Reading decoding and comprehension in children with autism spectrum disorders: Evidence from a language with regular orthography

• Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) showed a profile of hyperlexia.
• Hyperlexia was present independent of the degree of cognitive impairment.
• Hyperlexia was detected in a language with high regular orthography (Italian).

Decoding and comprehension skills in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) were analysed in children native speakers of a language (Italian) with a highly regular orthography. Children with ASD were compared to children with matched intellectual functioning: a subgroup of children with ASD and borderline intellectual functioning (BIF) was compared to a subgroup of children with BIF but no signs of ASD; a subgroup of children with ASD and cognitive functioning within normal limits was compared to a group of typically developing children. Children with ASD (whether with or without BIF) showed essentially spared decoding skills in text as well as word and pseudo-word reading; this was at variance with children with BIF who, as a group, showed overall deficient decoding skills, despite considerable individual differences. By contrast, children with ASD (once again, irrespective of the presence of BIF) showed a selective impairment in reading comprehension, just like children with BIF but unlike the typically developing ones. Therefore, results are generally consistent with a profile of hyperlexia for children with ASD learning a regular orthography, as previously reported for other languages. Notably, this pattern was present irrespective of the degree of cognitive impairment, and clearly distinguished these children from those with borderline intellectual functioning but not signs of autism.