Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional No interest in reading

I am not sure where this should go.

DS7 does not like to read. At all. He CAN read well above his grade (1st).

Should I be concerned? He has never been a big reader on his own. Although he will sit for hours if I read to him.

Any ideas?

Our DS11 with ASD is not a huge book-lover. Very (very!) capable, but always prefers nonfiction, preferably things with accompanying diagrams, and picking up a book is not his first choice of how to spend free time.

We have gone for high-interest stuff, and indulged the interest in diagrams and images. Lots and lots of science textbooks at all levels in our house. Atlases, books with historical timelines, National Geographic and Discover and Muse magazines, all sorts of things where the images were so compelling or funny that the captions would also be read. D'Aulaire's myths. Asterix comics. Calvin and Hobbes. Pokemon books. DK "illustrated history of this or that" books.

At age 7, it was probably Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants (ugh-- but he read them).

The Horrible Science series are still much loved here, as are all kinds of graphic novels. There are some very good ones about mythology out there. He also did like the "Wrinkle in Time" series, and Harry Potter, and the Rick Riordan books-- it just has to catch him the right way at the right time for him to be interested.

Incidentally, DH was not an avid reader until his 20s but that has not hindered him. Perhaps some people just get there later...

My third grader doesn't like to read. He IS reading a bunch of Minecraft novels I bought online- he devours them. Maybe you just really have to work with him to find SOMETHING that he will read.

You know, I know that there are exceptions (and I've read about them with interest on this list), but I've really started to wonder if the reading behavior of the typical bright boy just differs from the reading behavior of a bright girl. I recently had a discussion with a mom of a boy a couple of years older, who has a son in the G&T program at school. She remarked that before he was "identified" in 3rd grade, her son seldom read, and had perhaps never finished a chapter book on his own. I was VERY surprised. For what it is worth, boys seem to be "identified" at a rate of 3 for every 1 girl in DD's school, too. It did start me thinking, though - is it common for bright boys to just have very different reading behavior than bright girls (and I do realize that "bookworm" boys exist, too)?

DD is a bookworm. It is probably not fair for me to compare DS to her (but I do, and then I worry). My DH is VERY bright, but I don't think HE was ever a bookworm. I've started to relax a bit with DS's NOT being exactly like his sister in his reading behavior because I think I've started to believe that at least some bright boys (maybe many) DO have different reading habits than a book-loving bright girl. Still, I do try to sneak in those "high interest" books that might get him reading and it sometimes works...

If he's saying that, I think absolutely the vision is a good place to check!

Have you thought about trying some sort of e-reader with him? One of the nice advantages to e-readers is the ability to change the size of the font making it a lot easier for people who have a problem with tiny font. And yes schedule a vision follow up it could well be a vision problem.

Also, with many ereaders, they can be switched to a computer voice doing the reading. Some adaptation of font size and switchng to audio as needed might be a good accessibility balance for him. Also, for books, in addition to size, I find serif fonts much easier to track in large text blocks. Is he using a place finder when he reads? (like a card just below his current line)

On audio with text: this book went over very well with DS. Unabridged audio CD came with the book, and the text is reasonably well spaced on the page if I remember right.

http://www.amazon.com/Sir-Gadabout-...tmm_abk_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=

I think Orion Press had other titles in the same format... no idea if they are all still in print.

Absolutely try this. My DS started reading chapter books at 4 by himself only after we got the ebooks on kindle for him - we taught him to zoom in on the words first and then read the book as a precaution because we did not want him to get eye strain. And he read the whole Magic TreeHouse series on the kindle that way. The other advantage is that the pages are less overwhelming with fewer "black text" when the child zooms in. Now, he does not zoom in to the same extent as before, but we still remind him to do it to make it easy on his eyes.

You could call your VT to check if what he says about the letters getting smaller is an issue or not. To me it sounds like he is straining to make his eyes work together.

The black text comment reminded me that another thing I do on the Kindle app and on computers is reducing the contrast. Text is much more prone to "swimming" and eye strain when I have it on black on white rather than black on light grey. I find the best options much quicker by closing my good eye and trying settings with my lazy eye alone.

It sounds like he has some convergence issues. One of the kids I tutored in reading started reading much faster when I put a yellow or blue overlay on top of the passage. He said that made the print easier to see. He reported problems with the print as well, like seeing the type superimposed hovering above the other type (double vision). I finally convinced his classroom teacher that there could be a problem with his eyes and the teacher called the dad who said he has the exact same vision issue.

Not sure if they ever got the situation figured out. The teacher said there was an obvious difference when he used an overlay as well. I tried it with other kids and they all said they liked it and it made the print easier to see, but I didn't notice a difference in how they read.

I wish I did have some ideas for you Portia. Alas...we are right there with you, so I'm going to keep an eye on this post!

DD8 (2nd grade) doesn't like to read (AT ALL!), but she likes to be read to. She is in the top reading group for her grade and the teacher says she does a great job - reads with inflection, decodes what she is reading, and hardly ever stumbles over words. Her MAP scores indicate she is at about a 6th grade reading level. DD has even asked to go up a grade for reading next year, but she NEVER reads on her own at home and trying to get her to do so is impossible.

Just this week she had 3 small chapters in her school reading book to read for homework. She was procrastinating and said she didn't want to do it. I asked her why and she told me she didn't like the book and reading is boring. I asked if I could read the chapters she had already read, to catch up to the point she was at in the book, then we could read the 3 chapters of homework together. She conceded that would be fine. It was a cute book about a dog and she loves animals, so I really didn't understand why she didn't want to read it. When I got caught up she asked (very sweetly, mind you) if I would just read to her. I caved and read the 3 chapters aloud and when I finished she said, "That was exciting!" She wanted me to keep reading to find out what happened next.

The only difference with my DD is she doesn't follow along while I read. She will sit and listen or sometimes she will play with something while she listens - this can get on my nerves because it seems like she isn't paying attention, but when I stop and ask her what I just read she can repeat it back word for word. I think even if we sat side by side and I ran my finger along the lines she wouldn't follow along.

She has a great imagination, so one would think reading would be fun for her. That was why it threw me when she said reading is boring. I would think she could use that imagination of hers to really visualize what she is reading. Since she can obviously visualize when she is read to (hence the "That was exciting!") I wonder if there is an issue where when she reads to herself she is too busy just "reading" and she isn't able to really visualize what she is reading (does that make sense to anyone?).

I've posted several other times about how we still wonder if there isn't something we have missed even with all the testing she has done. This issue of not wanting to read is just one concern on our list. Our next step is going to be an appointment with a behavioral optometrist to see if they have anything to tell us. It sounds like you have already gone this route, so you are a few steps ahead of us there.

Maybe you are right Portia - it could just be that they are more auditory learners, but it is confusing and causes concerns. If you have any "aha" moments or any breakthroughs be sure to let us know! Good luck!!

1frugalmom, does your daughter know she can read "aloud" in a voice in her head to make the book audial and more exciting?

Thanks Zen Scanner - I'll try to explain that to her and see if it makes a difference, but trying to get her to read causes major upset, whining, complaining, excuses, etc.

My 5th grade son is almost 11, and still doesn't like to read for pleasure (He reads at college level. Drives me crazy. Once in a blue moon he'll pick up a book and read it, but otherwise, he never ever reads at home. I've spent a small fortune on different kinds of books to get his interest. He still likes to be read to - which I tend to do on long car journeys. I won't be working this summer, so he and I will have reading hour every day - hopefully it'll kickstart something in him !!