Emergent Literacy Development in Young Children on the Autism Spectrum

CHLD Network - Griffith University - Webinar - August 2021

Thank you to everyone who attended this webinar. You may view the recording HERE 

 For a copy of the slides and recommended references, please click on the links below. You will find further information on some of our research on the publications and projects pages of this website. 

First 5 Forever: Autism-Friendly Story Time e-learning program webinar 

State Library of Queensland  - Webinar - 18 June 2021

Thank you to everyone who attended this webinar!  You can view the webinar here.

For a copy of the slides and recommended references, please click on the links below. For access to the e-learning program, please visit the e-learning page on this site.

Early Literacy Development in preschoolers and young children on the spectrum - what do we know and why does it matter?

Autism Centre of Excellence - Griffith University - Webinar - 19 November 2020

Thank you to everyone who attended this webinar. You may view the recorded version via Facebook.

 For a copy of the slides and recommended references, please click on the links below. You will find further information on some of our research on the publications and projects pages of this website. 

Reading Success in the Primary Years

Griffith University Professional Development Seminar Series - Webinar - 27 October 2020

In this seminar we will describe the “Reading Success” project. Using an education-speech pathology collaborative practice model, we implemented a five-step assessment to intervention approach, based on the Simple View of Reading. The project was conducted over a three year-
period, across two cohorts of students in a Queensland primary school. In this seminar, we will provide a brief overview of each step of the approach, illustrated by case studies of students who struggle in their reading development. We will demonstrate how creating detailed
profiles of students’ strengths and challenges in spoken and written language skills will greatly assist in guiding targeted intervention.

Reading Instruction for Young School-age Children with Autism: From Research to Practice

Autism Hub - Webinar - 17 April 2018

As a group, children with autism are at increased risk of persistent reading difficulties. This webinar will focus on current evidence-based practice for providing reading instruction for young school-age children with autism. The webinar will start by highlighting some common myths around the reading skills of children with autism.  Using the Simple View of Reading as a guiding framework, a brief overview will be provided of the presenter’s Autism-CRC supported research into the early literacy pathways of children on the autism spectrum, from pre-school to prep. The webinar will highlight how high-quality assessment data can direct reading intervention for students with autism, and provide a summary of current research evidence to guide intervention practice.

The webinar recording is available through the Autism Hub - follow the link below.

Literacy Profiles and Literacy Predictors for Early Learners on the autism spectrum

Autism CRC - Webinar - 14 September 2017

In a series of three projects, Marleen has led investigations into the emergent and early literacy profiles of students with autism. Children were initially assessed  prior to entering school on a range of oral language and emergent literacy tasks. A large percentage of these students were seen again approximately one year later following their transition into their first year of schooling. Marleen will report on findings from both of these studies and describe another project investigating the effectiveness of shared book reading intervention to enhance the early literacy-related skills of preschoolers on the autism spectrum.

Westerveld, M., Peach, J., Heilmann, J., & Malone, T. (2017). Exploring the links between verbal working memory, personality traits, and the ability to produce persuasive discourse in high school students. Paper presented at the Speech Pathology Australia Annual Conference: WIFI, Sydney, Australia. Australia. 

Heilmann, J., Malone, T., Andriacchi, K., & Westerveld, M. (2015). Don’t Say No Until I Finish Talking: Persuasive Discourse of High School Students. Paper presented at the American Speech Language Hearing Association, Denver, Colorado.

Westerveld, M., van Bysterveldt, A., Paynter, J., & Trembath, D. (2016). Literacy environments for preschool children with ASD: What's happening at home? Paper presented at the 30th World Congress of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics, Dublin.

See Projects tab for more information about this Autism CRC funded project

Westerveld, M. F., & Vidler, K. (2014). Effects of examiner behaviour on children’s spoken language production in conversation. Poster presented at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention, Orlando, FL.

Westerveld, M. F., & Vidler, K. (2014). The use of the Renfrew Bus Story with 5- to 8-year-old Australian children. Paper presented at the Speech Pathology Australia National Conference: Client, Clinician, Context, Melbourne, Australia. 

Marleen Westerveld: Speech Pathology professional development seminar series. Seminar One - 26 February 2014. Early childhood literacy and the role of the speech-language pathologist

Presented at Griffith University, Gold Coast. Full presentation available.