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Correlation Between Emergent Literacy Skills and Reading Abilities in Young Autistic Children: A Meta-Analysis.

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Title: Correlation Between Emergent Literacy Skills and Reading Abilities in Young Autistic Children: A Meta-Analysis.
Authors: Willems, Kendall1 kwillems-cygan2@huskers.unl.edu, Loveall, Susan J.1, Goodrich, J. Marc2, Lang, Danika1
Source: Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools. Jul2025, Vol. 56 Issue 3, p847-863. 17p.
Subject Terms: *Reading, *Intellect, *Phonological awareness, *Autism, *Literacy, *Asperger's syndrome, *ERIC (Information retrieval system), *Inter-observer reliability, Pearson correlation (Statistics), Research funding, Fisher exact test, Print materials, Meta-analysis, Classification of mental disorders, Systematic reviews, Conceptual structures, Data analysis software, Confidence intervals, Psychology information storage & retrieval systems
Abstract: Purpose: Autistic individuals often exhibit poorer emergent literacy skills (e.g., phonological awareness, print knowledge, oral language) relative to their nonautistic peers. Although emergent literacy skills are known to impact future reading success in typical development, their relationship with word recognition and reading comprehension in autistic children remains unclear. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to identify the correlation between emergent literacy skills and reading abilities (i.e., word recognition and reading comprehension) in young autistic children. Method: Fourteen correlational studies, including 837 autistic children ranging in age from 28 to 109 months, met the inclusion criteria. Robust variance estimation was used to compute an average weighted effect size, and possible moderator variables were also explored. Results: Results indicated a significant, positive correlation between emergent literacy skills and reading abilities. Moderator analyses indicated that the correlations between emergent literacy and reading ability did not differ based on the type of reading ability (i.e., word recognition vs. reading comprehension) or emergent literacy skill (i.e., code- vs. meaning-based skills). However, IQ was a marginally significant moderator, and the relation between emergent literacy and reading ability was stronger in studies with participants with lower average IQ scores. Conclusions: These findings have important implications for research and practice for young autistic children. There is a need for educators and other practitioners to (a) assess emergent literacy skills in early childhood to better identify autistic children who are at risk for reading difficulties and (b) actively promote and teach emergent literacy skills in young autistic children, as these skills are related to more advanced reading abilities. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.29231057 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Data: Correlation Between Emergent Literacy Skills and Reading Abilities in Young Autistic Children: A Meta-Analysis.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Willems%2C+Kendall%22">Willems, Kendall</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> kwillems-cygan2@huskers.unl.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Loveall%2C+Susan+J%2E%22">Loveall, Susan J.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Goodrich%2C+J%2E+Marc%22">Goodrich, J. Marc</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Lang%2C+Danika%22">Lang, Danika</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Language%2C+Speech+%26+Hearing+Services+in+Schools%22">Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools</searchLink>. Jul2025, Vol. 56 Issue 3, p847-863. 17p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Reading%22">Reading</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Intellect%22">Intellect</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Phonological+awareness%22">Phonological awareness</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Autism%22">Autism</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Literacy%22">Literacy</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Asperger's+syndrome%22">Asperger's syndrome</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22ERIC+%28Information+retrieval+system%29%22">ERIC (Information retrieval system)</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Inter-observer+reliability%22">Inter-observer reliability</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Pearson+correlation+%28Statistics%29%22">Pearson correlation (Statistics)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research+funding%22">Research funding</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Fisher+exact+test%22">Fisher exact test</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Print+materials%22">Print materials</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Meta-analysis%22">Meta-analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Classification+of+mental+disorders%22">Classification of mental disorders</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Systematic+reviews%22">Systematic reviews</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Conceptual+structures%22">Conceptual structures</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Data+analysis+software%22">Data analysis software</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Confidence+intervals%22">Confidence intervals</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychology+information+storage+%26+retrieval+systems%22">Psychology information storage & retrieval systems</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Purpose: Autistic individuals often exhibit poorer emergent literacy skills (e.g., phonological awareness, print knowledge, oral language) relative to their nonautistic peers. Although emergent literacy skills are known to impact future reading success in typical development, their relationship with word recognition and reading comprehension in autistic children remains unclear. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to identify the correlation between emergent literacy skills and reading abilities (i.e., word recognition and reading comprehension) in young autistic children. Method: Fourteen correlational studies, including 837 autistic children ranging in age from 28 to 109 months, met the inclusion criteria. Robust variance estimation was used to compute an average weighted effect size, and possible moderator variables were also explored. Results: Results indicated a significant, positive correlation between emergent literacy skills and reading abilities. Moderator analyses indicated that the correlations between emergent literacy and reading ability did not differ based on the type of reading ability (i.e., word recognition vs. reading comprehension) or emergent literacy skill (i.e., code- vs. meaning-based skills). However, IQ was a marginally significant moderator, and the relation between emergent literacy and reading ability was stronger in studies with participants with lower average IQ scores. Conclusions: These findings have important implications for research and practice for young autistic children. There is a need for educators and other practitioners to (a) assess emergent literacy skills in early childhood to better identify autistic children who are at risk for reading difficulties and (b) actively promote and teach emergent literacy skills in young autistic children, as these skills are related to more advanced reading abilities. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.29231057 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1044/2025_LSHSS-24-00108
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 17
        StartPage: 847
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Reading
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Intellect
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Phonological awareness
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      – SubjectFull: Autism
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      – SubjectFull: Literacy
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      – SubjectFull: Asperger's syndrome
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      – SubjectFull: Inter-observer reliability
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      – SubjectFull: Pearson correlation (Statistics)
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      – SubjectFull: Research funding
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      – SubjectFull: Meta-analysis
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      – SubjectFull: Confidence intervals
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      – SubjectFull: Psychology information storage & retrieval systems
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      – TitleFull: Correlation Between Emergent Literacy Skills and Reading Abilities in Young Autistic Children: A Meta-Analysis.
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              Text: Jul2025
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              Y: 2025
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