It is not uncommon for people with autism to be non-verbal or have non-functional spoken language, the ability to produce speech but not converse--and it is in no way a reflection of his cognitive ability. For those reasons alone, it is important to provide the autistic person with a platform for communication. Unfortunately it is difficult to measure what if any effect a reading program is having on a person who cannot speak or write, but here is one that take these facts into consideration:
Love and Learning, created by the parents of a child with Down Syndrome, uses audio tapes, video /DVD, computer programs and books to teach reading using a multisensory approach. It can be used with infants to adolescents and combines sign language with sound and visuals to stimulate the senses while teaching basic reading skills. Signing provides non-verbal people the unique opportunity to show and share what they are learning without forcing them to vocalize while still showing the link between a sound, a motion, and an object or action. They also offer a financial assistance program for parents.
Below, in the resource section you will also find a link to a page describing methods of developing communication skills in non verbal children with autism.
There are a number of free resourcesand programs to teach reading skills. One of them, called the "Fry List" was created by Dr. Edward Fry, a Professor of Education and Director of the Reading Center at Rutgers University and Loyola University in Los Angeles. He discovered that 25 words comprise approximately a third of all items published, 100 words make up about half of all the publications written, and that a mere 300 words constitute nearly 65 percent of written material. The "sight vocabulary work" link at the bottom of the page will take you to an extensive series of word lists based on his discoveries, which can be used as flash cards or to reinforce already learned vocabulary.
Special Reads is a multifaceted program that features books, music CDs, and CD-Roms with printable flash cards. The Emergent Reader series is designed for learners with PDDs, Autism and Down Syndrome and feature large type and high-focus separation of text and pictures. The website also features a number of free suggestions on teaching methods.
eReading Pro is a popular classroom resource that may be prohibitively expensive for some parents to purchase on their own. Denise MacDonald, the creator of eReading Pro has an extensive background in administering psycho-educational assessments to school aged students and has used her clinical and real-life understanding of neuropsychology to design the program. eReadingPro is specially designed for visual learners such as people with dyslexia, Down syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Trisomy 21, ADD/ADHD, Apraxia and non-verbal learning disability.
The Wilson Reading System professionally trains educators in the use of their system, which uses a multi-sensory, structured curricula and has over 20 years worth of research and data on the proper implementation of the program. It is used by schools to instruct children as well as English as a second language adults or adults with verbal/auditory learning disabilities and is not appropriate for home use except through a trained teacher or facilitator. It uses a "sound tapping" system to engage the senses and help the student process information.