What Do We Know About the Home Literacy and Numeracy Environments of Autistic Preschoolers? A Systematic Review

Academic achievement in autistic children is highly variable: some experience significant difficulties, others perform on par with their peers. While the preschool home learning environment (HLE) supports academic development in neurotypical children, it remains unclear what this environment looks like for autistic preschoolers, how it differs from their peers, and how it relates to child characteristics and academic skills.

This systematic review searched Web of Science, PubMed, ERIC and Scopus, following PRISMA guidelines. It provides a comprehensive overview of 43 studies on the HLE of autistic preschoolers, exploring differences with peers, associations with child characteristics and academic skills, and outcomes of HLE-focused interventions.

Overall, parents of autistic preschoolers reported engaging in a range of learning activities, having many books available and holding positive beliefs about the HLE. While some differences with peers emerged, these often disappeared once children's language skills were taken into account. Child characteristics appeared to influence the HLE. However, evidence on associations between the HLE and academic skills was limited and mixed. Notably, only one study examined home numeracy, and no studies investigated the longitudinal impact of the preschool HLE on academic outcomes. Intervention studies showed promising effects on parent and child behaviours, though long-term effectivity and methodological rigour remain concerns.

Autistic preschoolers generally experience rich HLEs, with limited differences from peers. Future research should clarify how the HLE influences learning development in the short and long term, consider the role of child characteristics, and address the notable gap in home numeracy research.