Teaching a special needs child to read and spell?

Question

My son is 13yrs old and is on the Autism Spectrum. The lovely public school system never taught him how to read. I am looking into using the Dolch sight words to teach him to read and spell. Any one have any pros or cons against this method? Do you know of any great programs to teach reading.

We are now homeschooling him so please do not suggest getting the school to do it as I am done with the public & private school systems!!!

Answer 1

Dolch is okay, we used Edmark reading program (which utilizes in part the Dolch word lists, the home version is expensive, but totally worth it (cheaper than the packs, $170 through academicsuperstore.com). Whole language is going to be sooo much easier for a child with autism than trying phonics (which is all that most public schools use, they've been hooked lol!)

Homeschool is awesome, I've got two on the spectrum at home right now, seventh grade and fifth grade. The school taught the youngest one NOTHING. We pulled her out in second grade, and she didn't know anything beyond touch math for adding single digits. The truth is that they have no idea how to teach people outside of their little boxes.

Edmark got her from preemergent reader to second grade in less than nine months. For math we used the cheapo workbooks from walmart.

Answer 2

I also took both my special needs kids out of the public school system. For many more reasons than what you have stated. But I also use the sight word list as my child has a 2nd grade reading level and we have done fine with this. For his own sake I will only do a couple words a week from the list. I add a couple for our weekly list that supports his career goals. We keep a journal of all the words he learns. Because repetition is important for him. That way we can use the book to go back and review. Below is a link with grade/ability appropriate work available. It's free.

Answer 3

Hello,

I am a mother of a child who is on the autism spectrum. I am also a teacher. You did not mention what areas your child had problems in. I also do not know if you requested to have your child tested. I had my daughter tested and we found out that she is very low, the 16th % in short term memory. I also had a child in my class who was only able to start reading after we found out he saw things when you put a green film over the words. Also try red, yellow, and blue. It really is quite remarkable. If you know the exact area that is the most weak you can work in those areas. It takes an average child 60 exposures to something before they have it in their long term memory; you can triple that for a child with learning disabilities. I have also heard that giving fish oil and omega 3 helps with their learning. I am trying it out myself. Good luck!

Answer 4

Writing With Symbols is a great scheduling program for visual learners.   It was our experience that it also engages and encourages reading at the child's own pace.  

You can probably get a copy pretty cheap on ebay.  I would recommend it if you have not tried it yet.

You can print your own P.E.C.s from it as well.

Answer 5

Dulche words are very important to typical language development.  But for your child, depending on how involved she or he is, may not benefit from this approach.  Whole word learning is often more successful than sounding out words for our kids.  It doesn't mean it won't work, it just means that you may have more success with flash cards you make yourself.  Picking children's stories and scanning in pics can be a good way to start a vocabulary of meaningful words.

Answer 6

I am the parent of a child with an ASD and my daughter struggled at first to read, write and spell. The best thing you can do to help your son is to give him time and patience. I used to spend a couple of hours with my child every night making games out of reading writing and spelling. There are no miracle programs to help children with ASD's learn as all are so different. Just give him lots of time and eventually you will see a difference.

Answer 7

I would use direct instrution to teach your child to read.  The Dolch sight word list is a list of words that need to be memorized and read within two seconds.  These are words that you do not sound out for their spelling does not allow for this and why they are called "sight words."  These are important words to know yes, for they are high frequency words, but learning these words will not allow your son to learn to manipulate sounds to decode other words like cat or mat and other words as he progresses.

Your son needs to have intense one on one instruction.  It is an effective method and is researched based. You do not say how much he does know.  Does he know letter sound correspondence...show him the letter "m" and he can say the sound?  Those come first, just orally then do the short vowels sounds, starting wih five letters at a time.  When he can do these without error for about 3 days in a row, add more letters and always review all letter sounds making sure he is firm.  

When he knows the letters, give him cvc words, consonant vowel consonant, m a t....say each sound mmm  aaaa   ttt....then say it fast. mat.  Do this with lots of combinations.  After he gets good, switch out the beginnings, middles, and ends.  I have the word "mat" if I take away the m and use p, what word?  He needs to learn how to manipulate sounds in order to decode them when he sees them in text.  Below is the bible of direct instruction reading and will tell you EVERYTHING you need to do in order to teach your child to read.  It is well worth the money if you are serious.

You do not say the level your son is on as far as ASD, but sometimes functional reading is in order or using PECS,  but be warned, whole language does not help children learn to read and manipulate sounds or be successful readers.

I can help you with spelling too if yoou would like some advice, but I am done typing for now!   LOL

Answer 8

I work as a para-educator in special ed at the elementary level.  We use a reading program called ReadWell.  While it is not perfect it does get kids with learning problems reading. I am not working with any children classified on the Autism Spectrum at this time but others at my school are and are having success with this program. I don't know if it is available for home school but it should be.