Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Education

Advisor

Barry W. Birnbaum

Abstract

The problem that is addressed in this study is that the relationship between parental involvement (PI) and reading levels among middle school students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is not sufficiently known. Studies have shown the importance of providing reading material to elementary-level children for home use; however, there is little research on middle school students. The purpose of this study was to discover if a relationship exists between PI and improved reading scores of middle school students with ASD. The study included parents of 27 middle school students with autism. Thorndike’s stimulus-response theory on the transfer of learning provided the theoretical framework used to assess students with ASD and their reading responses to parental stimuli triggers. The research question addressed in this study focused on the extent to which the time parents read to their child and the number of books available at home predict the reading scores for middle school children with ASD. A quantitative, nonexperimental, correlational design was employed. The data were collected using survey of parents and from the Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading scores. The results of a multiple linear regression revealed no statistically significant relationships between PI and improved reading scores of middle school students with ASD. Future research is recommended to provide insight into whether PI indicates improved reading achievement scores for students with ASD because this information could be used to better support academic achievement for middle school students with autism. The findings of this study have implications for positive social change in drawing attention to an academically vulnerable population and proposing direction for future studies of this population.

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