Tag Archives: autism

Converting text to speech: Kurzweil 3000

By Richard Finegan      Kurzweil 3000 is a word processing (text-to-speech) program with some neat features and real value for some students.      The manufacturer, on its website, calls the 3000 a “comprehensive reading, writing and learning software solution for any struggling reader, including individuals with learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, attention deficit disorder or [...]

First…Then: A kindergartner with autism, Part II

By Richard Finegan Experiencing some success with the rule cards I devised for Jacob, and taking further advantage of his desire and willingness to read, I took another step this week. Jacob (not his real name) is a kindergartner with autism  who decodes well, better than most of his peers, but is easily distracted, especially by [...]

Writing rules for a kindergartner with autism

By Richard Finegan Just when I thought I knew what I was doing after years as a paraprofessional working one-on-one with children with autism, life teaches me a hard lesson:  it is a different world in kindergarten! I mean, kindergartners are barely socialized!  And I’m not talking about the ones with autism.  They have to [...]

Non-fiction matters, Part I

By the time a kid hits the fifth grade, we are requiring them to write multiple-paragraph essays about topics related to social studies or science units. Our readers with autism don’t get an automatic pass on that requirement

Welcome, new readers from Choice Literacy

We got  a  comment this morning from Sarah who tipped us to the wonderful mention we just received in Brenda Power’s The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy newsletter: Read Alouds are a vital component of the literacy curriculum, yet many autistic children do not respond well to them.  With autism on the rise, advice on [...]

Humor and the child with autism

By Richard Finegan Anyone who spends much time living or working with children with autism will have experienced their quirky senses of humor.  Others may be surprised to discover that a child with a flat affect and monotonous speaking voice can be intentionally funny.  And appreciate humor for humor’s sake. An example: Summer school, an [...]

Textual clues to emotion will help with inflection

To get a student with autism to read with inflection, especially the younger ones, perhaps we need to TELL them what the emotion of the speaker is.

Inference Cuing: What is the most likely reason for that?

What can we infer is the reason for this character’s behavior? Readers with autism may need to be prompted to focus their thinking on what is most common and most likely under the circumstances of the story.

* What are the most common reasons why someone would do that?

* What is the most likely reason this character is doing that, considering what just happened to her?