longnightmoon Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Hi there, My dd (HFA) has such a difficult time reading new books. Introducing new books is ALWAYS a battle. I've tried taking turns with book choices and it sometimes works but she has been getting more and more rigid and upset about new book choices. She likes being read to but only on her terms and it's starting to make me quite uneasy about homeschooling. Is every new book going to be a battle? It wears me out just thinking about it. I'm wondering if this is something other parents with children on the spectrum deal with or if it's pretty typical and I'm just a novice parent. I realize she's young and likes repetition. I'm really okay with that and I'm not gunning for Crime and Punishment during our read-aloud time. It's the degree of emotion it causes when introducing a new book and I'm curious if others have similar experiences. Any advice, wisdom and tips on introducing new books would be most welcome! Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessAriel Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 nt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houseofkids&pets Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Perhaps you could find some books that have topics/characters she is interested in. Maybe get a few and then give her the "choice" of which one to read. I find that my ds11 with autism wants to have control, so I will let him choose, but I have picked out the books that he gets to select from. It is hard since kids are so different, so that may not work for you. BTW, my son prefers books that are typically for the younger crowd since that is where he is developmentally. I am ok with that. Any reading he does is great since he is so resistant, but I need to build in flexibility since he can be very rigid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer-72 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Can you try sandwiching in what you would like to read to her between a couple of her favourites? The biggest thing that has helped me with similar situations has been continually talking to ds about being flexible in his thinking. I talked to him about what being flexible looks like and then would point out times when he or myself were flexible with our thinking and how it worked out well. I also gave him one of those silly bands to wear on his wrist to remind him to choose flexibile thinking. Having lots of good experiences around being flexible has helped me talk him thru some of his rigidities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longnightmoon Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 Thanks so much for your responses. I really appreciate your feedback. I can't get the quote feature to work so bear with me. :) MomofC&A - I like the book basket idea. I have a big basket for library books but I think it overwhelms her. Less is more, I think. And thanks for adding that your dd prefers picture books. My dd loves readers (Fred and Ted is her most recent craze) and I see her preferring picture books for a long time. Sometimes I get a complex when I visit the K-8 board that I shouldn't be reading aloud readers, but so be it. She likes it and it gets her liking books. Like you, I would prefer a literature based education for my dd but I'm learning my expectations will need to be adjusted. Still wrapping my head around it, though. Houseofkids&pets - I've taken your advice and got a bunch of books from the library on her latest interest, building bird nests. We'll see how it goes. And thanks for mentioning your ds prefers younger books. I have the feeling my dd will be preferring picture books for a long time. Jennifer72 -Thanks for the encouragement to keep teaching flexibility. Honestly, I forget this. I think I've just been in a reactive mode lately. And I love the idea of talking about what flexibility looks like. I don't always break it down enough. That's really helpful! Thank you all for your advice and comments. I really appreciated you taking the time to respond! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houseofkids&pets Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 I wouldn't worry about your dd preferring "younger" books. I am just happy when my son is reading (and enjoying it). He is 11 and loves Franklin books, and Arthur too. He also likes to go to the library with me to pick out his own books sometimes. Other times, I make the book choices and then give him some control by letting him pick which one we will read each day (as I mentioned before in my pp - controlled choices). I hope your dd enjoys the bird nest books. Sounds like it could lead to some fun nest building projects and activities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longnightmoon Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 You are exactly right that I should be concerned about her book choices. I think it's just me still coming to terms with the fact things aren't going to look like what I envisioned. She was diagnosed well over a year ago and I still think I'm in denial half the time. You'd think the cost of therapies would be a good reality check. ;) Thanks again. I appreciate your time and help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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