How to Teach Reading to Children with Autism Using a Whisper Phone

Teaching children with autism to read can be challenging, but with the right tools and strategies, it is possible to make significant progress. One tool that has proven effective for many children with autism is the Whisper Phone. This simple, low-tech device is designed to help children with autism improve their reading skills by providing immediate auditory feedback as they practice reading. In this article, we will explore what whisper reading is, what the Whisper Phone is, how it helps children with autism, and what the research says about it.

What is Whisper Reading?

Whisper reading is a strategy for teaching children with autism to read. It involves having students whisper the words they are sounding out or reading aloud. This approach supports children's development of phonemic awareness, which is the ability to hear and identify individual sounds in words. Phonemic awareness is a critical skill for learning to read, as it lays the foundation for phonics and decoding. Whisper reading is a simple but effective way to provide children with a multisensory approach to learning phonemes, as they are both speaking and hearing the sounds.

What is the Whisper Phone?

The Whisper Phone is a tool designed to support whisper reading for children with autism. It looks like a toy phone and comes with a headset. Children hold the Whisper Phone up to their ear and speak into it, while their voice is amplified, allowing them to hear themselves read. The Whisper Phone also includes two "receivers," which are connected by a tube. This allows children to whisper and read with themselves, a peer, a teacher, or a parent.

Whisper phones are typically used during reading or phonics lessons, speech therapies, or music classes. They are an effective tool for promoting reading fluency and phonological awareness, as they help children understand how sounds and letters blend together. By practicing their sounds, words, and reading full sentences while listening to themselves, children are better able to recognize specific letters, sounds, and phoneme blends they are experiencing difficulty with. Using a Whisper Phone to support reading also builds confidence in children, as they are able to practice their skills without the added stress of someone listening.

How does the Whisper Phone help children with Autism?

The Whisper Phone can be an especially effective tool for teaching children with autism to read. Many children with autism experience challenges with over- or under-stimulation, focusing, auditory processing difficulties, delays in speech, and a lack of confidence in their reading skills. The Whisper Phone supports development in these areas, allowing children to actively engage in their reading, remain motivated, and self-monitor their practices.

One of the key benefits of the Whisper Phone is that it allows children to control the volume of their reading. This is especially important for children with autism, who may experience over- or under-stimulation in response to the sounds they hear. By whispering into the phone, children are able to regulate the volume of their voices and avoid overwhelming sensory input. Additionally, the physical act of holding the Whisper Phone keeps children's hands busy, which can also help them to focus and attend to their reading.

Many children with autism also struggle with auditory processing difficulties and delays in speech. Using a Whisper Phone provides immediate, direct auditory feedback, which can be a powerful tool for developing these skills. As children speak sounds and words themselves, they develop the ability to hear single phonemes and recognize and manipulate phonemes and blended sounds. These skills are critical for learning to read and speak fluently.

Finally, many children lack confidence when it comes to reading. In classroom settings, children may be put on the spot to read aloud to a group and listen to others read aloud, leading to comparisons and possible embarrassment. For emergent readers or children who are especially shy, the Whisper Phone provides an opportunity for them to practice their skills without the added stress of someone listening.

When students read orally, they are experiencing words in a multisensory approach. Seeing, reading, speaking, pronouncing, and listening to the words allows for a deeper understanding and processing of the information. Additionally, when using the Whisper Phone, students are able to control the pace of their reading and reread as necessary, allowing for greater comprehension of the material.

Research has shown that using a Whisper Phone can be beneficial for children with autism, as it allows them to improve their phonemic awareness and self-monitor their reading skills. One study found that students who used a Whisper Phone during reading instruction had higher reading fluency scores than those who did not use the device. Another study found that using a Whisper Phone during reading instruction resulted in significant improvements in word recognition accuracy and reading speed for students with autism.

In conclusion, the Whisper Phone is an effective tool for teaching children with autism to read. It promotes phonemic awareness, improves reading fluency, and boosts confidence in reading abilities. By using the Whisper Phone, children can receive immediate auditory feedback and self-monitor their reading skills. Additionally, research has shown that using a Whisper Phone during reading instruction can result in significant improvements in reading scores for children with autism. If you're a parent or educator of a child with autism who is learning to read, consider incorporating the Whisper Phone into your reading instruction to help your child reach their full potential.