Download This dissertation analyzes the neuropsychological and linguistic precursors underlying written text comprehension in a sample of eight school-age subjects with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the absence of intellectual disability. Scientific literature often highlights a marked dissociation between decoding and comprehension skills in these students: despite adequate deciphering skills, significant obstacles emerge in constructing the overall meaning of the text.
Adopting a multicomponential perspective that integrates the Simple View of Reading (SVR; Gough & Tunmer, 1986), the research investigated the role of decoding, receptive vocabulary, verbal fluency, and working memory in the process of reading comprehension. The results highlight a marked heterogeneity in functional profiles, demonstrating that decoding and the possession of a lexical store are necessary, but not always sufficient, conditions for success in the task.
Qualitative analysis of several clinical cases revealed profound dissociations between the breadth of the semantic store and the efficiency of lexical access, as well as the critical impact of working memory as a structural constraint on information integration. The primary evidence suggests that the same poor comprehension score may conceal very different weaknesses in neuropsychological and linguistic precursors. In conclusion, the study emphasizes the urgency of moving beyond standardized rehabilitation approaches in favor of detailed patient profiling, in order to design personalized interventions capable of transforming individual potential into real functional and inclusive skills.