Learning to read!

At the beginning of April, I attended a workshop on teaching children with special needs to read. That's right, our children, who may be Autistic, ADHD, ADD, PDD-NOS, CP, DS or having any other developmental disorder can learn to read even before they learn to talk properly! This work shop was an eye opener and liberating at the same time. The trick is to approach it through 'sight reading'.

Sight Reading simply put is a technique where the child picks up a word as a whole, instead of learning it by joining alphabets together.

Learning all 26 alphabets of English language and then sewing them together in different combinations could be quiet a task for children with special needs. That's why the traditional method of learning doesn't apply in our case. Like several other things, our children learn reading too in a special way. Approach is simple, application requires a bit of hard work but results are magnificent! Trust me!

Natali Hale is a US based reading expert. She has a 30 year old DS son, who is also severe ADHD. So when someone with that kind of experience shares a trick, you gotta listen!

At the beginning itself, Natali answered the most difficult question - "How do you teach reading to a child with special needs?' Answer - "You go in through the heart and teach to the brain."

This is how it goes - "We target the child's dearest interests, the people or things he loves best, as topics. Using those door-opening keys, we design materials that are extremely brain- friendly- that is, easy for the brain to grasp and retain. We use elements that use extremely large type, a high focus format, visual separation of text and pictures, and we teach words quickly with the Fast Flash Technique."

There could be a few technical words here, that you may not get immediately but lot of resource material and youtube videos are available for further guidance.

My task soon after the workshop was to identify Avani's high interest topic and voila! it is the "PASTA". Avani simply loves it!

So our first story was about 'Pasta Time'.
Here's a simple story for a beginner -

Title - Pasta Time

This is Pasta
Mummy cooks Pasta
Give me Pasta
I eat Pasta
Pasta is yummy
The End

Yes, it is as simple as that! You repeat the high interest word in almost every sentence. Keep it very simple and basic. Make flash cards of all the words used in your story in a large font. I used 72pt and use red ink while printing. Flash them in a set of five cards at a time - read the story - flash cards again and let the child go and play!!!

Try and do this about thrice a day and make it fun for the kid.

Few things to remember -
1. Flash cards have to be fast flashed to the child - which means one card per second.
2. While making the story book, one page would be only the sentence.
3. Repeat the same sentence below a relevant picture on the second page.
4. Use only the right side pages, leave left side blank.
5. I use black ink and a smaller font for the sentences on the book. This helps in generalizing the words. But you are the best judge for your child.

So in about a month's time, Avani has about 15 new sight words in her memory. Every child will progress at their own speed. Most autistic children are anyway visual learners, so for them learning the word will not be an issue but sitting and paying attention could be a task. For children with DS, you need to make sure, their eye sight is not a hindrance and it may require a bit more of repetition for memory to register. But don't lose heart if the child doesn't show progress at the start. Natali showed us videos of some of her clients, and it was super impressive.

It really made me believe that 'anyone' can learn to read, we just need to be persistent in our efforts. Once the child is taught, there's no looking back. Reading to talk is the next stage. Natali says, don't worry about comprehension at this stage. Even when we read a new word, we may not know its meaning as per dictionary, but we learn its usage with practice. The same applies to our kids.

As I taught Avani 'Give me pasta', she is slowly learning the meaning of 'give'. We are generalizing it with other things that she demands all day long. And need I say, am giving her functional language? Its obvious!

So parents, here's another tool in your armory. Use it and see your child prosper.

PS - http://specialreads.com/teach-reading-down-syndrome/natalie-hale-speaker/

“We target the child’s dearest interests, the people or things he loves best, as topics. Using those door-opening keys, we design materials that are extremely brain-friendly—that is, easy for the brain to grasp and retain. We use elements that include extremely large type, a high focus format, visual separation of text and pictures, and we teach words quickly with the Fast Flash Technique. That’s how we do it.” - See more at: http://specialreads.com/blog/?p=3827#sthash.Hd9N8fEA.dpuf

“You go in through the heart and teach to the brain.” - See more at: http://specialreads.com/blog/?p=3827#sthash.Hd9N8fEA.dpufYou go in through the hje

“You go in through the heart and teach to the brain.” - See more at: http://specialreads.com/blog/?p=3827#sthash.Hd9N8fEA.dpuf

“You go in through the heart and teach to the brain.” - See more at: http://specialreads.com/blog/?p=3827#sthash.Hd9N8fEA.dpuf

“You go in through the heart and teach to the brain.” - See more at: http://specialreads.com/blog/?p=3827#sthash.Hd9N8fEA.dpuf