Development of an Integrative-Comprehension Imagery Scale for Children with and Without Autism

Autism is a debilitating disorder (Yurov et al., 2007) that is diagnosed in 1 in 88 children in America (CDC, 2012). The autism population overwhelmingly performs weakest in reading comprehension as compared to other academic areas (Chiang & Lin, 2007; Minshew, 1994). This identified weaknesses is concerning because comprehension is understood in the literature as the most critical curricular area (Chiang & Lin, 2007). One potential reason for these comprehension problems could be impaired imagery. Neuropsychology research has found that children with autism cognitively process imagery differently than typical children, due to their unique brain structures (Just, Cherkassky, Keller, & Minshew, 2004). This study sought to uncover whether or not children with autism show weaker abilities on imagery-related comprehension tasks than typical children. However, no instrument exists that is validated for this purpose. Archived diagnostic data were examined to develop a scale to assess imagery-related comprehension skills. Data were analyzed from 71 children (N=71), with and without autism, aged 5-13. A four phase approach from Benson & Clark (1982) was used to develop the instrument. A multiple regression analytic method was used to see whether or not diagnosis was a significant predictor of scores on the imagery scale. Results were that children with autism scored significantly lower than typically developing children, controlling for the effects of IQ, age, and gender. Implications for practice are discussed