Please help me teach my child to read!!!
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Anonymous
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We have gone from a DRA 16 to a an 18 in two years. This seems unacceptable. Is there an approach that works well with autisitic kids? My DD is at the end of 5th grade. Doing well in math, memorizes things easily. We have tried many things for reading and just don't know what to do anymore. ANy ideas on programs, etc. and amount of time to spend on them. We do work hard, but perhaps need a different approach. I am unwilling to give up yet. I think some teachers are willing to give up and I will not buckle.
I have decided to work with DD this summer, but do not know what to do for either decoding of comprehension. Currently she is doing reading mastery, which I am not wild about and no real comprehension program. Can anybody help me? She has been in self contained autism class for academics. Not always appropriate because other behaviors in class get in the way of real teaching time. Also, teacher is streched too thin. Teacher has to oversee most of the AUT kids (around 35) and has to go to alot of meetings and therefore has to miss class often. Yes, there is a substitute or the IA, but we all know the teacher is the one with the ABA experience and degree in special ed. DD was in Non-cat but we thought she would get more attention in AUT and switched her. I don't know what to think anymore. Seems like she would have done about the same in non-cat. Very frustrating! |
Anonymous
| Have you looked into any of the tutoring programs such as Huntington, Sylvan or Kumon? |
Anonymous
| Phonics Pathways. |
Anonymous
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I am so sorry you're frustrated, I can totally feel you...not from a mother's perspective (my son is still too young for me to have reading worries, just yet!) but I get you from an educator's perspective...I work with ELL students and students with special needs and my strengths are in reading instruction and intervention....
Are you an educator too? You seem to know a lot about assessments and such...or are you just a heavily involved mommy? :0) I am drawn to your situation and would like to contribute as much as I can, only it is difficult to know what your next steps would be without knowing her full story...Given the wide spectrum of Autism, I would say that it would be very hard to prescribe any one "way" to work with your daughter...I think it would depend more on her general disposition and learning styles as well as her interests/what motivates her, etc...it would also depend on where her gaps are...most-likely starting at the Phonemic Awareness level, judging by her DRA level... I agree with you, that Reading Mastery is kind of a dud...I hated implementing it, myself, when my old school was using it.... I have recently come across a great program from the 95%group (95percentgroup.com)...I am pushing to train teachers on it at my school for next year...I have realized that so many teachers come out of school with no formal phonics training; and for some reason, many schools just want to casually throw it out there and hope that their curriculum will do the job for them...this program might be great for you because it is scripted, affordable and lays out the progression/steps in a way that is easy to understand...you might even be able to find a free training on it through OSSE...I don't know what access is like for non-teachers, but it is worth looking into... perhaps I am saying too much too soon, so i will pause here, for lunch :0) but lemme know your thoughts, so far... Happy Thursday, JenB |
Anonymous
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no, this does help. I would say my dd is a sightword learner. She does not like to do phonics but can if it is only one word at a time. Not the whole sentence to look at....take the word out and decode. SHe HATES doing it. SHe has a very strong memory and likes sight words best, best these programs are too easy. So, yes I guess she needs decoding first or she needs decoding and then a program for comprehension. ANd that is the tricky one. She likes facts not fiction.
I don't think Kumon wouold work or the other programs, although I wish they would. My DD needs repetition. She is considered high functioning, but we know that doesn't mean much. She needs work on retelling, connections, inferences, etc. |
Anonymous
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she loves rules too! Just not too many.
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Anonymous
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Orton Gillingham approach is what worked for us. Might be something to look into.
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Anonymous
| Thank you, these are all very helpful. |
Anonymous
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OP, I suggest you look into Phonographix or Abecedarian. They both have relatively inexpensive materials for parents to use at home if that is the approach you wish to take.
If your child cannot yet decode I would not worry about comprehension. Abecedarian website is here: http://www.abcdrp.com You would probably want to start her on Level A Short version. There is a workbook, storybooks, and a free blending practice for Level A that you can download here: http://www.abcdrp.com/docs/ABCD_WABS_02.pdf Also I recommend that you get the book "Reading Reflex" that explains the basic method behind Phonographix and Abecedarian in great detail. It will help you to understand what's been going on with your child. |
Anonymous
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PP again. What I love about Abecedarian is that it is extremely efficient. Reading Mastery goes very slowly and has way too many unnecessary activities. Abecedarian is thorough and quick; if your child gets hung up on a particular skill, there are additional materials just for that level and skill available in the files sections of the author's Yahoo group:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/abecedarian Good luck! |
Anonymous
| if you wanted to work on comprehension in the meantime, work on it through stories that YOU read to her....so when she is ready to read, she has some strategies in her pocket... |
Anonymous
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I provide academic therapy for kids with language-based learning disabilities. I would echo the post about Orton-Gillingham based programs for basic reading skills (decoding / encoding). It is simply too difficult to expect any child to memorize all the words in English to develop sight word fluency. For comprehension, from my experience, autistic spectrum kids often do not visualize and do not understand figurative language (which makes nonfiction much easier for them to access). Lindamood Bell's Visualizing and Verbalizing (through Gander publishing) can be very effective. Start with pictures then the pre-primary level, which requires only listening. A more challenging resource is Neuhaus's Developing Metacognitive Skills. This program starts with listening comprehension as well but focuses on main idea/ supporting ideas for non-fiction and understanding the elements of plot for fiction. Both Visualizing and Verbalizing and Neuhaus can be pricey, so try to check them out carefully.
To make substantial progress, expect to work with your DD daily. |
Anonymous
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These are very helpful posts. We do work with DD daily, either private tutoring or parental tutoring. I think the problem has been programs which are available to FCPS. They will not use LindaMood Bell. I have been investigating Visualizing and Verbalizing and will now probably go ahead and purchase, do you think it necessary for me to go to all the training? I think I can figure this out. Believe me, I have learned alot since she has been diagnosed at age 4!
Also, I do not know if FCPS supports the Orton-Gillingham programs. Probably not, since we haven't gotten them. I am curious as to what level or book to buy here. My child can decode, she just hates it and obviously is not great at it. I feel there is more in that brain of hers since she is doing such great work in math and I really want to help solve this hideous mystery! She truely can memorize anything, but ask her to read and you have a real problem. I will look into all these programs. This is so helpful to me! |
Anonymous
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OP, if I had a child who could decode words, but just didn't like it, I'd have her work on some timed fluency drills... with decent rewards for reading accurately and quickly -- whatever motivates her would work.
The Abecedarian program I mentioned has a lot of additional (free) fluency work posted in the Yahoo Group. http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/IM3RTzgxHIWtO1lsMUHvAJ70ATFoAX0Z8Q0QoWdlxzH3uTlEBjP640xBuPkPZWxPUG6ncAnYrHn6pgwQrZEE61JmHITZPDU/ABCD_WABS_02.pdf I think an O-G approach would be great if you can afford the cost but am only mentioning ABCDarian because it is so affordable if you can't, and I think it gets good results fairly fast in many (not all) cases. |
Anonymous
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22:22 here
FCPS used to provide Wilson, but you had to push for it. With any OG program, you may not see much progress unless your DD gets 1-1 attention. IDK what they offer now that might be OG based. I am sure FCPS does not offer V/V. I would recommend the V/V training next time Lindamood comes to town. There is a lot to the program and the error handling and pacing are important so the student doesn't hit her frustration level. Frustraion may be why your DD does not like phonics. If too many rules are presented at once or she doesn't have enough practice time for new rules, it can feel overwhelming. Without knowing your DD, it is hard to recommend a level or even a program with any kind of certainty. My general recommendation is to start with something that seems really, really easy. With most OG programs, start with level 1. Make sure she has success and rewards (V/V uses magic stones). If you want to get OG trained, have a look at ASDEC's program in Rockville (ASDEC.org). |