Autistic children involved in a Flinders University research project showed significant reading progress through online instruction despite the obstacles of staying home during COVID-19 lockdowns. Professor Joanne Arciuli led the feasibility study, which investigated how digital literacy tools can support children with diverse learning profiles.
Pandemic Disruptions Force Shift to Online Delivery
The project was originally designed to test small-group, face-to-face literacy instruction for autistic children in an area of relative sociodemographic inequity in Western Sydney. Stay-at-home orders issued midway through the study forced a complete change in delivery. Researchers transitioned the project from group settings to one-to-one instruction, moving the entire operation online via telepractice. Professor Arciuli called it a steep learning curve to conduct a trial during a global pandemic, noting the team felt an ethical duty to continue providing services.
Digital Tools Power Individualized Reading Instruction
Instruction relied on ABRACADABRA, a free online interactive web application featuring 33 distinct activities. Developed in 2002 by the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, the modular program supports alphabetics, reading fluency, comprehension, and spelling. Participants using the intervention conditions made significant reading gains compared to a control group, even amid mandated disruptions and complex family issues.
Reaching Students in Remote Areas
The results point to far-reaching benefits for delivering literacy instruction via telepractice, particularly for autistic children in rural or remote areas who cannot access face-to-face tutoring. Professor Arciuli noted that developing these tools helps plug a gap in autism care, especially given that many children with autism experience greater difficulties with reading comprehension than with reading accuracy skills.
Answers to Common Questions About the Study
What specific web application was used for the remote literacy instruction?
The study utilized ABRACADABRA, a free online interactive web application containing 33 modular activities designed to support alphabetics, reading fluency, vocabulary, comprehension strategies, and spelling.
Where was the original face-to-face feasibility study supposed to take place?
The research was originally planned as small-group, in-person instruction in an area of relative sociodemographic inequity in Western Sydney before pandemic stay-at-home orders forced the transition to online telepractice.
How did the reading gains of the intervention groups compare to the control group?
Autistic child participants in the two instruction groups made significant reading gains compared to the control group, despite facing mandated pandemic disruptions and complex personal challenges.
Murphy, A., et al. (2025). ABRACADABRA literacy instruction delivered by speech-language pathologists to children with autism during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.
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