A bibliometric analysis of shared book reading in children with autism spectrum disorder
Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by deficits in social communication and the presence of restricted interests and repetitive behaviours (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). As more children are being diagnosed with ASD worldwide, it becomes critical that rehabilitation specialists explore all possible measures to improve the quality of life of these individuals in social, academic, and professional domains.
Aim: Shared book reading is one such technique used among the ASD population, where, despite a growing body of literature on this topic, the research trajectory, global trends, and thematic evolution of this research domain remain poorly understood. This study aims to help bridge that research gap through a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of shared book reading among children with ASD.
Method/approach: The study focused on all publications on shared book reading among children with ASD, taken from the Web of Science database. The search items were selected by using keywords related to ‘shared book reading’ and ‘autism’. Using advanced search features, we systematically retrieved all publications from inception to 13 February, 2025. A total of 54,575 articles were retrieved after the initial search, from which 47 articles were identified as valid for our analysis. The VOS viewer was used as the visual analysis platform to represent the keyword-occurrence analysis and performance metrics (country, journal, co-authorship, co-citation).
Results/findings: The USA, Australia, China, and Brazil were the most prolific contributing nations, accounting for the largest number of publications and citations. Keyword co-occurrence analysis identified five primary thematic clusters (intervention, literacy, language, young children, and autism spectrum disorder). Journal analysis revealed the journals with the highest number of publications for the current topic. Co-authorship analysis showed very few clustered research groups with limited cross-cluster collaboration, suggesting opportunities for interdisciplinary and international partnerships.
Conclusion: This study provides a bibliometric mapping of research on shared book reading among children with ASD, offering a comprehensive overview of the topic, the quality of the existing literature, and priorities for future research.
Implications for children and families: Shared book reading creates opportunities for children with ASD to communicate, participate in shared interactions, express interests, and engage with caregivers in meaningful everyday activities.
Implications for practitioners: Speech-language pathologists, educators, early intervention professionals, and researchers can use these findings to identify evidence gaps, emerging research trends across different parts of the world, and under-researched areas for research planning and developing interventions.
Keywords: children, shared book reading, autism
This presentation relates to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: