@michele, Thanks for giving me somewhere to start! @dkpalaska, I definitely think it will be helpful to get a greater idea of how my daughter's brain works. I have not read much of the autism related literature. My daughter has not yet been officially diagnosed. I have had suspicions for a few years, but our problems up to now haven't been unmanageable. I just want to make sure that I am doing everything I can to maximize her ability to learn. Thanks. :)

If you found a book that helped you teach your autism spectrum child, could you please give me recommendations? My 6 year old is very literal minded and not very socially aware. I know about the social stories books, which I intend to try, but I also need to find something that is also geared to HOW she learns and how best to teach her, particularly with reading comprehension. I am looking for books that contain specific teaching tips. There are so many books on amazon that I found myself overwhelmed to even know where to begin!

Mine is the same way. I had also read that when you have an active child you should let them move and take in whatever they can, but I find that when I give my daughter something to play with or let her sit up, sit down, and go under the table... I just lose her completely. She has no idea what I'm saying and couldn't care less about it. Although, drawing pictures does seem to work somewhat. She has to sit still and concentrate on what she's doing. Anyway, today for science I am putting the books away and we're making an edible model of the earth. :)

Thanks, Cat. I needed to hear that. I think I was too invested in having her GET the information instead of having fun with it and engaging her interest. Thanks for reminding me of my priorities. I'm back to being excited about doing this. :)

Thank you, Sophia & Cat, for the replies. I do have another question though. I had planned on using narration a lot as a way of gauging what she does or doesn't understand. If I'm not using this technique, particularly in science and history... I'm not sure I will know if she's "getting it" if you know what I mean? She does like to draw pictures... but is that enough? lol So, I guess my question is: What sort of output should I be expecting from a child who cannot pay attention? By output I mean... physical representation of what she is learning, like narrations, pictures, etc. Should I just let all that go?

Hi everyone, this is my first post. I've been lurking around for awhile to get an idea of what these forums are like and picking up any information I can. I'm new to homeschooling. I just started homeschooling my 6yo daughter last Monday, so it's all very new to us. My issue is with narration. DD6 has a very short attention span. It takes about 20-60 seconds and she's gone. I can get her back relatively easily, but then she's daydreaming again. Are there any techniques I can use to (1) keep her interested and (2) get her to remember what I read to her? She is a visual learner and today I did try to put more emphasis on making mental pictures and also I cut down narrations to one sentence. It just seems to be very slow going. *sigh* Any ideas or suggestions are welcome! Thanks!