readerswithautism.com

By readers1 　http://readerswithautism.com/2009/09/autism-and-hyperlexia-part-2-helping-bobby-read/

By Sara Finegan

When I met him, Bobby was a fourth grader with autism, struggling to make meaning of the words he so easily read aloud (decoded).  He had hyperlexia, a common condition with children on the autism spectrum, in which they seem to read well but comprehend little. 

Research suggested to me that something called anaphoric cuing was the key to helping Bobby.  The earlier post “Autism and hyperlexia, part 1: Anaphoric cuing?” discusses what anaphoric cuing is and how I came to discover it as a possible intervention.   In this post, I will discuss exactly what I did with and for Bobby.

Weekly routine

Bobby was given one-on-one attention and instruction for 20 minute sessions, three days a week.  This took place at a kidney-shaped table in the corner of the classroom, shielded from the activity of other students. 

  There were three stages to the process: 

• Initial implementation of anaphoric cuing,
• release of responsibility, and
• gradual development of independence. 

Initial implementation of anaphoric cuing

During the first several months, Bobby met with me three mornings per week.  Each session began with a conversation about the previous day’s work, with the following questions:  (1) What did you read yesterday?  (2)What do you remember about what you read? 

Following that introductory conversation, I presented Bobby with his book and his comprehension worksheet from the previous day.  The worksheet asked him questions about the anaphora from the previous day’s text, such as: 

• Who is “he”? 
• Where is “there”? 
• When was “then”? 
• What is “it”?

Here is an example:

Pages 10 and 11:

1. Who is May?

2. What does May think about the fact that Marvin likes Rosie?

Page 12:

1. Why does Marvin think Rosie is so mean?

2. What does May think of Marvin’s theory?

Page 14:

1. Why does Mr. Brock want to sell his farm?

2. Why did May think that selling Rosie was a good idea?

If he had answered all questions correctly, he was given a new assignment.  If there were questions to be corrected, he did so under my supervision.  Prior to starting a new reading section, I asked Bobby to restate the procedure for reading: 

“First, I read a page.  Then I stop and think about it.  Then I answer the questions for that page.  I don’t turn the page of the book until I have answered all the questions for that page.” 

(I did mention, didn’t I, how compliant Bobby was?)  Only then did I let him begin reading that day’s text.

 During the next 15 minutes, I observed Bobby’s reading behaviors and completed a checklist.  (See Exhibit 1: Retell Checklist, below) If he was off-task or not following the stated procedures, (i.e. reading ahead before answering questions) he was gently redirected by the question “Bobby, what are you supposed to be doing now?”

 At the end of each session, I evaluated his worksheet and tabulated the results.  At the end of each week, the checklists were compiled and the data recorded.

Release of Responsibility 

Bobby's Bookmark

Once Bobby had progressed up several levels of narrative fiction text and built his stamina to 20 minutes at a time, I released some of the responsibility for addressing anaphora to him.  Bobby was taught what anaphora are, and the types of words they might be. (For example, he, them, it, there, that, then.)

I made for him a laminated bookmark listing many of the words to look for.

  He was instructed to pause before reading each paragraph and to scan and underline any anaphora he saw.  He was then told to to stop as he read at every underlined anaphora and identify the reference word (the word to which the anaphora refer). 

His reading comprehension worksheets were redesigned to focus on a summary or restatement of each paragraph using different words.

Gradual development of independence

 When Bobby moved up three grade levels to books at the fourth grade level, I decided to nudge him into a new phase of independence and responsibility for his own work.    The comprehension worksheets were removed entirely and he was asked to create his own questions to prompt identification of anaphora and reference words.   

When he exhibited some reluctance to assume this responsibility, I taught him the types of question words he might use for each anaphor:  pronouns generally lead to “who” inquiries; whereas “there” might lead to a “where” question. 

Once he had practice in identifying the types of questions he might ask based on the nature of the anaphora, he was encouraged to work more independently. Supervision was limited to observation of his reading behaviors and once weekly conferences when I asked him to retell what he’d been reading. 

Evaluation of process

 The process I followed involved ongoing and consistent collection of data, which was used not only to monitor levels of improvement in reading comprehension, but to identify problems and design solutions. 

For example, observations led me to conclude that Bobby needed to build reading stamina before he could proceed into more complex types of narrative fiction text, and accommodations were made that allowed him to gradually increase the amount of text read in each session. 

Tip:  Constant and careful observation and recording of various reading behaviors is necessary if the teacher is going to customize reading instruction in anaphoric cuing, adapt to the resulting improvement in comprehension, and resolve related issues which invariably arise.  No two students are alike. 

 One-on-one instruction and guided practice proved to be a key to the consistency of Bobby’s progress.  Direct instruction was provided in small chunks in a step-by-step basis over time.  All instruction was assessment-based, building on observations from the previous session.  

The result was Bobby’s gradual movement from dependence on comprehension checklists and worksheets to independent habits of reading.

You can do this!

 This particular classroom intervention can be performed by any teacher or paraprofessional with minimal training.  Each part of the daily work session routine is simple to implement and the student will quickly learn what to do and expect.  Gradual release of responsibility for thinking and working occurs after the child has become comfortable with anaphoric cuing.  

If a paraprofessional performs the daily conference tasks with the student, the teacher must regularly review the results to gage when to move to a new phase or how to resolve issues that arise. 

Because the involvement of instructional staff is limited in anaphoric cuing, the child quickly understands that the staff is not going to answer questions or do the work for him or her.  This teaches independence and responsibility for the thinking without much struggle.

But back to Bobby…

 The anaphoric cuing method used with Bobby was an evolving process of ongoing assessments to consider how to promote independent reading behaviors.  In the middle phase, Bobby was required to slow his reading and limit reading stints to but a few sentences at a time.  He was encouraged to identify reference words and retell each passage using those reference words to cement and demonstrate his understanding. 

Later, Bobby was asked to assume more responsibility, first to identify the anaphora in text; then to ask himself questions that connected the anaphora to the reference words.  Both standardized and my informal assessments (for example, Exhibit 2: Bobby and the Doughnut Store, below) revealed striking improvements in Bobby’s ability to read and comprehend text.

Epilogue

One cold and rainy day in January of 2008, I looked across my classroom and saw Bobby, now a sixth grader,  building a fort out of pillows.    He was once again holding a copy of  Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban in one hand while elbowing pillows into place with the other. 

I watched as he nested into his fort, opened his book, and began to read.  Two years before, while he could fluently read this book aloud, he comprehended almost none of it.  After awhile, I went over to him.

“What’s happening in the book?” I asked. 

“Oh!  I think Harry Potter is different from other kids,” said Bobby.

“How so?”  I asked.

“ Oh!  He hates vacations and he likes homework,” said Bobby.  “Also, he’s a wizard.  Wizards aren’t like normal people.  Oh!  And he does his homework with a feather pen.  I do mine with pencil.”

Exhibit 2: Bobby and the Doughnut Store

Exhibit 1: Retell Checklist

 

Related posts:

1. FAQs about anaphoric cuing and reading comprehension
2. Anaphoric cuing: Asking clarifying questions
3. Autism and hyperlexia, part 1: Anaphoric cuing?
4. Anaphoric cuing: We are Number 1!
5. Role of the classroom aide: To help the child toward independence