I agree that a 2 yr old isn't necessarily going to understand much of the story, but the repetitive listening is still good for them. Perhaps a story with some music included would be best for this age. As your children grow, I can't say enough good things about anything from Jim Weiss.

Another quick idea for cooking ahead... roast a whole turkey or a number of chickens at the same time. Remove the meat, from the bones. make gravy and combine the meat with the gravy in freezer bags (freeze flat). This can be defrosted and heated easily, served on bread as hot turkey sandwiches. A whole turkey or some chickens makes a number of meals, and its really very little work.

One method I found helped came (I think) from the IEW writing program. I didn't actually use this program, but read about how they encouraged children to take three words from each sentence they read, to make 'notes.' I got my children to practice reading simple text, taking three words or so from each sentence and writing them down that they could use to 'remind' them later what was said. The next step of course, would be to write a paragraph summary using these notes. My kids quickly got the hang of this, and were then able to do it more quickly, not just reading text but listening to someone speaking.

I know all kids are different, but I have had the opposite experience with my ASD son. He has no problems with gross or fine motor skills and enjoys physical activity of all kinds. He cannot, however 'imagine' a story, so reading to him doesn't help a lot. We still do it in an effort to encourage further learning, but he requires a much more hands on way if he is going to learn things efficiently. We have found Leapfrog products and videos great for him, as well as a toy called the 'Word Launcher' that is a leapfrog product. We try to make as many learning activities sensory - writing words in finger paint and pudding, for example. For times when he needs to concentrate and can't, our son's ot recommended he sit on a yoga ball. For some reason when he is rocking on this ball a little he seems more able to focus. All kids are different, and that certainly applies to the ASD ones as well.