Struggling with reading and writing

[DawnM]

I am not sure how hard to push my 11 year old with reading and writing.

He has Asperger's and writing more than a simple sentence is asking for a major battle. He gets very upset and will break pencils in frustration (or at least pretend he will break it.)

He didn't read until he was 9. I wasn't worried about it, but now he is 11. He is doing much better, but still reading through the Magic Treehouse books and I just started him on the American Adventure series to go along with our SL Core 3 and he says they are too hard (although I really think he sees no pictures and smaller words and freaks out without trying too hard because if I ask him to read one paragraph he can do it without a problem.)

Anyway, he gets overwhelmed easily I guess is my point.

He verbally can tell me all about what we have just read and his comprehension is very good, it is just getting it on to paper that is an issue (HUGE issue!)

So, can anyone help me out? Would O-G type stuff help him? Any other recommendations?

Thanks,

Dawn

[kclopez]

Just a thought... have you tried changing the "physical" element of writing and introduce word processing? The more I am reading about learning issues and writing (especially from adults who have been there) is that word processing takes that physical struggle out of the equation. Using spell check eliminates the anxiety of spelling too. (They have to get some form of the word correct to get the spell check to kick in the right word.)
Good luck,
Karen

[Mandamom]

Here are my thoughts...

>>>>I am not sure how hard to push my 11 year old with reading and writing.
He has Asperger's and writing more than a simple sentence is asking for a major battle. He gets very upset and will break pencils in frustration (or at least pretend he will break it.)>>>>

I think you need to push but push carefully. You want to expect him to write on a regular and consisten basis but not push to the melting down point.

So, what you need to do is to build up his writing. Start requiring that he write 1 sentence at a time 3 times per day. Do that for 4 days (or whatever you think is approrpriate and slowly and incrementally increase it to two sentences 2-3 times per day. When that becomes easy increase it. Over a period of a couple of months he'll probably surprise himself with how much he is able to write.

>>>>He didn't read until he was 9. I wasn't worried about it, but now he is 11. He is doing much better, but still reading through the Magic Treehouse books and I just started him on the American Adventure series to go along with our SL Core 3 and he says they are too hard (although I really think he sees no pictures and smaller words and freaks out without trying too hard because if I ask him to read one paragraph he can do it without a problem.)>>>>

Most of the Magic Treehouse books, especially the earlier ones, are mostly on a 2nd grade to early 3rd grade level. They are also formulaic (not a bad thing) and since there is so much similar language in each book they are great for early or struggling readers. But, I looked at the books on the Sonlight list Core 3 and learned that most of those listed are on a 4th grade level or higher. (The American Adventure Books I couldn't determine the grade level).

It sounds like his comprehension is pretty good but how is his fluency and word attack skills -- getting some good phonics in here might be exactly what he needs.

So, continue to let him read those readers that he can read comfortably and consider those his free reading books (books he reads to himself and talks to you about).

Because he is struggling with the higher reading level of the other books (small font, higher level words and content or lack of pictures, or whatever) means that you need to continue to read with him and consider this his instructional reading level.

For the instructional leveled books continue to read aloud together and alternate pages and paragraphs, give him a page to practice over and over until he develops fluency (if that is one of his issues) and has no word reading errors and can explain the concept back to you. Understand that it can be very tiring to read outloud and if you sense he's getting really tired take a break.

But, keep reading and challenging. As he becomes more comfortable reading at the level he is you can slowly increase his free reading and his instructional level.

[Misty]

I am not sure how hard to push my 11 year old with reading and writing.

He has Asperger's and writing more than a simple sentence is asking for a major battle. He gets very upset and will break pencils in frustration (or at least pretend he will break it.)

He didn't read until he was 9.

Does he have a learning disability? Has dyslexia been ruled out? He could very well just have dysgraphia, but there are different types of dysgraphia as described here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysgraphia All of these LD's are very common with ASD's.

I would definitely only require handwriting when he is doing handwriting practice in a handwriting book or copywork. All other times, allow for answers to be given orally, or if he can type, let him type. My daughter with Asperger's and dysgraphia cannot focus on both content and producing nice penmanship. When she is required to write out an assignment, it's just horrible. Extremely illegible and disorganized. When I allow her to type the assignment, she produces work well beyond her years. The act of handwriting slows down her thought process and distracts her from producing quality work. She is getting better, slowly, but I am careful to not expect too much from her too early. I hope this issue is at an acceptable level by the time she finishes high school.

For reading, I would read aloud to him A LOT. If he can't read the higher level books himself, then I would definitely read them to him on the side as you also work on improving his skills. You are probably already doing this, right?

I would also be sure to get him tested for learning disabilities if you haven't already.

Good luck!