A Comparative Study on Visual Attention, Verbal Engagement and Parental Behaviors During Shared Book Reading Using Scripted and Unscripted Story Books for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Purpose: Shared book reading is nowadays considered as an important early language stimulation technique in the field of speech language pathology which encourages parent-child bonding and creates a conducive environment for language development. The parent-child interaction is important for a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder. This interaction along with adequate and contingent parental responses fosters early language development in children. Language-related parent behaviors promote children’s oral language skills by not only exposing the child to book-related vocabulary (e.g., labeling pictures, explaining word meanings, and linking words to everyday events), but also through explicit teaching of meaning-related skills related to the overall structure of the story (i.e., story grammar). Print-related SBR behaviors draw the child’s attention to print-related features of the book, for example, letter names and sounds. Methods: To better understand the relationship between children’s visual attention, verbal engagement and parent shared book reading behaviors during shared book reading tasks, this study included 10 preschoolers on the Autism Spectrum and their parents sharing an unfamiliar storybook including which are scripted and unscripted. Videos of the shared book reading interactions were transcribed and coded for visual attention, verbal engagement and parent behaviors using observational coding schemes. The frequency of visual attention, verbal engagement and parental SBR behaviors were compared between the scripted and unscripted story books using statistical tests-Wilcoxon signed rank test and Fisher’s Exact test. Results: Result reveals that there was no statistically significant difference between frequency of visual attention during unscripted story books and scripted books. Parental behaviors parameters pertaining to shared book reading were analyzed and found a significant difference in usage of book language is greater for scripted story books compared to unscripted books. Conclusions: The key findings shows the type of book (scripted or unscripted) have a significant impact and its contribution to the intervention of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Parental SBR behaviors can in turn contribute to the development of childhood language and preliteracy skills.