Michelle, an autism teacher with nearly 20 years of experience, demonstrates how to assess reading for non-speaking students using The Autism Helper's Informal Reading Assessment Toolkit. The toolkit organizes passages by Lexile and grade level, offers visual supports and multiple ways to respond, and lets teachers track progress for IEP meetings.
How do you assess reading in students who are non-speaking, highly visual, or have unique communication needs? That's always been one of the biggest challenges in my classroom. I know my students are learning and I can see the growth, but finding the right tools to accurately measure that progress can be tough. But that's why I love using the Autism Helpers Informal Reading Assessment Toolkit. Hey everyone, I'm Michelle, and I've worked in self-contained autism classrooms for almost 20 years as both a paraprofessional and a teacher. Here you can see the reading passages by level, and we have included the Lexile level, the Fountas and Pinnell level, and the grade level equivalent. So this is wonderful to show parents at an IEP meeting, and I use this tool throughout the year, not just at report card time. It helps me tailor small group instruction, plan IEP goals, and most importantly, see my students' reading confidence grow. Here is my reading container that I use. I've printed all the passages. I've printed all the student and teacher pages so that I'm ready. I also have them labeled by passage number and by grade level so I can quickly pull an assessment that I need for any grade level in my classroom. With this toolkit, there are visual supports, multiple choice options, and real opportunities to assess both decoding and comprehension, even with non-speaking students. It's flexible and intuitive, and it gives me real data that I can use to guide instruction and show progress. This resource allows me to assess students one-on-one in a way that's truly accessible. It includes multiple modalities to support how our students learn and communicate. So here's one of the books that I read with my students, and after students are done, this is the running record that I take after students are done. It has several different ways that I can ask them questions. I can ask them verbally, students can read the questions, I can ask them verbally and they can point to pictures or circle pictures. The sign is beside the mop. Mop. Good. The stop sign is beside the— baby. Yes. The recycles are beside the— pet. Good. The dog is beside the— food. Good read. The swing is beside the— go. Yeah, road. Good. What is beside the dog? Food, bell, or candy? Bell. Okay. Who is beside the swing? The baby, the cat, the girl? Cat. We're gonna read a passage about the science fair. Have you ever done a science fair before?
No.
Do you know what a science fair is?
Is it a fair where people go and, um, like do science things?
Yes. All right, when you're reading, make sure you're touching the words, okay?
Okay. The 6th graders have a science fair every year in the spring. Ribbons are awarded to the 3 Best projects this year. Leslie's volcano remote control robot. The robot was so awesome and Marvin deserved to win.
That was some amazing reading. Now you're going to answer some questions, okay? When is the science fair held? In the fall, in the winter, or in the spring?
In spring.
What kind of award is given? Trophies, ribbons, or balloons? Ribbons. If you're looking for a practical autism-friendly way to assess reading in your classroom, I highly recommend checking out The Autism Helper's Informal Reading Assessment Toolkit. You can find it at theautismhelper.com or through the link in the description below. Make sure to check out the other videos on our channel giving you tips and tricks for working with students with autism.
