Least "Intrusive" ways to Verify Reading is Being Done

[wendyroo]

My autistic 10 year old doesn't like reading fiction.  He spends 2-3 hours every day free reading, and all of that time is spent on non-fiction.  Which is great, but I think it is important for him to read some fiction.  It is good for him to read "social stories" where he follows along with characters who interact, feel emotions, make choices, etc.

So, I insist that he read from a piece of fiction for about 15 minutes a day.  That is where we are running into the problem.  This is a kid who takes "don't expect what you don't inspect" to ridiculous levels.  He will lie about anything and everything if he can successfully avoid "unpleasantness".  I don't hold this against him, it is clearly a function of his mental health and neurodevelopmental challenges; I just accept that he is currently not capable of maintaining integrity or work ethic under trying circumstances.

So I need (and he is more secure when I have) ways to objectively verify that he is completing his independent school work.  This is easy in some circumstances - checking his progress in the typing program - and harder in others like monitoring if he is actually reading a book or just sitting there flipping pages and biding his time for 15 minutes.  Obviously, it is easier to check in when I have read the book, but that is not always possible.  I don't want to "get between" him and the book, or make reading fiction even more of a dreaded ordeal by making him answer comprehension questions or journal or really write much of anything since he hates that with a passion.  But when he is reading a book I am unfamiliar with, I do need a way to "inspect" that he actually read.

Any simple, fairly painless ways to verify reading?

Thanks.

[Kiara.I]

Have him read the fiction out loud to you. Then you know!

[maize]

Narration of some kind.

Will be listen to audiobooks? My kids listen while doing other things.

[wendyroo]

18 minutes ago, Kiara.I said:

Have him read the fiction out loud to you. Then you know!

In some ways that would be a positive:
- His read aloud skills are weak.  It would be good for him to practice every day.
- I would know that he did the reading.
- I would be able to discuss the books with him because I would always know the story.

In others it would be negative:
- His read aloud skills are weak.  It would make his assigned reading time even more dreaded.
- We would inevitably be interrupted a million times.  (With 4 young children, many with significant delays, this cannot be avoided.)
- It would be difficult for me to find time to listen to him every day.  I have very little margin in my day.

[wendyroo]

3 minutes ago, maize said:

Narration of some kind.

Will be listen to audiobooks? My kids listen while doing other things.

I play audiobooks in the car.  He sort of listens...because he doesn't really have much choice.  Otherwise he would never voluntarily listen to an audiobook.

Do you ever worry that your kids are just making up narrations?  Peter's narrative language is very delayed, so when he narrates something like "Lina was a messenger," I never know if he truly read the chapter and that is all he can convey back to me or if he just skimmed a couple sentences until he found something plausible to say.  Follow up questions don't garner much additional information:  "Where does she deliver messages?"  "She delivers messages in the city."  His answers are always terse (though complete sentences; thank you WWE), and I have no way of knowing if they are correct.

[maize]

12 minutes ago, wendyroo said:

In some ways that would be a positive:
- His read aloud skills are weak.  It would be good for him to practice every day.
- I would know that he did the reading.
- I would be able to discuss the books with him because I would always know the story.

In others it would be negative:
- His read aloud skills are weak.  It would make his assigned reading time even more dreaded.
- We would inevitably be interrupted a million times.  (With 4 young children, many with significant delays, this cannot be avoided.)
- It would be difficult for me to find time to listen to him every day.  I have very little margin in my day.

If he is willing to read aloud would he read into a recording device? That could cut down on interruptions and you needing to be there.

Would he read to a younger sibling?

My brain does this thing sometimes when I read aloud though where the words come out my mouth without being processed by my brain. I can read pages at a time with zero comprehension. I would still want to check comprehension occasionally to verify that wasn't happening.

Edited November 3, 2019 by maize

[maize]

4 minutes ago, wendyroo said:

I play audiobooks in the car.  He sort of listens...because he doesn't really have much choice.  Otherwise he would never voluntarily listen to an audiobook.

Do you ever worry that your kids are just making up narrations?  Peter's narrative language is very delayed, so when he narrates something like "Lina was a messenger," I never know if he truly read the chapter and that is all he can convey back to me or if he just skimmed a couple sentences until he found something plausible to say.  Follow up questions don't garner much additional information:  "Where does she deliver messages?"  "She delivers messages in the city."  His answers are always terse (though complete sentences; thank you WWE), and I have no way of knowing if they are correct.

I tried narration with my older kids, my oldest could do it but didn't need to, my second has selective mutism and pretty much shuts down when asked questions, my third was severely dyslexic.

I haven't tried narration in awhile.

Edited November 3, 2019 by maize

[EKS]

Read it aloud to him and engage him in discussion about it as you go.  

[8filltheheart]

Have him read aloud to you while you are doing something else (cleaning the kitchen, cooking, folding laundry)?

[Lori D.]

We did it aloud together, "popcorn style" ("you read a page, I read a page").

We discussed in the midst, so I could see if there was comprehension -- just the occasional question, and not every time, so as to not kill the joy of reading. (Example: when we would pick up the book the following day, I might say, "I can't quite remember where we left off yesterday... Can you remember what had just happened in the story?" Or, "Oh! I loved how beautiful the language was in this passage from yesterday [or how funny, or how exciting...] -- what was your favorite part from yesterday?" Or, "So, let me see... Yesterday, xyzzy happened... What do you think might happen today? Let's each take a guess before we start reading today!"

I know you have more children and with higher needs, so that might not work for you without a plan. Could the 15 minutes of this type of "buddy reading" be done at night? Either with daddy (or with you) while other parent wrangles the other children? Perhaps as part of his getting to stay up later than the younger children?

Edited November 3, 2019 by Lori D.

[Miss Tick]

Accelerated Reader is used by our local schools and has students take reading comprehension quizzes - I think only at the end of the book, though. A web search says that ARapp costs money, but that Book Adventure is similar and free. Maybe some books you read together, some he reads to you, and some use an app for quizzing comprehension?