Tag Archives: Sara Finegan

The Demanding Classroom: No dumbing down for special education

There’s a misconception among many in the field of education about special education. To many, “learning disabled” means “unable to learn,” or “limited learning capacity.” The focus is on the “dis” part of “disabled” instead of the ability part. They ask the wrong questions: “how smart is he?” rather than “how is he smart?”

Is decoding overrated?

If you spend any time at all thinking about how you read, you are undoubtedly going to realize that you actually use your phonemic skills to decode words less than 10% of the time. Maybe less than 5%. What do readers do, really, at all but the primer stage? We recognize words.

When a reader with autism needs to respond to literature…

By Sara Finegan What happens when a reader with autism needs to respond to literature? My focus in reading comprehension instruction this fall is all about responses to literature, and by this I mean writing in depth about what we read.   An essential component to the basic reading response is the way we connect to [...]

Hearing the story in your head: The role of expressive reading

By Sara Finegan If you ask a child with autism to read a story to you, chances are that she or he will read with an almost robotic voice, word for word, with no expression.  Even an accomplished decoder will focus on getting the words right rather than the phrasing.  Good readers actually “hear” the story in [...]

Autism and hyperlexia, part 1: Anaphoric cuing?

By Sara Finegan Bobby approached my kidney-shaped conference table hesitantly, walking on tiptoe around the nearby rocking chair.  He was carrying a copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.  I greeted him; he did not meet my eyes.  This was the first day of the second week of school, and we had fashioned name [...]

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 [...]

Don’t stop advocating for the child with autism!

By Sara Finegan A word to parents and teachers– Ok, two words:  (1) don’t  (2) stop. In the world of readers with autism, the worst conversation is the one that goes like this: Parent:  John is really having a tough time with the reading homework. Teacher:  Yes, he is far below grade level. Parent:  He doesn’t [...]

Fiction with a purpose (but one at a time)

By Sara Finegan You might have noticed that most (but not all) readers with autism prefer non-fiction to fiction.  With the exception of Bobby, all of my students on the spectrum have gravitated toward the fact-based section of our classroom library.  Many of them become mini-encyclopedias themselves as they develop particular areas of expertise due [...]