Comments on: When a reader with autism needs to respond to literature… http://readerswithautism.com/2009/10/when-a-reader-with-autism-needs-to-respond-to-literature/ Help for struggling readers on the autism spectrum Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:42:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: UnderINK http://readerswithautism.com/2009/10/when-a-reader-with-autism-needs-to-respond-to-literature/comment-page-1/#comment-5475 UnderINK Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:12:08 +0000 http://readerswithautism.com/?p=536#comment-5475 I had this problem as a child. I have autism spectrum disorder (Aspergers), which was never caught as a child. I realized for myself I had it when an Autism Advocate and a Behavioral Therapist both suggested I struck them very strongly as having those symptoms. I never saw the point of making personal connections to books in school, and while both my comprehension and ability to decode the English language as a child were both exceptional, my ability to connect with what I was reading (regardless of comprehending it) was exceedingly poor. It probably wasn't even that I 'couldn't', it was that I didn't see the point in trying. It was so silly. I wasn't any of those characters, why would I pretend to share anything in common with them? It wasn't until Jr. High that a teacher figured out that giving me a book along my special interest line (which by six or seven I had decided was History, with several focus areas related to but not the same, such as Philosophy and war]), it was much easier for me to connect myself to the characters. Several teachers also customized my classes to be independent study, allowing me to read books all day during school (like Crime and Punishment my 7th grade year) and base my grades almost purely off of tests and papers (both of which I exceeded at), leaving homework as much less important to my grade (I could never force myself to sit and 'do homework', it was a waste of time when I already knew it all and had no need for practice); it also made me more inclined to not have to do group projects, which I absolutely could not function in, because my compulsive nature barred anybody else from doing any of the work (I would do the entire project and let them write their name on it because I do not care about 'creative input' from other members of a 'team'- I do it best by myself, where I have control of every aspect of it and can go through my rituals of planning its process). I think now, in retrospect, that it's almost silly that to begin with they didn't catch what it was (they were very hung up back then with diagnosing everybody with ADD or ADHD; I was diagnosed with one of those, and nobody recognized it was a part of a much wider set of symptoms). But hopefully my daughter won't have that problem if she ends up with the same symptoms. And I guess that is all any of us can do at this point, who were not diagnosed until adulthood, is hope for better for our kids. I had this problem as a child. I have autism spectrum disorder (Aspergers), which was never caught as a child. I realized for myself I had it when an Autism Advocate and a Behavioral Therapist both suggested I struck them very strongly as having those symptoms. I never saw the point of making personal connections to books in school, and while both my comprehension and ability to decode the English language as a child were both exceptional, my ability to connect with what I was reading (regardless of comprehending it) was exceedingly poor. It probably wasn’t even that I ‘couldn’t', it was that I didn’t see the point in trying. It was so silly. I wasn’t any of those characters, why would I pretend to share anything in common with them?

It wasn’t until Jr. High that a teacher figured out that giving me a book along my special interest line (which by six or seven I had decided was History, with several focus areas related to but not the same, such as Philosophy and war]), it was much easier for me to connect myself to the characters. Several teachers also customized my classes to be independent study, allowing me to read books all day during school (like Crime and Punishment my 7th grade year) and base my grades almost purely off of tests and papers (both of which I exceeded at), leaving homework as much less important to my grade (I could never force myself to sit and ‘do homework’, it was a waste of time when I already knew it all and had no need for practice); it also made me more inclined to not have to do group projects, which I absolutely could not function in, because my compulsive nature barred anybody else from doing any of the work (I would do the entire project and let them write their name on it because I do not care about ‘creative input’ from other members of a ‘team’- I do it best by myself, where I have control of every aspect of it and can go through my rituals of planning its process).

I think now, in retrospect, that it’s almost silly that to begin with they didn’t catch what it was (they were very hung up back then with diagnosing everybody with ADD or ADHD; I was diagnosed with one of those, and nobody recognized it was a part of a much wider set of symptoms). But hopefully my daughter won’t have that problem if she ends up with the same symptoms. And I guess that is all any of us can do at this point, who were not diagnosed until adulthood, is hope for better for our kids.

]]> By: Frances Swanson http://readerswithautism.com/2009/10/when-a-reader-with-autism-needs-to-respond-to-literature/comment-page-1/#comment-2942 Frances Swanson Tue, 01 Mar 2011 18:20:40 +0000 http://readerswithautism.com/?p=536#comment-2942 Hello again Sara, Here above you state: "Teach a child how to write a comparison/contrast paragraph or two, and you’ll be amazed. (In another post, I’ll show how to teach this type of writing using a formula that anyone can follow, and which works really well with our readers with autism." From - http://readerswithautism.com/2009/10/when-a-reader-with-autism-needs-to-respond-to-literature/ Did you ever write that post?? Thanks, Frances Swanson Hello again Sara,
Here above you state:

“Teach a child how to write a comparison/contrast paragraph or two, and you’ll be amazed. (In another post, I’ll show how to teach this type of writing using a formula that anyone can follow, and which works really well with our readers with autism.”
From – http://readerswithautism.com/2009/10/when-a-reader-with-autism-needs-to-respond-to-literature/

Did you ever write that post??
Thanks,
Frances Swanson

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