Monthly Archives: November 2009

Stories they help us write

What happens when our readers with autism get a high-interest story like this that requires them to be paying attention so that they can add a word or phrase here and there is that they tend to stay with the story, hang on to what’s happening, and enjoy the interaction they have with the text.

The child in the IEP: Can we really see him as described?

I do not know how it is possible for anyone to create an IEP that only addresses one part of the reading process. If I am going to support a child in reading, there are many things I want to know besides the simple decoding skills he or she has or does not have:

Irresistible reading: Stories starring our kids as characters

For readers with autism, being a part of the story is a terrific introduction to the concept of “jumping into” a book.

Reader with autism and figurative language, part 1

The text was overflowing with figurative language. The first story we were supposed to read was a short piece by Sandra Cisneros, who is a brilliant and evocative author (The House on Mango Street, Woman Hollering Creek) whose work is just so amazing I could read it over and over without getting bored.

Anaphoric cuing: We are Number 1!

Search the term anaphoric cuing today on Yahoo! and you’ll get 29,700 results.  And the winner is…www.readerswithautism.com! On Google, and on bing, we come in at number three.  Not bad, we think, for a blog that began in August 2009.  Granted, not many teachers and parents yet know the term anaphoric cuing.  But we hope [...]

Paraprofessional/aide as facilitator in partner/group work

…you must give the child with autism a chance to learn cooperation skills. You don’t help the child who has social interation difficulties by imposing a resolution on every partner or group dispute in which you find them.

Why I do not use the term“autistic”

By Sara Finegan You’ll notice that I always refer to my students with autism as “students with autism” or “readers with autism.”  I don’t use the word “autistic.” It’s my personal preference and also, I think, is a best practice we educators should adopt, referring to the person first, and then the disability. If we place [...]