FEATURE ARTICLE
Understanding Character Perspective:
Strategies to Support Students With
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Elizabeth G. Finnegan, Amy L. Accardo
The need to interpret characters’ thoughts can affect text comprehension
for students with autism spectrum disorder. What strategies can teachers
implement to help these students understand different character
perspectives?
C
arson’s (pseudonym) teacher uses various lit-
eracy texts to help all of her students under-
stand characters’ various points of view. She
reads the story Stellaluna by Janell Cannon (1993), in
which the eponymous hero of the story, a bat who is
separated from her family, goes through a range of
emotions according to her circumstances. Stellaluna
trembles with fear when she finds herself alone,
is embarrassed when she fails to land on a branch
the way the birds in her adopted family do, is con-
fused when she meets another bat, and is afraid to
fly in the dark after being reunited with her mother.
Stellaluna’s changing emotions are linked to her de-
sire to find acceptance. Although most students can
identify with these emotions, Carson, a student with
autism spectrum disorder (ASD), does not appear to
understand the character’s thoughts, feelings, and
actions. Carson’s teacher does not understand why
he cannot answer seemingly simple questions about
the book: Why does the owl attack Stellaluna’s moth-
er? Why is the mother bird angry with Stellaluna?
Why are the baby birds afraid to fly in the dark? All
the other students in her class are responding well
to the story.
The next day, Carson’s teacher distributes a
graphic organizer titled “What’s My Point of View?”
(see Figure 1). After modeling how to complete each
row, the teacher asks the class to work in pairs to
complete the rest of the graphic organizer. Carson’s
partner explains that the owl is a bird of prey who
flies at night and likes to eat small bats. The part-
ners discover that Stellaluna’s preferences change
in the book because she wants to fit in with others,
and they complete the graphic organizer together.
The Reading Teacher   Vol. 0   No. 0   pp. 1–10
Carson now understands Stellaluna’s behavior be-
cause he is better able to understand her needs and
feelings.
This scenario illustrates how a student with ASD
who may have grade-­level decoding skills and may
be doing well academically might not comprehend
various story elements. Yet, with the right supports,
Carson and other students can improve their under-
standing of the changing character perspectives in a
story and discover the underlying themes.
The Link Between Character
and Reading Comprehension
A r istot le (2013) asser ted t hat plot is charac-
ter revealed by action and described how action
spr ings from characters’ beliefs and thoughts.
Understanding how these elements are connect-
ed requires higher order comprehension skills.
Reading comprehension is the process of simulta-
neously extracting and constructing meaning from
text (Snow, 2002). It is a highly complex task requir-
ing the integration of word recognition, working
memory, monitoring skills, and background knowl-
edge (Pressley & Aff lerbach, 1995). Background
knowledge on human needs, motives, emotions,
Elizabeth G. Finnegan is an associate professor in the
School of Education at St. Thomas Aquinas College,
Sparkill, NY, USA; email efinnega@stac.edu.
Amy L. Accardo is an instructor in the College of
Education at Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, USA;
email accardo@rowan.edu.
1 doi:10.1002/trtr.1682   © 2018 International Literacy Association
 Feature Article

and relationships (i.e., social knowledge) can help communication can affect socioemotional reciproc-
young readers make inferences about the cause and ity. Individuals with ASD may exhibit discrepancies
effect between events in a story (Stein & Goldman, in nonverbal communicative behaviors, such as
1979). Teachers build background knowledge in dif- not being able to interpret facial expressions cor-
ferent ways: previewing vocabulary, scaffolding rectly and having difficulty adjusting behavior to
content acquisition, or showing students how to suit various social contexts. It is believed that these
activate their own background knowledge to draw differences exist because individuals with ASD do
inferences as they read. not always understand how
When readers are able to make PAUSE AND PONDER t he behav ior of one person
inferences about characters’ inf luences and is inf luenced
thoughts, and words and actions by t he behav ior of anot her
■ Do your students with ASD gravitate
and recognize how those affec- person. Social impairments
toward informational texts, avoiding
tive states are linked to the action stories that convey emotion and in ASD have been found to be
of the plot, they increase their beliefs? significant predictors of read-
ability to realize the thematic ing comprehension, after ac-
elements of a story. In Stellaluna ■ How can you break down reading counting for variance in word
comprehension tasks into discrete
(Cannon, 1993), for example, the recognition and oral language
skills (e.g., identifying the main
reader uses social knowledge to character, priming background
( R ic k et t s, Jone s, H app é, &
infer meaning: Stellaluna’s moth- knowledge related to social Charman, 2013).
er croons to and clutches her baby interactions, identifying pronoun Baron-­ Cohen, Leslie, and
because she loves her. Inferences referents) for your students with Frith (1985) posited that chil-
can also be made contextually: ASD? dren with ASD lack theo-
Stellaluna learns to sit upright on ry of mind. Theory of mind
■ How might these strategies be
a branch so the birds will accept adapted for use with informational (Premack & Woodruff, 1978) is
her. texts that discuss different the ability to attribute mental
There are similarities in the perspectives on historical or social states to others. This ability
cognitive processes involved in issues? to understand the thoughts,
understanding stories and in un- feelings, and beliefs of others
derstanding social interactions. is vital in social interactions
In both, an individual’s actions are understood to as it helps us predict what people might do next
be motivated or internally based (Stein & Goldman, and informs us how best to approach or respond to
1979). Students with ASD find texts that require them. Lack of theory of mind could affect reading
high social knowledge more challenging (Brown, comprehension.
Oram-­ Cardy, & Johnson, 2013). Due to their de- Reading fiction requires students to understand
fining characteristics, students with ASD are less characters’ perspectives, which drive characters’ ac-
likely than their typically developing peers to re- tions, which in turn drives the plot. Students with
fer to characters’ affective states and less likely ASD have difficulty giving reasons for characters’
to provide causal explanations for those affective thoughts and actions, even when the narrative is re-
states (Capps, Losh, & Thurber, 2000; Colle, Baron-­ lated to everyday events (Happé, 1994). In turn, if a
Cohen, Wheelwright, & van der Lely, 2008). student does not make inferences about characters’
thoughts and feelings and recognize them as dif-
Theory of Mind ferent from their own, it would be difficult to com-
prehend the overall story (Carnahan, Williamson, &
and Students With ASD Christman, 2011). Furthermore, lack of theory of mind
ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that can could affect the ability of students, including students
cause significant social, communication, and be- with ASD, to understand authors’ intentions. Reading
havioral challenges and affects approximately comprehension requires the reader to interpret not
one in 68 children (Centers for Disease Control only characters’ points of view but also the narrator’s
and Prevention, 2017). Diagnosis is based on the point of view (Shanahan et al., 2010). This includes
observation of social communication differences understanding the purpose of a text, the author’s
and repetitive and restrictive behaviors (American stance, and in the higher grades, the recognition of
Psychiatric Association, 2013). Differences in social literacy devices such as irony, satire, and hyperbole.

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 Feature Article

Figure 1
“What’s My Point of View?” Graphic Organizer

Social Competence It is not clear at present whether reading compre-

in Students With ASD
Although differences in social communication
skills are recognized at diagnosis, individuals with
ASD develop social skills over time. Greater reading
comprehension difficulties (relative to IQ) are asso-
ciated with more pronounced social and commu-
nication difficulties (Jones et al., 2009). Individuals
with ASD who have comorbid language impairments
are more likely to require explicit support with text
comprehension.
hension skills predict impairments in social compe-
tence in students with ASD. However, some studies
have shown positive effects of scripts, ­social stories,
storytelling, and theatrical techniques on the abil-
ity of individuals with ASD to understand the per-
spective of others (Corbett et al., 2016; Feng, Lo, Tsai,
& Cartledge, 2008; Scattone, 2007; Waugh & Peskin,
2015). It appears that social competence increases
through the use of such strategies, as does awareness
of social cues and character emotions in narrative
text (Gately, 2008). Several research-­based strategies

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 Feature Article
have been identified as effective in ­improving read-
ing comprehension in students with ASD (Accardo,
2015; Finnegan & Mazin, 2016).
The strategies selected for this article have been
used to assist all learners, including learners with
ASD, with comprehension. Three strategies (graphic
organizers, anaphoric cueing, and question–­answer
relationships) demonstrated by research specifi-
cally to assist students with ASD in understanding
character perspective are outlined. Instructions on
how to implement each strategy are provided along-
side details from the supporting research.
Graphic Organizers
Graphic organizers provide a visual framework and
are structured to show how textual information is
related. By providing a framework for readers to con-
nect what they know with new textual information,
graphic organizers support the cognitive effort re-
quired to interpret and comprehend text (Wittrock,
1992). Graphic organizers exist in many formats and
have been used frequently to assist students with
ASD with reading comprehension (Accardo, 2015;
Chiang & Lin, 2007; Finnegan & Mazin, 2016).
To use graphic organizers effectively, teach-
ers must first identify a graphic organizer that best
suits the overall lesson objective. A story map pro-
vides students with a visual depiction of story ele-
ments such as character and plot, eliminating the
requirement for participants to actively remember
all the elements when making connections among
them (Stringfield, Luscre, & Gast, 2011). Character
event maps have also been shown to help students
with ASD increase the number of inferential ques-
tions they can answer about characters in a novel
(Williamson, Carnahan, Birri, & Swoboda, 2015). After
selecting graphic organizers, teachers should model
and guide students on how to use them.
Figure 2 shows a completed story map for
Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli (1996).
Mr. Hatch’s actions are aligned with the plot. Using
the story map, students can answer questions about
each element of the story and sequence the events
of the story. However, students with ASD may still
need support to understand why Mr. Hatch’s behav-
ior changed after he received a gift. The addition of
a graphic organizer that highlights Mr. Hatch’s feel-
ings before and after receiving the gift can help stu-
dents figure out that it was the gift that made Mr.
Hatch feel special. This links to the overall theme of
the story, which is that everyone wants to feel loved.
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The graphic organizers for Stellaluna and Mr.
Hatch can be used in a similar way. After students
have had the opportunity to identify the traits of
each character, teachers can scaffold questions to
highlight why each character felt and acted the way
they did. Figure 1 shows that the teacher has mod-
eled how to complete the graphic organizer by fill-
ing out each column for the mother bird. The teach-
er recognizes that the use of the graphic organizer
is beneficial for the entire class, yet she deliberately
models the traits of one of the supporting charac-
ters so Carson, her student with ASD, can experi-
ence success at identifying the traits of the main
character and discover for himself the conflicts that
Stellaluna experienced.
Anaphoric Cueing
A potential barrier to understanding the perspec-
tives of different characters is the ability to pro-
duce and comprehend pronouns. Pronouns are
the most common form of anaphora (i.e., a word
that replaces or refers to a word used earlier). For
example, in the sentence “Mr. Hatch was tall and
thin and he did not smile” (Spinelli, 1996, p. 2), he
refers to Mr. Hatch. Less skilled readers struggle to
link pronouns to the content, overspecify character
nouns, and make errors in first-person pronouns
(Dale & Crain-­Thoreson, 1993; Kaderavek & Sulzby,
2000). Typically developing students confuse sub-
ject pronouns up until the age of 7. Students with
ASD continue with this ambiguous pronoun use
throughout childhood. They also produce fewer
pronouns than their typically developing peers
(Colle et al., 2008; Novogrodsky & Edelson, 2016).
Students with ASD may not make the deictic shift
depending on who is speaking; that is, remapping
the reciprocal relationship of the referent needed
to interpret character and character point of view
to the noun.
Anaphoric cueing refers to strategies that assist
readers in correctly interpreting pronoun referents.
Two related strategies in anaphoric cueing have
been found to be effective for students with ASD;
one uses a cloze design, and the other uses a graph-
ic organizer. Before beginning either strategy, the
teacher explains to the student that there are short
ways of saying things and provides an example.
Teachers can also hint that the character to which
the pronoun refers is most likely to be found in the
same or previous sentence. Initially, pronoun ref-
erents can be highlighted by the teacher. Students
 Feature Article

Figure 2
Story Map With Before and After Diagram Representing Character Change

are then asked to identify both the referents and the
characters to which they refer.
Example: “Mr. Hatch was tall and thin and he did
not smile.” (Spinelli, 1996, p. 2)
Teacher: “Who does he refer to?”
In cloze strategies (Campbell, 2010; O’Connor
& Klein, 2004), the reader either fills in blanks or
chooses from a selection of names to identify the
character to which each pronoun refers. When
teachers initially create cloze examples, three
possible referent words should appear under each
blank: one inappropriate, one syntactically correct
but not relevant to the story, and one that makes
sense.
Example: “When Mr. Hatch wasn’t smiling, he [Mr.
Goober, Mr. Hatch, package] was laugh-
ing.” (Spinelli, 1996, p. 11)

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 Feature Article

It is important to scaffold examples as pronoun
referents have varying levels of complexity (Oakhill,
Yuill, & Parkin, 1986), as Table 1 shows. Teachers
can also make the referent words more alike so stu-
dents have to think harder about which character
the pronoun refers to.
Example: “Then one afternoon Mr. Goober, the post-
man, came to his [Mr. Goober, Mr. Hatch,
Valentine] door.” (Spinelli, 1996, p. 11)
Teachers can select texts that provide targeted
practice. After students have identified the correct
pronoun, teachers can ask who the pronoun refers
to. Over time, questions and supports can be faded
out. Examples from Sleep Like a Tiger by Mary Logue
(2012) can be used in this way to focus on subject
pronouns. The story begins,
Once there was a little girl who didn’t want to go to
sleep even though the sun had gone away. [He/She/Our]
told her mother, “I’m not tired.”
She told her father, “I’m not sleepy.”
[He/She/They] nodded their heads and said she
didn’t have to go to sleep. (pp. 2–6)
Initially, students must identify the single-­
subject pronoun that refers to the main character.
As the story progresses, students recognize that the
narrator is referring to more than one character and
must identify the pronoun they in reference to the
parents.
This story also offers students the opportunity
to practice the deictic shift necessary when inter-
preting speech. As the story progresses, the protag-
onist asks her parents about the sleeping habits of
animals.
“Do whales sleep?” she asked.
“Yes. They swim slowly around and around.” (p. 15)
The pronoun she refers to the main character,
whereas the pronoun they refers to the animals she
asks about, in this case, whales. There are many ex-
amples that can provide students with additional
practice. These cloze techniques have been shown
to be effective for students with ASD, who were bet-
ter able to answer comprehension questions after
instruction including anaphoric questioning and
textual prompts (Campbell, 2010; O’Connor & Klein,
2004).
Alternatively, a graphic organizer can be used
to help students with ASD find all the possible pro-
nouns referring to a particular character (Solis, El
Zein, Vaughn, McCulley, & Falcomata, 2016). Adding
a visual organizer to anaphoric cueing techniques
was found to be effective when used alongside texts
that appealed to students’ interests (Williamson
et al., 2015).
For the character of Stellaluna (Cannon, 1993),
possible pronouns include she, her, it, you, and I, de-
pending on context. In addition, Stellaluna’s moth-
er is also referred to as she, her, and you. A graphic

Table 1
Complexity of Pronoun Referents

Type of pronoun Example (Spinelli, 1996) Rationale

Third-person “Mr. Hatch was tall and Probably the simplest to interpret. Students with language
subject thin and he did not smile” impairments are less likely to make errors (Kaderavek & Sulzby,
(p. 2). 2000).
Third-person “Mr. Hatch stepped onto The pronoun refers to something belonging to the character
possessive his porch” (p. 5). mentioned in the same sentence.
Third-person “Mr. Smith handed him the The pronoun still refers to the main character, but not the
object paper” (p. 8). character named in the sentence.
First person “‘I always enjoy delivering The reader must shift perspective and recognize that the word I
packages’” (p. 5). refers to the speaker (in this case, Mr. Doober).
Second-person “‘Somebody loves you’” “Somebody” is anonymous, and the giver of the gift is never
object (p. 5). revealed in the story. The sentence also includes the word you.
Students with ASD exhibit difficulty with I and you pronouns.
Third-person “He keeps to himself” The pronoun refers to the main character, but the phrase is
reflexive (p. 4). idiomatic, making it more difficult to comprehend.

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 Feature Article
organizer illustrating the pronoun referents for a
character is completed prior to reading (see Figure 3).
Students are then asked to generate a question about
the text, which will often require them to generate
a pronoun; for example, “What happened to her?” To
provide students with additional support in gener-
ating questions, teachers may provide a prompt or
model an example. Students are reinforced for gen-
erating questions and answering comprehension
questions. Characters often reveal their thoughts
and beliefs in dialogue, so it is critical for students
with ASD to be explicitly taught to identify referents
in narrative text (Williamson, Carnahan, & Jacobs,
2012). This strategy helps students with ASD, as well
as other students who find pronouns confusing, fig-
ure out which character the pronoun refers to. They
can also see that in dialogue, pronouns may differ
as the characters are now referring to themselves
and each other.
Question–Answer Relationships
The Question–Answer Relationship (QAR) strategy
(Raphael, 1982) and other questioning techniques
Figure 3
Advance Organizer to Show Pronoun Choices for
Stellaluna (Cannon, 1993)
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have been shown to assist students w ith ASD
with reading comprehension (Åsberg & Dahlgren
Sandberg, 2010; Solis et al., 2016; Whalon & Hanline,
2008). QARs are useful in that they frame questions
in ways that encourage readers to make inferences
and to become aware of the relationship between
the type of question being asked and the strategy
needed to find the answer. Raphael and Au (2005)
used question labels to support students in identi-
fying QARs. For example, the reader can be directed
to first decide if the answer to a question is either
“In the Book” or “In My Head.” If the answer is in the
book, it could be “Right There” if the answer is tex-
tually explicit, or it might be a “Think and Search”
question, indicating that the answer is textually
implicit and the reader needs to make connections
with evidence from the text. An “On My Own” ques-
tion is textually implicit and will require the reader
to draw on his or her background knowledge to an-
swer the question. “Author and Me” questions re-
quire the reader to think about author’s purpose,
themes, and language choice. The use of QARs has
been shown to help students with disabilities, and
the naturalistic approach makes it ideal for all stu-
dents in inclusive classes.
In teaching students with ASD to use QARs,
Åsberg and Dahlgren Sandberg (2010), like Raphael,
Highfield, and Au (2006), began with a training pe-
riod. Teachers gave definitions, explained the dif-
ferent types of questions, and modeled how to use
the strategy. During the training period, students
with ASD were taught to answer questions about
the text and to identify which type of question
was being asked. Students with ASD were encour-
aged to participate in small-­ g roup discussions.
Comparing and clarifying answers with other
students was considered an important part of the
learning process. It is recommended that teachers
give careful thought to the type of comprehension
questions they ask. Highlighting character per-
spective, the QARs strategy can be used to scaffold
students’ understanding of characters’ internal
thoughts and feelings, which in turn drives the ac-
tion of the plot.
The novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred
D. Taylor (1976) tells the story of Cassie, a young
girl growing up in Mississippi during the Great
Depression. In addition to economic hardship, the
impact of racism is evident throughout the novel.
The following examples show how the QARs strat-
egy can be used to shape students’ thinking about
the characters.
 Feature Article

How did Cassie look at her father

Question 1: 
when he left to work on the railroad?
TAKE ACTION!
She looked at him strangely.
Answer:  1. Break down reading comprehension tasks into
R ight There
Type:  discrete skills (identifying main character, priming
background knowledge, identifying pronoun
How did Cassie feel when her father
Question 2:  ­referents) before integrating the skills and
strategies.
left?
2. Highlight pronoun referents in text and explain to
She was confused.
Answer: 
students that there are short ways of saying things.
Think and Search
Type:  3. Give clear, explicit instructions on how to use each
strategy. Monitor students as they acquire each new
How would you feel if someone you
Question 3:  strategy to ensure they are using it properly.
loved had to go away?
4. To build independence, provide students with guided
Sad.
Answer:  practice identifying both the referents and the char-
acters to which they refer.
On My Own
Type: 
5. Give careful thought to the type of comprehension
Why did Papa have to leave?
Question 4:  questions planned to highlight character perspective,
and provide them to students before reading.
He had to work elsewhere to help
Answer: 
pay the taxes and the mortgage on 6. Teach QARs to scaffold students’ comprehension of
the land. characters’ internal thoughts and feelings, which drive
the plot.
Author and Me
Type: 
7. Encourage students to apply previously learned strat-
When the various components are broken down egies to new reading material.
and isolated, students are better able to compare
the characters’ perspectives with their own and to
make connections between their experiences and
out disabilities in general education, inclusive, and
the main character’s. In Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry,
self-­contained settings. Through repeated exposure
Cassie’s confusion drives much of the narrative,
to such strategies, readers are able to gain compe-
as she learns to figure out why the land her family
tency and begin using the strategies with greater
owns is so important and why her family sacrifices
independence, leading to increased comprehen-
so much to keep it. Teachers who have students with
sion outcomes in the area of social competence and
ASD in their classes can continue to keep their ques-
characterization.
tions focused in this way, or they can follow explicit
examples with guided practice to scaffold indepen-
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All readers benefit from high-­q uality reading in-
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comprehend text. Readers with ASD may experi-
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MORE TO EXPLORE
■■ Iland, E. (2011). Drawing a blank: Improving
comprehension for readers on the autism spectrum.
Shawnee Mission, KS: AAPC.
■■ Lindamood-Bell’s Visualizing and Verbalizing program:
https://lindamoodbell.com/program/visualizing-and-
verbalizing-program
■■ The IRIS Center’s module “Teaching Vocabulary and
Comprehension in the Content Areas”: https://iris.
peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/sec-rdng/
■■ Turtle Diary’s free online pronoun games for students
in all grades: https://www.turtlediary.com/games/
pronoun.html
■■ WorksheetWorks.com, a website for customizing
graphic organizers: https://www.worksheetworks.com

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