How did you teach an autistic child to read?

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Just looking for ideas on teaching a verbal 3.5 year old asd child to read

He already knows all his letters and their pronouciation since 2.5, i held back since we were advised he's prob autistic by experts as didnt think he was ready.

Now im ready to teach him any advice? how did you move on from just letters?

The alphabet is an assembly of symbols. So is mathematics. They are abstract in nature but the mind has found a way to translate symbols into meanings.

When I think back about my children. My wife would read them stories and then have the children read back the stories out loud and she would correct them along the way with correct pronunciation.

But autistic children can catch onto the symbols quickly without the comprehension of what the symbols really mean. That was my problem. It was comprehension - understanding the meaning of things.

Anyways if I was giving any advice, it would probably be obtain a copy of a book by Jason Lu called "Eikona Bridge". He has a unique way of looking at instilling comprehension in autistic children. Read the book, and then try and apply it to your child.

Cool children's books.

Here is an old thread on the subject: http://wrongplanet.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=358488.

TOMY's Megasketcher http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005LWJ6 would be the main tool for communication.
For more permanent messages, blank 4x6 index cards are good, you can place them into a 4x6 mini photo album. Always write down words (as legends, or as speech bubbles) with pictures. Labeling objects around the house (e.g. with yellow stickies, or by taping drawn index cards) is also good. After the child can read, then you can perhaps continue with Bob Books (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0439845009/) or Dr. Seuss series (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0375851569/), depending on what the child likes.





Sometimes, on special occasions, I also made posters using foam boards. I used to make these posters every year on their birthdays, so they could celebrate in classroom in their preschool/kindergarten.



Here is an example of my son's first grade presentation on Washington Monument. Notice the elevator was mobile and could go up and down. (You cut a slit open, and use a round-head fastener.)



You can also use large roll of paper. (You can get easel and paper from IKEA: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80324072/) Here is an example drawn by our babysitter (the two figures at the top, my daugther drew the two plushies at the bottom.)


The main thing is, I don't distinguish between drawing and writing/reading. Both are aspects of visual-manual development. Whenever I drew pictures, it almost always came with written words. There is a reason why children books always come with illustrations. I mean, in my mind, reading and "picturing" are the same thing. I can't separate the two things.

And finally, here is a video to convince people that anyone can draw.

Thanks for the advise very useful

My kids' favorite first books were the Gerald and Piggie series by Mo Willems. They are very simple and fun for kids who are just starting to read.

Before reading a book with them we made and used flash cards to learn each of the words in the book (typically less than 10 new words). We would study for a day or 2 before reading the books. After both of my boys knew the words, we would act out the story. The Gerald and Piggie books are great for understanding emotions in a visual/written manner and acting out the book helps even more with that. They still love those books.

My ASD son (7 and in first grade) is now into making his own comic books. His favorite is "Dogman" which is from the author of "Captain Underpants." He's also great at drawing Gerald and Piggie and makes his own stories.

My wife was in tears last week after a meeting with his teacher when she found out that the teacher is very impressed with his creative drawing and writing. She even asks him to help other students come up with ideas for their creative writing in class. These kind of skills really help ASD kids get involved socially once they are in school.


Here's a youtube link helping kids draw Gerald and Piggie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYNIyBM_xKc

Hope this helps.

Watch out for memorising; I did that. I gave myself away by not looking at the pages when reading to my Mum. I

come from a bookish family but I refused to read what I was given because I felt patronised. I was very sensitive

to being thought stupid. The first book I read properly was a Famous Five when I was seven because it was about

older children. books and fiction are my special interest (I am a writer ).

The biggest thing is if he wants to do it. Does he see you enjoying reading your own books? if he does he's much

more likely to want to read too.