Reading disability - what does aspie have to do with it?

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My 12-year old aspie son is several grade levels behind in his reading abilities. I *think* he'd otherwise excel in his academics if not for this disability, because he tends to get B+ or A- in subjects that require less reading (like Math).

In addition, I think because of his reading disability, his writing skills are even worse. He writes worse than his younger brother who's in third grade.

What puzzles me is how being an aspie have to do with the ability to read?

Thanks in advance. I am so happy to have found this site!

I'm not experienced with this sort of thing, but this sort of learning impairment seems to be part of the package, like Stimming and blunt logic.

Oh, and welcome to WP!

Being well behind in writing is probably connected to Aspieness. Was he behind his age group in other 'co-ordination milestones' - walking, riding a bike, tying shoelaces etc? This is 'dyspraxia' and was certainly a problem for me when young. I was told I could pass any exam if only half my paper was legible.

I don't know about reading problems. Could be dyslexia. It's certainly worth working on.

I have trouble reading espcialy black letters on white paper. Everything just blurs together. Even the pictures.

Gee, *I* never saw that problem! I never read it as a symptom of AS! Many here, including myself, read BEFORE school! I DOUBT it is because of AS. MAYBE an associated comorbid like dyslexia, but NOT the problem itself.

Steve

he probably has autism cept his iq is too high

I used to be behind reading but when I started being in regular ed full time, my reading caught up in no time because my mother made me read and in school I had to read so I learned quick.

I have the opposite problem. I am excellent at reading and writing, but I'm absolutely horrible at math.

me too.. i cant do anything past division

I'm not sure if that's AS. I'm officially AS, and I'm also diagnosed as hyperlexic, which means that I have the exact opposite.

However it seems to me that most aspies are always on the extreme ends when it comes to these sorts of things. Either they pick it up very early or they have immense difficulty with it. Very few of us to me it seems like learned how to read at the "normal" time.

Reading disability is a "co-morbid" and not a part of AS. A lot of us are visual learners and use reading as the primary way of taking information.

It might be that you have Irlen syndrome www.irlen.com
Buying a coloured overlay or getting Irlen lenses (if your problem is severe) might help.
A good optitian would be able to advise you.

I have Irlen syndrome too and find coloured overlays very useful.

To the person who posted this topic: Regarding reading disability, has your son been tested for dyslexia and dyspraxia and Irlen syndrome? And perhaps he should have a general eye test too to make sure there are no problems there as well.

I have AS and also dyslexia (hence difficulty with reading) dyspraxia (difficulty with co-ordination and fine motor skills - including handwriting!) and Irlen syndrome and amblyopia.

Having these things diagnosed really helped me as I could find methods and buy equipment to help overcome them.

I too was in the situation that I did very well at school but had certain reading and perception problems. As I did well otherwise, it was assumed that I just wasn't trying hard enough and I did not receive any help at all. I did not get diagsed until I was at Uni and really struggling!

Regarding reading disabilities and AS, they do seem to go together pretty often. I guess it is because they are all in the same medical category, 'Neuro-Developmental'.

http://www.danda.org.uk/pages/faqs.php

In all neuro-developmental issues, the cause is that the brain is 'wired up' differently. So this may well explain why a lot of these problems seem to occur together - even a slightly different wiring can cause many changes.

I can read very well and could from a very young age writing however was a different matter those pesky reversible b's and d's used to confuse the hell out of me.

On the math's front I retook gcse maths twice and got f's each time. I've got a certificate in math now but it took till I was 30 to be not quite so bad at math and I still cant remember strings of numbers even my phone number at work eludes me.

I think the key problem is language - language was fundamental to the rise of social humans about 50,000 yrs ago - i think aspies, & autistic people in general, are people from before that time - ie, with older genes.

Many of us are good readers, but even then we are usually slower at it than NT people.

If your son is good at math, he has a great gift - maybe he wouldn't have it if he had better language skills

I wish our schools were better at accepting limitations & letting kids build on their strengths.

AC

Grades are only half a way to tell what level reading he can do. Most schools are still struck on using paper and handwriting it cost alot less. Ask if he can use a computer to type and print that could help. For some reason i can read alot better than being able to spell. Maybe he never learn how to break down words by their parts ? Only half the words in english can be done by sight alone.

sorry, i havent had time to read all the posts...

but maybe it's a mechanical dexterity thing? like, maybe he has trouble holding a pencil? how well can he type? does he prefer that over writing?

or was it just reading? i remember my favorite way of learning to read was sitting with my parents and having them let me say the words with them... like i WANTED them to just read the book as they would and let me mouth/speak the words with them. i don't remember how well i did all the time; but i remember when they would stop (like if they heard me say something wrong, i think...) i would get mad. i think i could tell that i was saying stuff wrong but just wanted them to keep reading.

hope that helps... ill try and read all the posts more thouroughly later

welcome to WP