Finding it hard to read with dd2, I think she has lost interest, finding school books boring.

[Marne]

Dd2 has just started year 3, she has Autism and severe speech delay but has alway read very well, she's reading level 11 on Oxford reding tree but seems to have lost interest since the text has got longer ( longer stories, more words on a page) and the books are about things she has no interest and little understanding of (have been told she is above average with her reading but her understanding is similar to a 3 year old), school don't seem to understand that 'if its not something that interests her she will loose interest.

This week she has read to me once, she is meant to read to me every day so I get a note in her book from her teacher moaning bout the lack of reading, she also us homework which she hates doing ( it's quite easy but once she's home she does not want to do any school work), if I manage to get her to do her homework it's pretty impossible to get her to read as well.

I have written a note to her teacher trying to explain this and will speak to her tomorrow when I go to her classroom, she reads books at home, ones she is interested in, in a way it would be easier if she was a free reader and could chose what. She reads but I don't think the school will agree to this :(

Can you strike a deal that she reads 1-2 pages of school reader AND a home chosen book? Each day you can get her to recap the story so far, and read on.

You can check with teacher if you can write both in her book, and say she is reluctant to engage with the school reading books, maybe teacher can guide her to pick different style of book (my DS is bringing home more non-fiction readers, which he loves)...

Sometimes I can get her to do it but if she has homework she gets so upset after 20 minutes homework that I cant do anything else with her , she gets one or 2 bits of homework plus spellings, it takes me 3 days just to get her to write her spellings out twice (she hates writing) and then we need to complete the other homework (which is fine if its maths but if its writing then it has to be done over 2 days as she hates it). School promised they would supply her with a laptop to do some of the written work but no sign of that happening. She likes non-fiction, she will take a magazine or book to bed each night.

you could ask school if they have any of the allstars books - they are ORT too but they are designed for advanced younger readers. they are levels 9-11 and are basically simple chapter books which appeal to younger children (reception to yr2) so she may find these a nicer read than the other level 11 books and the school would still be giving her a leveled book so would be happy.

I will talk to her teacher tomorrow, I think we have had the allstar books in the past, they do have a range of book but she seems to have read quite a few of them as they try and keep her on one level for as long as they can, she's reading level 11 at the moment, she's reading 'the Island' but it is a bit to advanced for her understanding and the lack of good pictures puts her off, hopefully they will find her something else.

Personally I would stop reading them altogether if it is being a battle and find books yourself that are suitable.

You could try books like Morris and the cat flap by Vivian French (probably easier than stage 11 but a lovely story). Check out any of the early reader books (chapter style) which are nice simple stories and better than ORT. To me it is important to make sure she continues to enjoy reading rather than it becoming a battle.

My DD is in Year4. She chooses her books, but still gets bored with the majority of books she brings home. Even I find them boring sometimes, but I don't tell her that. She has never really been keen on reading, but she loves-absolutely loves- writing!

I bribed, told off, encouraged, praised, did library, read all the time myself. She isn't really interested.

Last week, I bought her a Marvel Storybook collection (Marvel Superheroes) and she couldn't put it down on bus ride from shop. She finished it the same evening!

I decided not to worry too much about school books for now. I want the pressure taken off. I am going to try to let her only read books she enjoys even if she reads the same one again and again!

I borrowed Roald Dahl's Magic Finger for the library for her. Easy, but it made her laugh and she is reading it!! I told myself that if she doesn't read it, I will read it to her. The biggest battle for me is not to worry.

HTH

As others have said, as long as she IS reading, and hopefully enjoying it and understanding some, or most of it, I wouldn't worry too much about what school thinks.

Making a chore, or a battle, out of it will be counterproductive, and could be upsetting for her.

Re spellings: I think the Oxford Phonics Spelling Dictionary is the best resource to help a child understand and learn spelling. It lists words according to the initial SOUND, not the letter as in a 'normal' dictionary. It also has useful hints and tips, has all the 'tenses' for verbs, and plurals for nouns. It is under £7 from Amazon, and you can see sample pages from it HERE:

My ds has recently been given some Allstar books from school for similar reasons. Other books we have had minor success with include non fiction books, he had one about tigers the other day and really enjoyed it. He's not interested in reading a lot of books at his level so I understand where you're coming from.
After advice on here I'm not worrying too much about it, just making sure we do at least a couple of pages of the school book daily, and then providing material for him to dip into at home and reading to him lots.

Can I ask a very silly question ?

If her comprehension is that of a 3yr old, what " reward" does she get from being a " brilliant " reader?

Seems to me that, in her head all these long words and sentences are very well but as rewarding as if it was you or me sound in out Chinese characters. If the story makes little sense or the "flowery" adjectives don't paint the picture in her head why would she bother? and how, educationally does it help her?

I an see no benefit in pushing her reading level up an up if it means nothing to her.

If it is the autism and the fact that her brain is just, well, different, school are going to have to help her find other ways to work round things aren't they?

My understanding ( and correct me if I'm wrong or speaking out of turn) is that autistic brains are working as if they were from another planet completely. They just function so differently. Not worse but different, and there is not a general " autism thinking" thing that people with it share either, they aren't all thinking like people from Mars for instance, but some are from Jupiter, Venus and mercury too and they have nothing in common with each other either!

I've been doing a quick google search and am surprised to discover that there don't seem to be any reading schemes that cater to ASD readers. Or rather there seem to be a few American ones but only for the early levels of learning to read.

Does she prefer reading non-fiction - does your school have non-fiction as well as fiction scheme books?

If I was you I would be thinking about suggesting non-fiction books at band 11 (assuming she does like non-fiction) so that you can work on vocabulary etc. alternating with much easier fiction reading books that are levelled for her comprehension so that you can work on comprehension in a short burst that doesn't take too long.

In particular you might think about poems, which can be short, and funny, and full of opportunities to work on comprehension, inference and empathy.

There are also a range of children's books that deal with topics that might be relevant and appropriate if her comprehension level really is that of a 3 year old as the school have said - see here

You might also try the Usborne Young Reading series (our library has most of these) which are levelled at white, lime and grey (so 10, 11 and 12 I think), but have lots of pictures - although series 3 looks like quite a big jump up in comprehension terms.

My eldest daughter has ASD and also had a very high reading level in primary - no one picked up her poor comprehension and now (as an adult) she rarely reads for pleasure. My point being that working on your dds comprehension with an appropriately levelled book seems much more important than the school turning her off reading by insisting on giving her books that she can read, but not understand or follow the story line. Have you discussed this situation with the SENCO? If not perhaps it's time to?

All the best

Spoke to her teacher this morning ( after we had finished the dreaded book) and it seems they accidentally gave her the wrong level. I'm slightly annoyed as we have been reading it for a week and neither her teacher or TA had noticed it was 2 levels above what she was meant to be reading.

And to the person who said ' what's the point of her being a brilliant reader if her understanding is that of a 3 year old ' that was my whole point of the thread, she should not be reading books Aimed at 8 year olds when she can not understand what's she's reading. It is useful when she is reading information and instructions ( but this is usually backed up with more pictures ) but when it comes to reading stories it's a waste of time. She's now been put back onto band 9 and the teacher is going to do some work with her to make sure she is understanding what she's reading.

She does prefer non fiction and information books, she reads recipe books at home ( as she loves cooking ) and has several 'general knowledge' ( readers digest type ) information books about animals which she loves, probably because there are a lot of picture to back up what the text is saying. She also loves comics ( pokemon ) again there are a lot of pictures so easier to follow.

yes you would have thought they would have noticed when listening to her read at school that it was the wrong level! Thats good she has now got a book that might be more suitable. Does she like Usborne books then if she likes non fiction, my daughters are fascinated by them, especially the see inside ones. Non fiction will probably make a lot more sense to her because it is logical and is facts, it is REAL. Would she like reading something like the Percy the Park Keeper books? the stories are simpler, the pictures are beautiful. Or The Lighthouse Keeper? I know they aren't school ones but it may be that their books just aren't going to work for her and they may have to consider alternatives for her.

Thanks Peri ,will have a look at some of those books, I see the book people have a offer on at the moment so might order her a few books to try. She likes stories if they are related to something she watches on tv, she's just getting in to Disney so might like reading some Disney books.

I wouldn't engage in any battles at home about school work tbh. If she reads anything at home then I would document that in the reading diary. If the school reading scheme is important to them then the school can make time for her to read it in school with her TA. Dd also ASD loves to read but some weeks the reading diary is full of Beano, Moshi Monster and Pokemon entries because that is all she wants to read. Her teacher doesn't find it a problem.
Likewise spellings and times tables practice, dd has had enough at the end of the school day and so she does hers with her TA who is obviously far more conscientious than I would be seeing as dd never gets one wrong especially as the two of them have a deal where if dd does get one wrong the TA will do ten star jumps
Homework we do at the weekend, two sheets, if however dd refused then I'd give it to her TA to do with her at school rather than getting into a battle.
School are happy with this because they don't see it as my place to enforce school demands at home just as I don't expect school to have any input into her lack of the need for sleep or anything else com to that.

Try the Seriously silly stories (Little Red Riding Wolf) or the Happy Families books (Mr Creep the Crook etc) they are very funny...

DS in year 3 likes non fiction. He is currently keen on these short biography’s of sports people. He is very keen on sport. We have struggled to get "interesting to him" school books , hes not interested in a lot what school send home so I now supply most of his reading books from the local library.

He still likes to read "happy families", Mr Men, Asterix ( tho I think he has only a sketchy understanding of asterix and likes the pictures) & assorted comics. I'm finding I can get him to absorb a bit of history topic stuff by supplying the right asterix book. Asterix and Cleopatra complements the Yr 2 Egypt topic nicely. He also has an usbourne " ancient Egypt" book with LOTS of pictures and little bits of text that he likes to flick through and occasionally remember a bit of info from it.

Does your DD like listening to stories? DS will listen to stories he won;t read because the text is too dense.