This resource was created as a supplement for the ARIS® Academic Readiness Intervention System Language Builder complete early autism curriculum, Lesson #161, Expressive Phonics. Download a free copy of the lesson and learn more about the ARIS curriculum.
The Whisper Phone is an important tool for teaching autistic children to read. This simple, low-tech device looks like a phone. As children whisper read, or read aloud, they hear their voices. Using the Whisper Phone helps autistic children learn to read because as they practice reading, they receive immediate auditory feedback that helps them self-monitor and improve their reading skills in areas of speech, pronunciation, fluency, and comprehension. The Whisper Phone can also help autistic children develop confidence in their reading abilities.
Whisper reading is a way to teach autistic children to read. It’s a simple strategy that can be used in schools, therapies, or at home. Phonemes are the individual sounds in a word. As children begin to learn to read, they must read aloud to practice sounding these letters out. This is called phonemic awareness. Once they begin to understand phonemes, children learn to recognize how these individual sounds create a word.
Whisper reading is an important strategy in supporting your child’s development of phonemic awareness. While learning to read, students whisper the words they are sounding out or reading aloud. In addition to speaking the sound, hearing it creates a multisensory approach to learning phonemes.
The Whisper Phone is a tool used to support whisper reading for your autistic child. It looks like a toy phone and there is also a headset. Like a regular phone, the child holds the Whisper Phone up to their ear and as they speak into it, their voice is amplified and they can listen to themselves read. In addition to reading independently, there are two “receivers” which are connected by a tube, so your child can whisper read with themselves, a peer, teacher, or parent.
Whisper Phones are typically used during reading or phonics lessons, speech therapies, or music classes.
Whisper Phones can support reading fluency in children because they promote phonological awareness. As children sound out letters and full words to themselves, they begin to understand how sounds and letters blend. As children practice their sounds and words and read full sentences while listening to themselves, they can better recognize specific letters, sounds, and phoneme blends they are experiencing difficulty with. Using a Whisper Phone to support reading also builds confidence in children.
The Whisper Phone can help autistic children learn to read. Many autistic children experience challenges with over- or under-stimulation, focusing, auditory processing difficulties, speech delays, and 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.
Many autistic children may experience auditory processing difficulties and delays in speech. Sometimes these are connected. Using a Whisper Phone provides immediate, direct auditory feedback. As children speak sounds and words themselves, they develop the ability to hear single phonemes themselves. The ability to recognize and manipulate phonemes and blended sounds is the beginning of learning to read and speak fluently. While children listen to themselves read and speak, they are more motivated to self-identify and self-correct errors.
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 allows an opportunity for them to practice their skills without the added stress of someone listening. Being able to practice, make mistakes, and self-correct can boost confidence in reading for autistic children.
Emergent and early readers start with the foundation of phonemic awareness skills using nonsense words. Children enjoy making up silly words or reading stories by authors such as Dr. Seuss, which contain made-up words. Not having the ability to read yet, these made-up words allow children to practice speaking sounds and sound blends, exploring different combinations they can make. Beginning to say nonsense words and making silly sounds creates the foundation for the manipulation of phonemes later on. Even for children who are unable to read, incorporating a Whisper Phone while they speak “nonsense” allows them to begin hearing the sounds they are creating.
When students read orally, they are experiencing words in a multisensory approach. Seeing, reading, speaking, pronouncing, and hearing the words create three representations of the word for the student. Whisper Phones heighten this multisensory experience by allowing students to engage their bodies more (holding the phone) and changing the volume, tone, and delivery of their speech.
Learning is most effective when multiple modalities of learning are included: tactile learning (using the body), sight, speaking, and listening, are all incorporated when students engage in whisper reading.
This resource was created as a supplement for the ARIS® Academic Readiness Intervention System Language Builder complete early autism curriculum, Lesson #161, Expressive Phonics. Download a free copy of the lesson and learn more about the ARIS curriculum.
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