Tag Archives: tips

Role of the classroom aide: To help the child toward independence

By Richard Finegan This blog is a collaborative effort between my wife Sara and me.  She does most of the writing.  I do all of the editing, formatting, illustrating (mostly clip art), layout, etc.  Since neither of us had ever blogged or had a website before, it has been a new and rewarding experience. I [...]

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 [...]

Say what? Asking questions as one reads

By Sara Finegan Sam, a sixth-grader, didn’t like to read anything except picture books. His independent reading level was at the fourth grade for non-fiction (he loved science and nature text) and at the low third grade in fiction. The more I conferred with him about his reading, the more it became clear that Sam’s [...]

Intermezzo: A word about the spectrum

By Sara Finegan The autism spectrum is a vast and invisible entity and as I explore and write about the world of the reader with autism, you are probably wondering “well, just a damned minute here. Is she writing about someone like my kid, or does she teach the high-level kids who just have some [...]

The problem of the read-aloud

By Sara Finegan One of the most frequent questions I get, from special education and general education teachers alike, is how to deal with the fact that their students with autism do not pay attention during story time.  Readers with autism are generally not good listeners and often will not only fail to attend to [...]