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DSpace at Massey University author Wright, Julia 2015-06-17T00:11:17Z 2015-06-17T00:11:17Z 2014 http://hdl.handle.net/10179/6736 Q112907729 https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q112907729 Literacy is essential to success in education and employment, and in the modern world plays an important role in our daily communication and social participation. The value of literacy is increasingly being recognised and prioritised by government and the business sector in New Zealand. For children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), literacy learning presents a unique set of challenges. Research suggests that children with ASD are at high risk of poor literacy outcomes, which has implications for their educational success, employment outcomes and social relationships. Given the limited research into the early years of literacy development for children with ASD, this study aimed to explore how children with ASD are engaging with emergent literacy, the strategies that teachers are using to facilitate emergent literacy and the perceived challenges teachers face in supporting emergent literacy development for this group of children. A mixed methods research design was adopted using an online survey and face-to-face interviews with preschool teachers who had recent experience teaching a child with ASD. Five key findings emerged: (1) variability in teachers’ understanding of emergent literacy with embedded literacy learning opportunities being more prevalent than explicit instruction; (2) wide variability in levels of student engagement with emergent literacy opportunities and activities (3) wide range of strategies employed by teachers to support children's emergent literacy learning with high levels of personalisation to children's individual strengths and interests; (4) children's interest level and attention were perceived as the biggest challenge to their literacy development and (5) low levels of professional learning and development (PL&D) in emergent literacy and ASD despite high levels of interest in PL&D in these areas. Participants also identified the need for greater collaboration between speech language therapists and teachers to support the communication skills and emergent literacy development of children with ASD. This study highlights the need for greater professional support for teachers to overcome the challenges identified. This support is essential in order to maximise the literacy learning for children with ASD. en The Author Autistic children Preschool literacy Literacy learning Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) Emergent literacy Emergent literacy practices for preschool children with autism spectrum disorders : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Speech [and] Language Therapy at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand Thesis 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 URL https://mro.massey.ac.nz/bitstreams/70fb6633-6961-46df-acc2-95bc2f699966/download File MD5 d21c3620d9f34ad69eb7d83fbff01a2e 57839 application/pdf 01_front.pdf URL https://mro.massey.ac.nz/bitstreams/b42b1239-78ed-45fa-b4b7-68e5e1fe3386/download File MD5 a592ce320fa00f208f587c509333c232 1725931 application/pdf 02_whole.pdf URL https://mro.massey.ac.nz/bitstreams/7ba50bb6-c031-4d3c-8ef7-5306e8b02b8d/download File MD5 ac007dd07a27880d47ffc3383d31137c 11520 text/plain 01_front.pdf.txt URL https://mro.massey.ac.nz/bitstreams/e98e6d7e-9237-42cc-9b6c-f45f5e9c249c/download File MD5 a8eb5d620de253ea38c7bedcb73505d0 100171 text/plain 02_whole.pdf.txt