The prevalence of students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is increasing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and around the world. In school, students with ASD face academic challenges, specifically in reading. Targeted evidence-based practices (EBPs) are needed to support reading development for students with ASD. To date, limited research…

Mathematics learning is essential for children with special needs (CSN). The process of learning mathematics at the CSN can be started from concrete to abstract. During the math learning process, many gestures are produced by CSN. Gestures can direct the individual to take and understand the implied meaning of any movement or facial expression.…

In response to the demand for adopting a social justice system to manage students' challenging behaviors, many countries are implementing positive behavior support (PBS) programs at the school level. However, the use of PBS in Saudi Arabian schools is still a goal rather than reality. It is strongly evident that school-wide PBS can be applicable…

Today, all 50 states have enacted mandates requiring some level of insurance coverage for the treatment of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In this paper, I examine the impact of Massachusetts' mandate, ARICA (An Act Relative to Insurance Coverage for Autism) on the academic and behavioral outcomes of students with ASD in the state. Using…

Teaching of self-care skills with the participation of families at home, which is the natural environment of the child, contributes to effective and permanent results. Even though it is preferred that the family take an active part in teaching, most parents who plan to work with their children have difficulties in how they teach. The previous…

Becoming proficient in scientific discourse such as argumentation or developing explanations can be challenging for students, including neurodivergent students (e.g., autistic students, students with learning disabilities, students with ADHD). Students need to practice developing arguments and explanations as well as sharing their conclusions with…

Previous studies reported that a substantial number of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) encounter challenges in mathematics as they advance through their education. The present study evaluates the mathematical competence of 17 students diagnosed with ASD who were recruited from first through fourth grades in 12 different mainstream…

In the last decade, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) have observed an unprecedented rise in young children presenting with suicidal ideation, needing urgent assessment and treatment. Once stabilised, CAMHS professionals often refer these children to speech and language therapists (SLTs) for assessment of and support for their…

A key characteristic of individuals with autism is communicative dysfunction. Specifically identifying the appropriate use of pragmatic skills such as phrasing and syntax. When looking at expressing phrasing (producing of word groups), communication research has highlighted a significant group difference between students with autism and typically…

Despite a marked increase in the volume of research investigating issues about reading interventions for students with ASD (e.g., Bailey and Arciuli, Rev J Autism Dev Disord 7(2):127-150, 2020; Chiang and Lin, Focus Autism Other Dev Disab 22(4):259-267, 2007), very few studies have examined the current reading practices experienced by children…

Inclusive learning environments, in which children on the autism spectrum (AS) are educated alongside with neurotypical children, are being implemented by governments across Europe and world-wide. The rapid change towards implementing inclusive learning environments has resulted, however, in scarce research reports using multimodal data collected…

An 11-year-old U.S. fifth grader with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) participated in a writing intervention using the self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) approach for story writing. The child summarized stories adapted from the Read Works® website using POW (Pick my idea, Organize my notes, and Write and say more) and WWW,…

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a research-based theoretical framework that can be used to design teaching and learning opportunities that are more responsive to the variability of student need in any classroom, although a vast number of teachers appear to know nothing about UDL. One population whose needs are becoming increasingly visible…

The virtual-representational-abstract (VRA) instructional sequence presents as a viable mathematics intervention for students with disabilities, including students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Yet, to date, all research has been conducted face-to-face with students. However, virtual manipulatives provide an opportunity for educators to…

The increase in diagnoses of autism for elementary aged students paired with schools increasingly moving towards inclusive classroom models creates a challenge for general education teachers. This quantitative quasi-experimental study was designed to investigate the efficacy of an after school, explicit social skills intervention, and the impact…