From Sounds to Words: A Case Study on the Effectiveness of a Phonics-Based Intervention for Early Literacy Development in a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

This study aims to explore the effectiveness of a Special English Phonics Module (SEPM) in supporting early literacy development, specifically reading skills, for children with autism. The participant was a five-year-old child diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who had no prior exposure to formal English reading instruction. The implementation of the SEPM represented the child’s first structured exposure to English as a second language. This case study was conducted over a two-week period at a specialised learning centre for children with autism in Kuala Lumpur. Data were collected through classroom observations and semi-structured interviews with the teacher and parent to explore the effectiveness of phonics to improve the child’s early literacy. Findings indicate that the participant successfully acquired the first eight phoneme sounds introduced in the module, along with corresponding words. Additionally, the child demonstrated the ability to generalise learned phonemes and words across different contexts, including worksheets, reading materials, and isolated word recognition tasks. The results suggest that structured phonics instruction may serve as an effective approach in developing early literacy skills among children with ASD, particularly in the initial stages of reading acquisition.