“A Land We Can Share” Teaching Literacy to Students with Autism

Teachers are going to love this book! Passionate and practical, it moves beyond “sight words” and other functional literacy skills and provides the know-how for bringing quality, meaningful literacy instruction to students with autism. Authored by respected, dynamic scholars in autism and literacy, the book breaks new ground as it focuses specifically on ways in which educators can improve literacy outcomes for students with autism spectrum disorders in Grades K–12 classrooms.

Teachers will learn:

• research-based practices in reading and writing instruction, including those consistent with the recommendations of Reading First
• ideas for planning lessons, differentiating instruction, and designing a classroom environment that promotes literacy learning while addressing the individual needs of learners with autism
• techniques for assessing students who do not or cannot show their literacy learning in traditional ways due to communication or learning differences
• strategies for including students with autism in a wide range of classroom literacy activities
• teaching tips from the words and experiences of people with autism spectrum labels and from the authors’ own extensive classroom experience

This guidebook brings cutting-edge literacy concepts to special educators who are already familiar with autism but may not have specific training in teaching reading skills and is an essential “literacy meets autism” primer for general educators and reading specialists. For all readers, the book underscores the ways in which literacy can help every learner achieve a more fulfilling, rich, and inclusive academic life.