Normal? 6 years old reading too fast, guessing words?

[Imaginosity]

Hi

DS is 6 and has high functioning autism so I'm always wondering if the things he does are normal for his age or not.

He likes reading - and is on about stage 12 of the ORT. Often he reads too fast and reads what he assumes is there but not what is actually there. What he inserts makes sense but is not what is written on the page. He might add in 3 or 4 of his own words to finish off the sentence. The words he chooses are not that dissimilar to what is actually in the book. I have to get him to stop and slow down and try to focus on what is actually written down. He can then read it no problem.

Sometimes too he will read a word wrong even though it's a simple word he normally knows very well like 'and'. He'll be like a broken record repeating a different word like 'the'. I need to tell him to focus on what's written on the page and then he'll read the correct word.

Normal or not?

[AtSea1979]

Quite a common problem. Def too young to worry about it. Just encourage to slow do or use a reading ruler etc

[MrsKCastle]

Pretty normal, yes. But does need addressing, as you are doing. I'm forever saying 'Don't guess- read the words that are there.'

[uhoh1973]

Yep our 6 old will guess words etc.

[ZigZagIntoTheBlue]

My 5 yr old does, he has no processing issues just sometimes can't be bothered to concentrate. I notice it most when he is tired!

[MarklahMarklah]

5 year old DD does it, when bored with the story or tired.

[maizieD]

While quite 'normal' guessing is a bad habit to form and a hard one to break.

If he likes beating you at things turn it into a competition. He gets a point for every sentence he reads correctly, you get a point for every 'wrong' word. Reward for the winner... child usually wins!

[NoMudNoLotus]

OP with my DD it was a sign that she was bored with the books they were giving her.

If your DS is on stage 12 this could well be a problem for him - I ended up speaking to DDs teacher and we kicked ORT to the kerb - she started reading her own books at school which worked really well.

[Alibobbob]

My little girl would never look at the reading book because she had read it so many times she knew it off by heart so was bored of reading it.

My other daughter is dyslexic and adds words so I try to cover the words and reveal them as she is reading one o two at a time. If she was struggling to read a word after she had finished reading the book I would go back to the page and ask her to find the word.

[queenoftheschoolrun]

Very common and very frustrating! Often because they're reading too fast so focus on slowing down and using more expression rather than pointing out all the mistakes. Sometimes it helps if you read the same passage back to them so they can see what they should be aiming for. Then get them to have another go. Lots of praise for a good performance. Listen to audio books together, talk about how/why the narrator helps to make the story interesting and point out how they don't rush and how slowing down can improve the story telling.

[noramum]

We had this as well. It mainly happened when DD was at the higher end of one level and could understand the story and guess the next sentence so good she would just invent it instead of reading it.

We then got her more complex books where she had to concentrate more.

[mrz]

How has he been taught?

[Imaginosity]

He was struggling hugely initially in school so I taught him phonics using the jolly phonics app.

Then I thought him the non-phonic sight words.

Now he seems to be saying lots of words instantly - I'm not sure how he knows them - maybe he's instantly decoding them in his head. Sometimes I help him with it once or twice and it seems to sink into his head. He still sounds out lots of unfamiliar words.

He's come on leaps and bounds - from hating reading and being very slow to learn to recognise even the single letters to now being quite good and enjoying it.

[Believeitornot]

My ds does this. I do this! In fact it is normal for our brains to leap to the word. Not good for learning to read though.

I just take my ds back to the word to make sure he can read. I also explain it doesn't make sense if he skips words.

[LC01]

My 7 year old does this, even on very simple words like 'it, if, is' when she reads too fast. She's one of the top readers in her class. Try not to worry, but do encourage him to slow down.