Reading Comprehension

[RaineyJ]

My 10 year old ADHD/gifted son has struggled with reading comprehension issues all through his school years. I have also been struggling...trying to find out how to help him. Ive gotten some good advice from this board (thank you), but I think I have finally narrowed down exactly what the problem is. Here is some background:

1. My son was just evaluated by a developmental optometrist and she determined that he doesn't have any vision problems.
2. I regularly give my son reading evaluations from various sources. The results show that he doesn't have any problems with decoding or the mechanics of reading.
3. His initial testing that diagnosed his ADHD/giftedness indicates that his ability to think and reason using language is in the average to high average range.
4. His vocabulary has also been tested and it is very good.

So, looking at all that, and based on my experience with him I have determined that the problem seems to lie in his actual understanding of the message of the sentence, paragraph or story. Is this just the ADHD attention problems showing up?

I have used narration with him since Kindergarten and it has been a torturous experience for both of us. He just can't paraphrase because somehow he doesn't really understand what is being read. I have also used Abeka Read and Think skill sheets, but it is really just "beating a dead horse". It is only showing us the problem and not helping improve the problem.

So...if anyone has any other suggestions I would be grateful to hear them. Thanks so much!

[LisaTheresa]

My son does not have ADHD and is not in the gifted range, so if it is ADHD related, I don't know how helpful I will be. However, my son does have other similarities to yours -- above average vocabulary, no problems with decoding/reading and doesn't have any vision problems.

His comprehension was low in reading and he had poor receptive language skills. He did Lindamood Bell's Visualizing and Verbalizing program and it made a tremendous difference for him. Prior to LMB, when he was 5, his comprehension tested in the 30th percentile on the kindergarten level. After we did the V/V program, his comprehension was in something like the 80th percentile on the 5th grade level. It has made a tremendous difference for him.

If at all possible, I would try to take your son for the intensive one-on-one tutoring that is offered at LMB. You can do the V/V program at home if you do not want to go to one of LMB's centers, but there is another program that is more user friendly for parents called IdeaChain. I have not used that and frankly, can't find anyone who has, but it is based on very similar ideas as the V/V program.

If you don't want to do V/V, I have heard good things about Early Comprehension in Varied Subject Matter by www.epsbooks.com. I tend to think this is more likely to help someone with a mild problem, but it might be worth trying.

Lastly, SRA has a direct instruction program called Corrective Reading - Comprehension. The direct instruction programs have a lot of research behind them and an excellent track record. Since my son is not as strong with inferences and drawing conclusions as he is with pulling out the facts, I may use this to help him in this area. The SRA programs are extremely expensive if you buy directly from them, but if you are patient, you can often find them on ebay. If finances were an issue, I think I would try this before LMB.

HTH,
Lisa

[Claire]

My 10 year old ADHD/gifted son has struggled with reading comprehension issues all through his school years. 4. His vocabulary has also been tested and it is very good. Thanks so much!

This sounds like a visualization problem. Most of us develop visualization skills automatically, but some people need explicit teaching. The IdeaChain (http://www.mindprime.com) kit is very similar to the Lindamood-Bell V&V program but is designed for home use. If you go to the website and click on the "why people have difficulty with comprehension" tab in the upper lefthand corner, you will find a walk-through explanation of why visualization skills are so important to comprehension.

I have heard the IdeaChain kit is very good, as is the telephone support for it. Have also heard it doesn't go quite as far as V&V. However, once you do IdeaChain you could order the V&V manual for about $50 and use that to finish up, because you will already be familiar with the methodology. Unlike the V&V manual, IdeaChain contains all the materials you need to implement the method and also includes benchmarks so you know when to move on to the next step.