Almost 10yo still not into reading books at all!

[Anonymous]

DS has HFA and ADHD and can read supposedly at grade level per his report card, but he still is not into reading at all. I have to sit with him and we take turns reading pages of picture books. Is he ever going to be able to read a book on his own and actually understand it? Anyone with advice on how to work on this? Anyone BTDT and found what works in helping him learn how to really read snd enjoy reading? How can the teacher say he is on grade level when he is clearly not?! He has a reading tutor via zoom he works with 2x per week, but while they say he is doing great, I don't see it carrying over into his everyday activity.

[Anonymous]

If he has ADHD, can you work with his particular interests?

Mine with inattentive ADHD read extremely early, but had trouble with longer narratives for a long time, even though she loved to be read to, or to listen to audiobooks. Pretty sure at least part of of that was processing speed.

Reading-wise, she did much better with shorter chunks of material, like encyclopedias. Her vocabulary and decoding were really advanced, but she couldn’t focus on reading anything for more than about five minutes at a time. She was obsessed with the DK Star Wars encyclopedias, and the National Geographic Kids books—almanacs, Weird but True, etc. Graphic novels were also a favorite.

As with a lot of counterintuitive ADHD-related stuff, the harder the text was, the better she could focus—IF she was interested in the subject matter.

[Anonymous]

What are his other options?

I mean, if he's got unlimited screen time, he's unlikely to pick up a book, especially if reading doesn't come easy.

And that brings up, of course, another question -- how are his decoding skills? When he reads with you, does he struggle with the text or substitute one word for another? Is he able to read "nonsense words" or real words in isolation or does he rely on context to pick things out? If this aspect is hard, he's going to have increased trouble understanding the narrative, because of the cognitive load of having to process the text.

[Anonymous]

My 13 year old has read two books in her life. She is dyslexic and ADHD. She has finally decided to like audio books. I feel like she has missed out on lots of things but I can't force her to enjoy reading.

[Anonymous]

OP what is he working on with the reading tutor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP what is he working on with the reading tutor?

Ask the teacher to detail out what they mean be reading on grade level.
I assume there is an IEP with goals? What are the IEP goals around reading and writing?
Is this comprehension? Fluency? Decoding?

All of these are parts of reading and for some children need to be addressed separately.

[Anonymous]

Do your kids see you reading for pleasure? I think that’s the number one factor to encourage reading.

My teen girl likes popular writer Colleen Hoover. I just let it happen!

[Anonymous]

A couple thoughts - has he tried graphic novels or mangas? There is still some reading, but it isn't as intimidating as a novel.

What are his interests? Can you get him some books focused around that? My kids had many Pokemon and Minecraft books.

At that age, my similar DS liked Big Nate books, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and the My Weird School series.

The good thing about books is that they aren't going anywhere, so he isn't missing anything that he can't read later.

My DD used to hate reading and would almost never read books that I picked out for her. She just turned 12 and over the past 2 months has discovered her love of reading actual novels (and not just mangas). But, she will only read books that she chooses. I let her browse when we go to Target and I have taken her to Barnes and Noble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS has HFA and ADHD and can read supposedly at grade level per his report card, but he still is not into reading at all. I have to sit with him and we take turns reading pages of picture books. Is he ever going to be able to read a book on his own and actually understand it? Anyone with advice on how to work on this? Anyone BTDT and found what works in helping him learn how to really read and enjoy reading? How can the teacher say he is on grade level when he is clearly not?! He has a reading tutor via zoom he works with 2x per week, but while they say he is doing great, I don't see it carrying over into his everyday activity.

For my son who is dyslexic, I read to him every night until he was in 5th grade and he started doing it himself. Some of the series I read:
Nathan Hale Hazardous Tales
Big Nate
Diary of a Whimpey Kid
Harry Potter Illustrated until they took it over. Motivation was after we read the book we watched the movie

After started reading independently -
The D&D books - there is a players handbook, books about different things (Don't ask me - we have a stack of them and he will read them for hours)
Spy School series
Percy Jackson series
Keeper of the Lost Cities

My son also reads the comics in the newspaper every morning. This started with me reading them to him and now he reads them independently. If we miss the paper delivery, he wants to read them online. He loves Pearls before Swine so we have a bunch of these books as well.

[Anonymous]

I don't have a ton of expertise with this, but with my ADHD and dyslexic kid, I second the suggestion of things like almanacs--there's lots of photographic Guiness Book of World Records going on over here. Also, maybe reading eBooks would be preferable--something about the screen that encourages focus? I have mixed feelings about screens, but when my kid wants to read an eBook, I just think, "He wants to read!" and say yes.

I completely get your frustration, including with the school's take on things, and wish you luck.

[Anonymous]

Have you tried something like Dogman and Captain Underpants or the Last Kids on Earth series? Sometimes I'm like what is he even reading but then I remember he's reading and enjoying it and that's the goal.