Background and aims Children’s early interactions with books are important for fostering development of oral language and emergent literacy skills. It is not known whether children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder show different preferences for text types in the home environment prior to school entry. The current study aimed to: (i) investigate parent-reports of the favourite books of their children with autism spectrum disorder compared to typically developing children and (ii) identify whether there are differences in the reasons why books were preferred across the two groups. Methods Participants included children (aged 26–70 months) with autism spectrum disorder (n = 41) and typically developing peers (n = 164). Parent-reports of their child’s current favourite book/s were coded as fiction versus non-fiction and also category type. Parents also reported why the book was considered a favourite and this was coded. Results There were no differences between groups for fiction versus non-fiction, with both groups preferring fiction (>95% of responses). A strong category preference for animal topics across both groups was present. Significant group differences were found when asked to select specific reasons for favourite book preferences. Conclusions This study provides preliminary evidence of similarities between preschool children with autism spectrum disorder and typically developing peers’ preferences for fiction books during the early years. Implications It should not be assumed that children with autism spectrum disorder have different preferences for book types compared to typically developing children in the early years of development. Providing preschoolers with a range of book types during the preschool years will help to facilitate early language and emergent literacy skills.

中文翻译：

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小说还是非小说：自闭症谱系障碍的学龄前儿童家长报告的书籍偏好

背景和目标儿童与书本的早期互动对于促进口语和新兴读写能力的培养很重要。尚不清楚被诊断患有自闭症谱系障碍的儿童在入学之前是否在家庭环境中对文本类型表现出不同的偏好。当前的研究旨在：（i）研究与自闭症谱系障碍儿童相比，其自闭症谱系障碍儿童最喜欢的书的父母报告；以及（ii）确定两组儿童偏爱书籍的原因是否存在差异。方法参与者包括自闭症谱系障碍（n = 41）的儿童（年龄26-70个月）和典型的同龄人（n = 164）。他们孩子当前最喜欢的书的父母报告被编码为小说与非小说以及类别类型。家长们还报告了为什么这本书被认为是最喜欢的书，并对此进行了编码。结果小说和非小说在两组之间没有差异，两组都偏爱小说（> 95％的回答）。两组都对动物主题有强烈的类别偏好。当被要求选择喜欢的书籍偏好的特定原因时，发现了明显的群体差异。结论本研究提供了自闭症谱系学龄前儿童与早期同龄人对小说书的偏爱的相似性的初步证据。启示不能假设自闭症谱系障碍儿童与书本类型的偏爱相比，在发展的早期是典型的成长中的儿童。