Audiobooks - Good thing or Bad thing???

For my autistic child audio books are amazing as he has to focus on listening and processing what is being said. Audio books relax both my kids to help them sleep. We use a combo of audible (books can be exchanged back for credits) and library audio books. As long as he does some reading it's all fine, whatever their age, and dependent on age appropriate books of course.

Bit of an Audible addict here I listen to maybe 4/5 books a month so the subscription fee is def worth it for me, and now my 9 year old has caught the bug and loves listening to her stories at night on her Alexa. She’s not a strong reader at all but loves stories & Audible gives her access to books she just doesn’t have the ability to access at the moment, especially after a long day at school. It means her vocabulary and comprehension skills are amazing, I trust the reading will come in time - I’ve made sure she has paperback copies of all the books she listens to in her bedroom so she can pick them up when she’s ready & she also takes them in for quiet reading at school. I love that she gets so much pleasure from stories like I do, I hope it continues as she gets older!

My bright dyslexic daughter loves them - she is still learning vocabulary as she listens and someone wise said to me to engage children in story and narrative however you can. To my daughter reading in bed is like me taking maths equations to bed to do - why would I do that to myself before sleep (I struggle with maths). Listening to audible transports her and teaches her narratives and about the world.

I believe both are important as one will help with communication skills (Audiobook) and the other one will boost your writing skills. and if we can mix both of them at once that will be much better, the child can be able to correct his pronunciation as well as learn new expressions.

I got a yoto player for my little one to listen to stories and it's my BEST BUY yet! I have a £10 off referral code to anyone one who wants to use it:

prz.io/Log95doiN

Maybe I'll do what PP has said and just dip in and out of audible.

What I've found is that if you have been a member for a few months and then leave they often come back to you with a subscription offer at £3.99 instead for a few months.

So you can repeat this quite few times.

For those with younger kids who don't want to give them access to an iPad or something similar, there's the Yoto player. It is a little box that you stick a card into the top of. You can buy story/music cards from Yoto or you can use make your own cards and put audiobooks you already have on those (anything in mp3 format) or record yourself/family reading their favourite stories.

We got one for our 4 year old's birthday and have been super impressed by it.

It can display a pixel image on the front to help young kids navigate between tracks but I wouldn't consider it screen time.

I have a referral link for 10% off that I am happy to share (we would get tokens to help buy more audiobooks!). prz.io/YQzQ9YxSE

Out of curiosity did his drop in interest in reading correspond with getting a mobile phone? I found this happened with my DS's so had to be more intentional about restricting them.

Our boys have small MP3 players that I load the audible stuff onto. They’re sandisk clipjam ones. The main point of this was so they could have audiobooks without having phones / tablets to fiddle with (I love audiobooks but when I’m listening through my phone I’m usually fiddling with it, which annoys me!). It is a bit more tedious cos I have to download the audible files on the laptop (v easy app) and then manually transfer them to the MP3 player. But it does work v well otherwise and they’re v sturdy and easy to use.

My DD is only 5 but she loves audio books. She loves book in all formats, so her own reading books, 'reading' books she's not ready for, us reading her stories and yes also audio books. She has a yoto which she takes in the car and often listens to when she's playing/drawing. At bedtime she'll have an extra story from audible on Alexa. I find at the moment I consume so many more books via audio books as I can listen whilst I'm running, driving, doing jobs around the house etc.

You do have to use some sort of electronic device. Most people will use a laptop/tablet/smartphone.

Another alternative though is to use Alexa. If you get a smart speaker (such as the Amazon Echo Dot. cost around £35-£40) that uses Alexa then you just need to have the actual speaker in the bedroom and you can control what it plays from anywhere else in your home.

You do have to use some sort of electronic device. Most people will use a laptop/tablet/smartphone.

Another alternative though is to use Alexa. If you get a smart speaker (such as the Amazon Echo Dot. cost around £35-£40) that uses Alexa then you just need to have the actual speaker in the bedroom and you can control what it plays from anywhere else in your home.

Definitely try your local library and borrow box or whatever they use. DH has audible and I think it's expensive.

Good thing! (English teacher)

Also... listening to stories on CD is a lot cheaper than Audible. I bought a CD player from a charity shop for £5 and have found various CDs on ebay/charity shop and my own collection from the 90s.

Major benefit to Audible is the ability to listen to any audio book at the click of a button. CDs are more restricted, but it was easy to find popular books like Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton, Horrid Henry, Harry Potter etc

I remember the old book and tapes of the 80s with the chime that told non readers to turn the page! I loved reading and also loved bedtime audio books - they're not really anything new.

DD used audio books on CD a lot from age 7-14. She was so tired from school she didn't always have the stamina to read in the evening. This way she heard language and sentence construction she wouldn't otherwise have come across.

I don’t know how you get round that one. My 10 year old uses an old iPad - I trust her not to use it for anything else. My 7 year old listens to CDs on an old CD player because we don’t have another device for her to use.

Sorry to ask a question on this thread. How do you listen to them? What do you use. I don't want them having an iPad at bedtime so what do you use to okay them via? Thanks

If you don't like the thought of monthly subscription, why not see if you can access something similar through your local library membership. Ours give access to BorrowBox for example

We have an audible subscription. My kids love it its like an extended bedtime story, as they are dyslexic as well they find reading hard but love being read too.
I think it helps them read books more at their age level which they would maybe find hard going and then be reluctant to carry on. So for me it encourages their love of stories even though its not them actually reading the book.

What I tend to do is to sign up for a few months a year, get some books and then stop my subscription until I want to find some more books at a later time.

What Blackcountryexile said. Check what your county library service is offering before paying for Audible.
Audio books exercise lots of the same skills as reading a book (plus some other benefits like helping with pronunciation of unfamiliar words) and have lots of the same benefits as reading books for pleasure. If he’s asking, I’d leap at the opportunity - it would be beneficial both educationally and for well-being.