Comprehension with ASD?

[MeghanL]

Ok, I really need some help.

My 10 year old son is really struggling with comprehending what he just read...but only when it's school-related. He will read The Genius Files (all 264 pages) in a single night and be able to retell the entire story. I have him read 1 chapter of Robin Hood or The Hobbit? He cannot answer even the most basic questions (ie. What was Gandolf?) We also just started WWE 3, and he struggles so much with the narration exercise. I know he's reading the passage, but when it comes time to answer a single.question.about it, he can't. I understand that comprehension can be a real struggle for those on the spectrum due to not naturally making generalizations nor internalizing stories. However, what things can I do with him to help him get better with this? 

Or, is the best next thing to stop assigning him books to read and just let him read what he's interested in and therefore comprehends?
As someone who identifies strongly with the Classical Model, the 2nd option gives me a slight anxiety attack. However, I can get over it if others have seen success going that route. I just never know (especially with this child!) when to push and when to go with it, does anyone understand that? 

Any help would be appreciated as I just don't know what to do next.

Thanks!

 

[PeterPan]

The ability to retell the story doesn't mean they comprehended it, because they self-selected what details to include and didn't necessarily make inferences or tell you what they DIDN'T get.  Yes, you're wise to start looking for materials to work explicitly on comprehension to check for holes and skill gaps.  Yes, you're correct to be concerned that those skills don't necessarily develop on their own in all kids just because they read a lot.  My ds is younger than yours, but our SLP has been suggesting to us beginning to go through materials like that.  I'm not in the loop yet on all the options.  She has us starting with some books by Jean DeGaetano.  Someone will surely pop in with more suggestions.  

 

Struggling with the WWE narration can reflect working memory issues.  On the Hobbit & Robin Hood, he might just not have been reading.  You might try giving him books on three levels (-, average, and +) and then letting him pick the book for the week.  I know the first time my dd read the Hobbit (when I pushed the issue, around that age) she said she hated it, blah blah.  A year later she picked it up and fell in love, never looked back, and became an avid LotR fan.  Sometimes we push the window of developmental readiness too much, kwim?  Just because they can read the words doesn't mean they're ready to READ it.  

 

 

[kbutton]

Could you get the book on CD and have him read and listen at the same time?

 

Maybe you can create some kind of reading guide--either he chooses what to write down, or you write some questions down. Maybe even and outline or graphic organizer to fill out while he reads. He might need to read something more than once. I would consider other literature to see how he does if what you're doing now won't work yet. My kiddo (Aspie) is not that fond of classic literature unless it's the abridged versions, lol! He's a fourth grader, but his reading level is much higher. He still reads some pretty good books, just not all that many classics. He often rereads books over and over, and I think it's because he processes the books on a different level each time through. His comprehension is okay. For words, it's great, even with words he's never seen before, but I don't know if he gets themes and other things like that the first time through. I strongly suspect that some of why he enjoys reading at all (even fiction) is to learn technical facts that are totally side things in the story. :-)

 

Have you done anything with him about plot, characterization, theme, etc.? You could even start with good picture books. My son needs and seems to like direct instruction on these things. We're using Reader's Handbook (the 6-8th grade version, I think) to help with this. I didn't expect to use textbook-ish stuff like this, but it's working well with him. My little one will probably catch all of this without a hitch, but my Aspie really does need a method and lots of discussion. We're going through Across Five Aprils right now while trying to discuss these things. You might try working through books that reveal the thoughts of the characters directly (Carry on, Mr. Bowditch comes to mind). I read somewhere that kids on the spectrum learn a lot of social skills through books, but I suspect that they need some fiction that explicitly reveals feelings and thoughts when they are learning to understand characters.

 

You might also work on inferencing. These kids hone in on different details, so in addition to it being a trickier skill for them, they view things SO differently. We had a little blurb in his Inference Jones book about a minority ball player who faced some discrimination. The book asks if the player was bothered by this treatment, and my son is still convinced the man was not bothered because he kept going in the face of it. The actions spoke louder to my son--he figured if the man was bothered, he would have just quit. He did think the man probably had hurt feelings about it, but not enough to "bother" him according to my son's definition of bother. Sometimes you just have to let it go. Clearly, my son did think view the discrimination poorly and could understand hurt feelings, but his view of how it played out won't budge.

[MeghanL]

 You might try giving him books on three levels (-, average, and +) and then letting him pick the book for the week.  

 

I really like this idea. I'll see if that makes a difference.

 

Does anyone have something that they use to help with comprehension? So far, we've done Adam Andrews' curriculum, Evan-Moor Passage Comprehension and now we've started WWE, which I was really wanting to use to help with comprehension.

Anything else I should be doing?

[kbutton]

I really like this idea. I'll see if that makes a difference.

 

Does anyone have something that they use to help with comprehension? So far, we've done Adam Andrews' curriculum, Evan-Moor Passage Comprehension and now we've started WWE, which I was really wanting to use to help with comprehension.

Anything else I should be doing?

 

Inference Jones from The Critical Thinking Company.
 

[MeghanL]

kbutton, my library had Reader's Handbook, so I ordered that to read before I buy.

I'll be at convention next month & will look at Inference Jones. Thanks so much for your recommendations!

[kbutton]

kbutton, my library had Reader's Handbook, so I ordered that to read before I buy.

I'll be at convention next month & will look at Inference Jones. Thanks so much for your recommendations!

 

You're welcome. And there may be a lot more out there than Reader's Handbook, but that is what someone recommended to me. Best wishes.

[Rosie Q]

The Edcon catalog lists their reading comprehension books - we used the "High-Interest classics" series for reading comprehension, and they were quite good. Their catalog is at https://www.edconpublishing.com/Edcon-Catalog.pdf

[ElizabethB]

I just looked at the new Classical Academic Press catalogue. I don't know if they are new or not, but they have a reading comprehension series, it looks good. It is either new or I didn't notice it. They have samples on their website:

http://classicalacademicpress.com/brands/Reasoning-%26-Reading.html?sort=pricedesc

[TGHEALTHYMOM]

I just ordered some leveled reader books on Amazon dirt cheap.  The 6th grade level has excerpts of classical literature.  I hope this helps my ld dd10 and ADHD ds12.  I ordered 2 levels for them to try since she has trouble reading and he can read well but has a short attention span.  I still read aloud to everyone as well as use some audio books.  I plan to use some of this reading for literature study, and narration.