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 be taught how to walk in line, how to use crayons, how to sit in one spot.

I work with an included five-year-old who can already read at about a first grade level but rarely talks spontaneously.  He is stimulated to the point of fascination by moving vehicles and our classroom has a full view of the street.  He will stand up, turn his back on the teacher, peer out the windows (or walk to the door when the windows are blocked) and bounce stiffly in place while watching the cars.

For more than I week, I redirected him (over and over) back to his place at the checkered rug, where most instruction takes place.  Finally, I had an idea.

As I said, he reads, or at least decodes, well.  Things like “Animals need plants to grow” and “Think About It” which were titles in a science book we were looking at together.  He may have hyperlexia, but it is difficult at this point to assess how much he comprehends of what he reads.

I also have had the experience with more than one older child with autism that they tend to (dare I say) religiously follow rules, and are often upset by other students who disobey them.

So I decided to write some rules for Jacob (not his real name).

Jacob’s Rule 1:  In your square or in your chair.  Other kids were sent to their desks when they wouldn’t behave at the rug, so I did the same with Jacob.  He accepted this readily.

Jacob’s Rule 2:  Eyes on the teacher.  He would rarely watch the teacher or look at what she was demonstrating to the class.  I showed him the rule while turning him toward the teacher.

Jacob’s Rule 3:  Stay in line.  He doesn’t stray far from the line but rarely follows behind the person in front of him.

Jacob’s Rule 4:  Hands to yourself.  He has a friend he adores, a girl smaller than he is, who he loves to touch and hug.  Which is quite cute but…not conducive to what is considered appropriate classroom behavior.

Jacob’s Rule 5:  No watching the cars.  This one was a gamble.  Jacob’s car watching is less a choice and more a compulsion.  But I was hopeful that, once he accepted that there were rules in the classroom, we could stop the “stimming” by reminding him of the rule.  So far, I’ve had some success with this.

I printed each rule on a different colored square of paper, laminated them, and put them on a ring.  I carry the ring around most of the time and when I enforce a rule, I hold it in front of Jacob until he looks at it, then point to the words as I read them.  He will now read along with me and will almost always comply with no additional prompting. 

Granted, it is often as little as 30 seconds before he forgets and repeats the activity, but I am thrilled that a child with autism that young is responding to written rules.

Related posts:

1. First…Then: A kindergartner with autism, Part II
2. Reader with autism and figurative language, part 1
3. Autism and hyperlexia, part 1: Anaphoric cuing?

I’ve got a new student with autism.  He’s a fourth grader, and he moved here from another state last year.  The IEP he came with was quite specific about his mechanical reading skills (working on long and short vowels, etc) and reported minimal progress toward decoding and phonemic awareness over the previous year. 

He spent the second half of last year in our lower-grades Special Day Class, and now he’s with me.  I took a look at his IEPs for the past several years, and I must say I’m disappointed. 

Allow me to step up to my soap box for a bit and voice some concerns about the IEP process and how we think about our readers with autism.

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: I want to know about whether the child

• enjoys being read to,
• enjoys looking at books,
• comprehension levels,
• questions the child might ask,
• topics of interest,
• favorite characters in books, and
• genres. 

A reader is not simply a person who can read words; a reader is a person who has expectations of text, has preferences in text, and has experience in text.

A kid who cannot decode long “O” and “I” sounds can still delight in having Captain Underpants read to him.  A kid who cannot focus on the written word for more than 15 seconds at a whack can bring me a copy of The Indian in the Cupboard  and ask me to read it to him over and over and over.  A child who doesn’t know that a book starts on the left side and not the right can squeal with delight when we read Frog and Toad books.

We need to know as much about what a child can do as what he cannot do.  Yet.

When we are working with a child on comprehension in reading, we build on the skills that exist now.  I cannot devise a plan of action unless I know what the child already knows, and what he almost knows.

Think about it:  how much does knowing that I cannot use an electric screwdriver without stripping screws, cannot thread the needle on a sewing machine, cannot keep track of socks, and often fail to keep plastic containers together with their lids really tell you about what it would be like to come to my house for dinner?  Not much, I expect.

Note toParents:

Parents are part of the IEP team, and if the case manager doesn’t include the skills your child already has, you have not only the right but the obligation to make sure it’s added.  It’s as simple as asking whether the case manager could please add a list of the reading/math/writing/whatever skills the child does have to the description of “present levels.”  If your child is present at the IEP, ask him or her to contribute a list of strengths. 

I’ve had it up to here with IEPs that do not accurately describe a child, or which leave enormous blanks in the picture of the child I am teaching.    We’re talking about a person, not a skill-set, and not a file in a drawer.   Anyone who participates in an IEP meeting must consider how the child is portrayed, and if it is as complete a portrayal as possible in the document.  If you are unsure, consider whether, if the subject of the IEP was you, people would be able to see you as you are.

Related posts:

1. The problem of the read-aloud
2. Role of the classroom aide: To help the child toward independence
3. Don’t stop advocating for the child with autism!

We are a new blog dedicated to assisting parents and teachers of children on the autism spectrum who are having difficulty with reading or comprehension.  The website is still under active construction as of August 17, 2009.  Bookmark us and check back in a few days if you don’t find what you’re looking for.  Feel free as well to leave a Comment below.

We are Sara Finegan, special education teacher  and consultant and author of all posts on this blog unless otherwise noted, and Richard Finegan, special education paraprofessional and struggling novice site administrator.

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In the Left sidebar to this text you will see tags, listed alphabetically but of differing sizes.  The larger the tag, the more posts relating to it you should find.  Click on an appropriate tag and only those posts will pop up for you to scroll through.  Good luck and again, let us know if you have questions, comments or suggestions.  The site is still under construction, we are new at blogging and learning as we go.

Related posts:

1. The child in the IEP: Can we really see him as described?
2. When a reader with autism needs to respond to literature…
3. Finding the words: Helping a child with autism talk about reading