Does your child with ASD read with expression?

[dontknowwhat2callmyself]

DD 7yrs old has always loved books - likes to be read to and likes to read. She has great expression when she reads she can read character parts with the best expression - I have always loved listening to her read. I just wondered how common it was for children with ASD?

I forgot to add her interaction with peers is very very poor (she likes being with peers but not so much talking to them)! so it does surprise me that her expressive reading is so good - all part of living in fantasy to a degree I guess?

My ds can't read yet but he will sit with a book and retro the story. He uses lots of expression and different voices. He's 5.

Retell not retro

My son is 10, he reads well, but with little expression. Very monotone voice in fact.

Yes my Dd3 (11) can too, it has always seemed quite strange. She cant always spot when she has made mistakes and she often gets confused but more complex language but she can definitely do expression.

It hasnt really helped when I have gone into school and said she is struggling with comprehension because they just say if she didnt understand she wouldnt be able to use expression !!

Well thats odd because clearly she can

Good luck

Thank you all it's very interesting - Indeed - thankfully dd's school seem to realize she is struggling with reading comprehension although she reads with expression so well but to be honest it is me that is puzzled because I can kind of see the point of view in that if you do not understand how can you use expression - but as you state - quite clearly you can

DD2 doesn't have a diagnosis, so this may mean nothing, but she has learned the 'rules' of expression. So she knows that (!) means excited voice. (?) Use your question voice, etc. She learned this week (from me) that she should use a different voice for each character and keep that voice for the whole story.

So she reads with quite lovely expression, but it's all been explicitly taught by pointing out the different elements of the text.

No.
But he will mimic it if he has heard it read to him with expression.

DS(9) reads with great expression but his comprehension isn't great, I think he understands as he goes along but doesn't retain the information very well, or really get how characters are feeling, what they might do next etc. It's not that bad, but it definitely isn't on a par with his ability to read words off a page, so he can read books that are too advanced for his comprehension skills

A similar thing happens to me when I am reading books that don't interest me to the DCs, I can read fluently and with great expression but can get to the end of the chapter and realise I haven't taken it in at all. Whereas books that I actually want to read I absorb all the detail.

DD was not an early reader she learnt phonics and reading at school along with the class she is not self taught. She reads books for the first time with expression so not copying - thanks for all the comments it is a development stage I find fascinating x

DS has AS BTW.

Lougle - I don't use different voices for different characters, I wouldn't have though that was needed for good expression? Maybe very obviously diffeernt ones like monsters, but not human characters, I really wouldn't be able to do that, so I wouldn't expect DS to either. I might be wrong in this as I never hear other adults reading out loud.

Yes WhoKnows - I think that is exactly how it is - DD can read books but reading comprehension is not on par - for example in SATS she got 2a for reading and was taking home ORT stage 11 books but in y3 she is on ORT stage 7 which I'm sure is because of comprehension levels or the fact that she is not able to expressive her level of understanding?

Also I totally get where you are coming from with with reading a book and not absorbing the info as I am like that myself at times!

Whoknows... I do Maybe it's a personal style thing? Characters all have their own voice when I read in my head. It makes it all very confusing when a book is televised because the characters don't look/sound how I imagined.

If two characters speak straight after each other, and they have the same voice, how do you know who said what, until you get to the words 'said Charlie'?

I don't know Lougle - I don't think I give characters different voices in my head either, but I don't have any difficulty knowing who said what, I guess it is from the context or flow of conversation in adult books which don't say "said Charlie" all the way through. It is usually obvious when one person stops speaking and another starts? In children's books the "said Charlie" is an integral part of the sentence so you find out who said it as you read the sentence?

Also, if you are reading a line that ends in "said Charlie" how do you know which voice to put on before you get to that part? Genuinely interested, this has honestly never occured to me.

DS1 reads with lots of expression. He gets quite animated. His own emotions are pretty bouncy, though, so it's not as if he doesn't have a big sense of drama, so to speak.

Ds1 is the opposite. Amazing comprehension but doesn't read with expression, very monotone and rigid.

But if he's relaying something he's read to me he'll be very expressive and will have spotted which bits were funny etc.

Yes he does

Ds reads with no expression. And no comprehension .
He would use the same monotone voice if he was reading a favourite book or if he was looking at a menu.

I don't know I must subconsciously flick my eyes to the end of the sentence to see who is saying it

I don't read with different voices in my head either. I use different tones and vary my speech when reading out loud but I don't give characters voices.

In fact I get really annoyed reading books where they've written certain characters voices phonetically to suggest an accent as it takes me forever to decode.

In my head the best way I can describe it is a silent movie. I don't hear voices or sounds but do get a clear image of the visual stuff.

I think part of it is I read faster than people speak so I'd either have to slow down to hear a voice as I read or 'hear' it all sped up and fast.

I am like Summer - I read very fast in my head and have to slow down a bit to read out loud, so there isn't time for me to hear voices as I read. I also get annoyed with phonetically written characters, although I can see why it is done. I am also absolutely rubbish at doing accents or impersonating people, I would SO not make a good actor! It is interesting to realise that even as adults there are many different approaches to reading. Lougle - sorry, I wasn't having a go at all, I am actually very impressed that you can do different voices, I was just a bit astonished because it had never occurred to me .

I know exactly what you mean about the films of books you have read though, it isn't the voices for me but the visuals, the way people look and the way places are depicted are always totally different to how I see them in books, I definitely visualise as I go. Also, my learning style is a preference for written instructions/diagrams over videos or verbal instruction, these things are probably all related.

I also prefer written info because I read very fast and it irritates me that people speak so slowly and emphasise I m p o r t a n t words

My ds (5.6 ASD) doesn't show any expression or comprehension when reading... compared to his twin brother who shows both way beyond his years as reading is one of his favourite things to do.

He has no interest in reading, preferring to look for all the tiny detail in the pictures and goes off on a tangent talking about whatever he spots.