Getting
Kids Turned On to Reading
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One
complaint I am hearing from both parents and teachers is that the No Child Left
Behind law makes it impossible to spend much time on subjects other than
reading and math because school districts put so much emphasis on students
passing tests in these subjects. Recently, I had a discussion with a mom about
teaching reading. She told me that her daughter, who has reading problems, was
not allowed to go outside for recess because she had to do reading drills. The
girl was bored stiff and hated it. However, she quickly learned to read when
her mom taught her from a Harry Potter book. To motivate kids, especially those
with autism spectrum disorders, you need to start with books the kids want to
read. The Harry Potter series is one of the best things that has happened to
reading instruction. Two hours before the last Harry Potter book went on sale,
I visited the local Barnes and Noble. It was jammed full of kids in costume and
a line stretched half way around the block. I think it is wonderful that the
kids were getting so turned on about a book.
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I
could not read when I was in third grade. Mother taught me to read after school
from an interesting book about Clara Barton, a famous nurse. The content kept
me interested, and motivated me to learn, even though the book was written at
the sixth grade level.
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Mother
taught me how to sound out the words, and within three months, my reading
skills jumped two grade levels on standardized tests. I was a phonics learner,
but other kids on the autism spectrum are visual, sight-word learners. When
they read the word DOG, they see a picture of a dog in their head. Children are
different; parents should identify which way their child learns best and then
use that method.
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Sight-word
readers usually learn nouns first. To learn the meaning of words like WENT and GOING
I had to see them in a sentence I could visualize. For example, "I WENT to
the supermarket" or "I am GOING to the supermarket." One is past
and the other is future. When I WENT to the supermarket I see myself with the
bag of groceries I purchased. When I say I am GOING to the supermarket, I see
myself driving there. Use examples the child can visualize and relate to when
teaching all the connector words that are not easily visualized themselves.
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If
my third grade teacher had continued trying to teach me to read with endless,
boring drills, I would have failed the reading competency tests required by
school systems that are "teaching to the test" to obtain better
school-wide ranking on standardized tests. After mother taught me reading, I
was able to do really well on the elementary school reading tests. She got me
engaged in reading in a way that was meaningful to me until reading became
naturally reinforcing on its own.
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Parents
and teachers can use a child's special interests or natural talents in creative
ways to teach basic academic skills such as reading and math. Science and
history make wonderfully interesting topics to teach both subjects to spectrum
children. If the child likes dinosaurs, teach reading using books about
dinosaurs. A simple math problem might be rewritten using dinosaurs as the
subject or new exercises created by the adult. For example: if a dinosaur walks
at five miles per hour, how far can he walk in fifteen minutes?
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Students with ASD can get excellent scores on
standardized tests when creative methods are used that appeal to their
interests and ways of thinking. Although their creative effort may take a
little more time at the onset, the improved learning, interest, and motivation
in the child will more than make up for the extra time in the long run.
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Temple
Grandin "The Way I See It: A Personal Look at Autism &
Asperger's" (2011)
