Content area
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between oral language components (phonology, semantics, and syntax) and decoding skills (nonword reading) and oral language components and reading comprehension for children with autism. Participants, ages 7 to 13, were included in the study if they were diagnosed with autism by a psychologist, were included in a typical classroom, had an IQ ≥70 (high-functioning autism), and the parents and child spoke English. Eligible students were administered parts of the CELF-4, OWLS:LC, and the PPVT to measure oral language abilities and parts of the WRMT and TOWRE to assess decoding and reading comprehension. Results indicated that in this sample of children with autism there was no significant relationship between phonology and decoding; however they did reveal a significant relationship between semantics and decoding. There were also significant relationships between semantics and comprehension and syntax and comprehension. This sample of children with autism demonstrated more deficit skills in syntax than in semantics and they scored higher on the decoding measures than on the comprehension measures, although their performance in comprehension was average relative to their typical peers. Younger children with autism scored slightly lower in comprehension when compared to their typical peers, while older students with autism scored higher in comprehension, relative to their typical peers. Results should be viewed with caution due to the small sample size.