mamabird, I am replying while I'm working on other things and generally just very scattered this morning, so I apologize for that! I wanted to add that my ds12, although he is not on the autism spectrum, also has a very difficult time retelling what he's read, as well as gravitating naturally to non-fiction rather than choosing fiction. When he was in early elementary he for the most part chose just not to read at all! He still, at 12, struggles with summarizing what he's read and just recently stumbled onto a situation with reading at school that we didn't see coming. I am not 100% sure even now what the challenge really is for ds - is it his processing speed, is it his expressive language disorder, is it stealth dyslexia etc. That probably sounds very discouraging... but it's not meant to be discouraging, just an acknowledgment that 2e kids can be so very complicated!
Those early years of elementary school were very tough for *me* (as well as ds!)... and a large part of it for me was being discouraged about all that it seemed my ds was missing out on - lack of intellectual challenge, so much focus on his areas where he needed help, teachers who just couldn't see his potential. FWIW - hang in there - school *really* did get better for us - much better - as ds got older. Middle school is going so much better! We finally got to the place in later elementary where we understood ds' challenges in much greater depth and were able to have appropriate accommodations for him, he grew into understanding himself much more so than when he was younger, as well as maturing to the place where he could communicate his struggles to us much more clearly when he was young. And... combined with all of that we switched schools - based on ds' input. DS is still dealing with all his 2e-ness, but now he's at a place in school where he can also really move ahead and challenge the intellectual strengths he has instead of primarily focusing on the other e. Your ds will get there too!
Best wishes,
polarbear
