Our Approach and Research
At LiveWyre Learning, we look beyond the final word or response a child produces.
Communication and reading depend on multiple processes working together: attention, processing, mental imagery, comprehension, memory, word retrieval, language organization and motor planning.
Our approach uses current research alongside careful observation of each child’s individual communication and learning profile.
Autistic Communication
Communication Begins Before the Words
When an autistic child struggles to answer a question, explain an experience or follow a direction, the difficulty may occur before they begin speaking.
They must first:
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Attend to the relevant information.
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Process the language.
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Connect it to concepts and experiences.
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Create meaning.
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Organize their thoughts.
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Retrieve the words.
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Coordinate their response.
This is why repeating a question or providing more verbal models does not always resolve the underlying difficulty.
Understanding and Expression May Not Match
Autistic children have highly individual language profiles. Some speak fluently but struggle with comprehension, organization or word retrieval. Some minimally speaking autistic children understand significantly more language than they can express.
A large study of minimally verbal autistic children and adolescents found considerable variation in receptive language. Approximately one-quarter demonstrated significantly stronger understanding than expressive language, reinforcing the importance of assessing comprehension separately from spoken output. [1]
We therefore avoid assuming what a child understands based only on how much they speak.
Communication Depends on Connected Brain Networks
Language is not controlled by a single part of the brain.
Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas are historically associated with language production and comprehension, but meaningful communication involves a much wider network. Attention, memory, visual processing, sensory information, language and motor systems must exchange information efficiently.
A systematic review of 96 neuroimaging studies found differences in how language networks connect and communicate in autistic people. The results were varied, reflecting the considerable diversity found across autistic individuals. [2]
This supports looking beyond isolated language skills and considering how different processes work together for the individual child.
Building the Connection Between Imagery and Language
Mental imagery can help children create a more complete representation of what they hear, read or experience.
We teach children to notice and develop details such as:
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What they picture
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Size, colour and shape
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Number
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Location
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Movement
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Background
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Mood and perspective
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These details help the child hold information together, build meaning and organize language for answering questions or retelling.
Research outside autism-specific populations has found that mental-imagery instruction can support aspects of story comprehension in children with language difficulties. [3]
Autism-specific research into imagery-based language interventions remains developing, so we use imagery as one individualized instructional tool rather than presenting it as a universal solution.
Our Autism Communication Approach
Our approach focuses on strengthening the connection between what a child:
Experiences → Pictures → Understands → Organizes → Communicates
Instruction may develop:
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Language processing
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Mental imagery
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Conceptual understanding
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Word retrieval
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Narrative language
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Question answering
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Reading comprehension
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Conversation
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Communication during everyday life
Support is continually adjusted according to the child’s responses. We do not assume that every autistic child processes or communicates in the same way.
Apraxia and Reading
Speech and Reading Are Connected—but They Are Not the Same Skill
Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a neurological motor-speech disorder. A child generally knows what they want to say but has difficulty planning and coordinating the precise movements required for speech. [4]
Traditional reading tasks frequently require children to say sounds, blend aloud, repeat words and read passages orally. For a child with apraxia, these activities combine two demands:
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Recognizing and understanding written language
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Planning and producing the spoken response
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Difficulty reading aloud may therefore reflect a combination of reading and motor-speech demands. It should not automatically be interpreted as a lack of understanding.
Children With Apraxia Can Be at Greater Risk of Reading Difficulties
Apraxia does not mean that a child cannot learn to read. However, research indicates that children with a history of suspected CAS have an increased risk of literacy difficulties.
One study found that 65% of participants with suspected CAS were classified as low-proficiency readers. Oral language and phonological awareness were among the strongest predictors of reading performance. [5]
Other research has found that children with suspected CAS and children with diagnosed reading disorders can demonstrate similar difficulties in decoding and literacy-related skills. [6]
A recent systematic review also found an overall association between speech-sound difficulties and increased language and reading difficulties. [7]
These findings support introducing literacy instruction early and monitoring more than speech production alone.
Phonological Awareness Still Matters
Children need to understand how spoken sounds connect with written letters and words. Research identifies phonological awareness, oral language and sequencing as important contributors to later literacy. [8]
For a child with apraxia, however, phonological knowledge may need to be assessed and taught without requiring perfectly accurate speech.
A child might demonstrate sound awareness by:
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Selecting the word that begins with a target sound
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Matching sounds and letters
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Identifying whether two words rhyme
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Choosing between written words
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Manipulating letter tiles
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Pointing, signing, typing or using AAC
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This allows us to develop essential reading foundations while adapting the response demand.
Why We Include Silent Reading
Reading aloud is useful, but it is not the only way to measure reading.
Silent reading can help us explore whether a child can:
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Recognize written words
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Understand sentences
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Create a mental picture
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Follow the meaning of a story
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Answer questions without saying every word aloud
This is an instructional and assessment adaptation based on separating the demands of reading comprehension from speech production. There is currently limited direct research establishing silent reading as a specific treatment for CAS.
We therefore use silent reading alongside—rather than instead of—explicit instruction in phonological awareness, decoding, vocabulary and comprehension.
Our Apraxia Reading Approach
Our approach develops two important underlying processes: phonological awareness and letter imagery.
Phonological awareness helps a child recognize and work with the sounds within words.
Letter imagery develops their ability to picture, remember and manipulate letters and letter sequences—supporting word recognition, spelling and the retention of written words.
We focus on strengthening these foundations before placing pressure on the child to read aloud.
For a child with apraxia, difficulty producing a spoken word may reflect motor-planning demands rather than an inability to recognize or understand it.
By separating literacy development from speech production, we can build the processes needed for reading while allowing the child to demonstrate learning through pointing, selecting, matching, writing, AAC or silent reading.
Begin With Your Child’s Individual Profile
If you are unsure whether your child’s difficulty is connected to processing, comprehension, language, reading, motor planning or a combination of these areas, begin with a conversation.
We will help you understand what may be happening and recommend the most appropriate next step.