What makes up 'reading' mark in Yr 2?

[debs40]

DS is 7 and has possible Asperger's. He is bright but there are clear issues which impede his learning and this is due to be assessed by an Ed Psych and the Autism Outreach team soon.

He got his report today and he's doing averagely well which is not unexpected.

One mark did make me wonder. He has a reading and spelling age of 9 but for reading they have indicated a mark at present (not an end of year mark) as 2c.

I wondered whether other things were taken into account in the assessment of reading. I don't think there is anything wrong with his powers of comprehension.

Any ideas?

Mmm, I'm just wondering, do they simply look at the book level they're on and use that to assess.

The school doesn't move the children up themselves so you have to ask for them to be moved up when you think they're ready. The teachers never read with them.

'Reading' is a bit of a misnamed subject. It is actually reading comprehension. They read a passage then answer questions on it. I'm guessing he's in Y3 as he is 7, when they get to junior school the comprehension questions get more inferential (they have to infer things from it I mean) - eg they have to look at the text and say why someone does/says/feels something - rather than just giving completely text based answers. Children on the spectrum tend to have more difficulty with these questions. My DS does, he has AS and can get very frustrated by questions asking him why someone is feeling something - in his view he neither knows nor cares as they aren't him!

(The questions where you have to use your general knowledge based on information gained in the text are easier as he just has to tap into his store of facts, however).

Does that make sense?

The problem when it comes to assessing level is the tests give more marks to those kinds of questions. What I do with DS to help him with that kind of thing is discuss books we have both read and talk about those kind of questions so he has a mental 'store' of answers he can use in those kind of questions so at least he can get a mark or two whish helps bump up his score.

Hope that helps and I haven't confused you!

Thanks. That does make sense. I wondered if it was something like that.

DS is in Yr 2 still. I have never been interested in grades etc. I just think you know if your child is bright so why push, but, since it has become obvious that he is on the spectrum, you find yourself looking for possible problem areas everywhere.....mainly because you know there are so many problems that children with AS can face.

How is your DS doing? Does he gets support at school?

Yes, it is something I do automatically now - look for the potential problems so I can make sure we get the best possible approach to it. Not that I'm obsessed or anything I have found that it is hard for DS perform to his potential because of his processing issues and his literal approach to the world. He can get so anxious and wound up his aggression takes over and nobody learns anything!

We had loads of issues through Y3-5 at an awful school who refused to accept his diagnosis and ended up permanently excluding him just before his statement came though. But in a way it did us a favour as it made it easier for us when we had to relocate with DH's job and we have found a WONDERFUL school who support him brilliantly. He has a huge statement (for here) of 19 hours 1 to 1 which we need every hour of because of the damage that other school did. Saying that he is really happy and settled now in Y6 and this week took full part in the school swimming gala and the Y6 fashion show - which given less than a year ago he couldn't even go in to assembly is nothing short of a miracle! His literacy has blossomed as well, he has always been a prolific reader and this has now been channelled into his writing by school and his poetry and storywriting is just fab (quick boast). But we do put in a lot of effort at home to ensure he understands language concepts like sarcas and idiom, and to give him a way of looking at texts so he can come to some understanding of what feelings may be implicit.

We have found that a good Ed psych can really help signpost to school how to help, and I hope that yours proves to be supportive. We have had less success with autism outreach, but with the current school this is not such an issue as they are on the ball anyway!

(And as an aside, as for reading DS didn't want to read to anyone at school once past reception as it just slowed him down - he is generally uninspired by the school book collection and always has a supply of his own from the library or the bookshop which he takes into school himself!)

Thanks for posting, it was really great to read your positive post although I can see it has taken alot of hard work to get to where you are.

DS's school has been very slow to switch on to this but I think that is because of the teachers he has had this year. He had a great year last year and you can clearly see from his report where he has switched off this year.

I am hopeful for next year as he has a male teacher who looks like fun.

School have started to ask for the things they need to be asking for like an Ed Psych report and we have been doing the Early Bird Plus course which has helped.

He is very passive at school- needs drawing out - and will close down completely if uncomfortable. But school are starting to see this as he becomes more comfortable, so his true personality (good abd bad) shows - so you get the screaming because he hates the rain etc!!

How hard was it to get a statement and did you get that through school? When did you get it?

Dd has autism and is the same age as your ds and preparing for SATs now.
She is statemented and very bright and seemingly has no comprehension difficulties and a reading age of 11 plus.
Her and her LSA are doing practise papers because dd needs to know what to do because if she can't see the purpose she probably won't bother.
So whilst we discuss what she has read she wouldn't necessarily see the need to answer the questions on the paper because she knows the answer and that is enough as far as she is concerned.

The National Curriculum test (SATS) tests comprehension including inference which a child on the spectrum may find difficult

Thanks. I will ask the teacher about this as I actually thought the reading was the one thing he was doing pretty well with at the moment although I realised there were limitations (e.g. he won't read books without pictures etc).

Sorry debs meant to get back to this earlier and it completely slipped my mind!

Getting a statement was tricky at first - to get the LA to agree to a statutory assessment. We had to send the first request as school were useless and prevaricating. It was turned down because school failed to provide any information at all. I then kicked upo a HUGE fuss and called in the Inclusion Officer at the LA who read the riot act to school and personally made sure they asked for the SA and provided all the evidence needed. From then on it was actually very easy for us, as by this time DS's needs were so severe due to mishandling by the school.

Moving to a new county meant a new start and I looked very carefully at schools to send DS to and basically forced the Inclusion people to tell me which were the best schools to look at. The county we are now in are good at providing support BUT also well known for only giving small numbers of hours. The school here and the Ed Psych have been fantastic and not only has DS's statement been maintained it has been extended to 19 hours - all good for DS!

Been thinking about the reading issue and that our DS only wants books with pictures in. I'm probably teaching my grandma to suck eggs here but there are higher reading age books with plenty of pictures in, have you had a look at your library or ask at the bookshop. What about story CD's? If there is a particular story he likes you could then get the book to read too - the story will be familiar so less 'threatening' to interpret without pictures. Horrid Henry is full of pictures as wellas the Cressida Cowell 'Dragon' books.

oops rambled on again - one of my (many) faults!