Do any of your children have these difficulties?

[ElvisCriddlington]

DS1 is in year 4 at a mainstream junior school. He has a dx of ASD. He gets some extra help at school but only needs an IEP.

He did not really seem to struggle with learning to read. He learnt his phonics and tricky words without too much difficulty. He can read most things now if he wants to. I still get him to read to me every day, and have dome since he started in reception. He is currently on Lime book trolley which is about year 2 level due to problems with comprehension and retention of information. His difficulties do not really seem fit with audio processing problems.

I thought that he might just not be concentrating on what he reads. I have tried lots of different books, magazines and comics to find something that interests him to help him concentrate and take in more information from what he reads. Nothings has worked yet.

He refuses to even try to talk about books or answer questions after he has read them.

I am concerned that he will really struggle in the future if he can not use books and text to get information. Secondary school will be very difficult for him.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? What has helped?

Thank you

[Tissie]

Some chidren who learn to read with phonics - an excellent method in itself - take time to read fluently with comprehension. However, at year 4 he needs some extra help. He needs to have a purpose in reading text to involve his processing. Short non fiction articles may engage his interest more than fiction. Along with these should be a task such as find 5 bullet points on how octopuses defend themselves. Or the passage could be enlarged and cut upinto sections presented out of order and he has to sort them into order. If he likes drawing ask him to illustrate the text, write speech balloons. I could send you some examples of this kind of thing if you want. pm me if interested.

[blanklook]

If he was dxd by a team, ask if the SLT will have a look at this problem for him, if not try SENCO and your GP to start the ball rolling.

[WishingOnABar]

It sounds like he isn’t interested in the content, does he have a special interest that you can get some books on that will spark his enthusiasm? My ds has Autism diagnosis and had no issues with learning to read but just refused to show interest in anything that wasnt either related to space or his favourite tv programme