding – Understanding not only what is happening in a book, but why it is happening – for example, how the thoughts and feelings of a character influence what they say or do. This involves the ability to read “between the lines” to figure out things that aren’t explicitly stated in the text.

Print knowledge – Understanding how print works – for example, knowing that print represents what we say, that letters make up words and that we read from left to right.

Sound awareness – Understanding that words can be broken down into syllables and smaller sounds and that letters correspond to certain sounds.

Are there areas where your child might benefit from extra support?

Some autistic children may benefit from support in areas such as language and social communication, which are important to early literacy. They may benefit from extra support in particular areas such as:

• Understanding – Understanding includes not only language comprehension but understanding the various parts of a story, These abilities help a child understand what's happening in the story and how the events are unfolding.
• Perspective-taking – Understanding the motivations, feelings and thoughts of characters in a book, helps children to follow the story.

What can you do to help?

There are many things you can do to support your child’s emergent literacy development, and what you do now can have a big impact on their literacy and language skills later on. Talk to your child’s SLP, educator or early intervention professional to learn about specific interaction techniques you can use to support your child’s individual early literacy development.

In the meantime, here are some tips for creating the kind of environment that will set the stage for your child to learn early literacy skills in a way that’s enjoyable for both of you:

• Make a variety of printed materials accessible – Keep books, magazines and other printed materials in different places around your home where your child can easily see and reach them. Talk to your child about the information and intended message shared in these materials.
• Include books based on your child’s interests – Choose storybooks that include illustrations of things your child likes and are relevant to your child’s experiences. Also consider including non-fiction books and magazines on topics that interest your child.
• Approach book reading as an opportunity for conversation by:
  • Paying attention to what your child is interested in and take the time to talk about it.
  • Being flexible – Spend more time on the pages your child likes, and allow them to turn the pages backward or forward when they want to.
  • Talking about the story or the pictures in the book by relating them to your child’s experiences.