Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Help with Reading

Hi, haven't been around, but did check on this thread. Good points. DS can catch, but he's not the best. But he's coming along. And I think he is visual-spatial, too.

In any event, he seems willing to read more and I'm taking advantage of it. His choice the other day was the Star Wars Visual Dictionary - brief blurbs under each picture. The advanced vocabulary doesn't bother him - he has as good a chance of sounding out long words as he does short. The big issue for him is too many words on a page, and basic phonics - knowing how to pronounce, tion, ous, ai, etc. That will come with practice. And I ordered a Geronimo Stilton book or two, and he spent a long time looking at them in the car the other day, so I think we're onto something.

And I'm thinking it's time to try those Scooby Doo mystery games again, which have clues to be read. I see that he is reading short blurbs here and there, so he's definitely moving in the right direction. And he won't complain about reading as much.

He clearly loses his place, but he's defensive about it. I tried to get him to read using an index card, but he refused. And his OT has one of those colored plastic cards, which he wouldn't use either. I forgot to ask her about visual tracking. I know he was tested for visual perception and visual motor activiity, but don't know if either of these are related to visual tracking (he did great on the first and within normal limits on the second - so if so, no visual tracking problems)

And he has always loved being read to. His endurance is a lot greater than ours in that area. We just have to make sure that we continue to do it, and I need to find some more books to read to him.

Good advice. Thanks, everyone!

kimck,
Thank you for this information. I have been looking for a chart like this for ages.

Summer

DS is reading! Thanks, everyone. Those Geronimo Stilton books seem to have made the difference in his willingness to read. Now it should just flow.

Also, today for the first time, his OT had him try an EZ Reader highlighter card, and it definitely helps. She doesn't think he has visual tracking problems, as he only gets lost from the end of one line to the beginning of another, but she said she's not the one to make that determination. If he continues to have problems, I'll pursue that, too.

Thanks again! This is a big year for DS - he seems to be getting over both the reading and writing hump. I was afraid it would never happen.

Thank you, Dottie. You wrote Awesome just like it would be written in a Geronimo Stilton book, LOL! I need to play with full reply one of these days. Thank you!

I'm glad to hear your DS is making progress, Questions! How is he feeling about reading? Is he also enjoying it more now?

questions - I'm so glad your son is loving Geronimo Stilton books! I think those stories are really clever and fun. They have some interesting vocabulary too. Those books defintely were the bridge from short books to chapter books for us! Hooray!

questions - that is great news! I really think finding something they really enjoy can be such a great push to help them read. For my DS it was Goosebumps - he devoured them and his reading level sky rocketed. Sounds like your DS has found his "thing" and now his reading will really take off. YEA!!!

Thanks again, everyone. Yes, he claims he likes reading now. I'll believe it when he reads and doesn't ask every few seconds "has it been twenty minutes yet?" LOL!

LOL!

questions - Hi there (forgive me if you know this already, I'm new here, having just discovered this site) - I just wanted to add something on the vision angle. My dd, 6 y.o., saw a pediatric opthamologist for a regular vision checkup and he found nothing wrong with her eyes. Later that month, we happened to do testing at the Gifted Development Center and they suggested we look at vision again, in part because some of her responses on block design were nearly correct but skewed. We went to a behavioral optometrist and lo and behold she has an eye tracking problem. We are now about halfway through vision therapy and she's finally reading at grade level (1st grade, though I'm hoping for still more improvement, more in accordance with her supposed potential). If you are still considering the vision issue, you can find the right kind of optometrist at http://www.covd.org/ . The testing for us was altogether different than the quick check of eye tracking done by the ped opthamologist - a different kind of appointment, actually.

Incidentally, the vision exercises were much easier for dd to do after she completed an intensive program of OT for SPD. The OT thought this would happen, but the improvement was amazing (I wasn't holding my breath. The vision therapist was blown away at the difference). Our OT noticed the eye tracking issue, but if she hadn't I doubt I would have taken her word for it that it wasn't there. The vision homework is a substantial commitment (around 1/2 hr x 5 days per week, plus one hour weekly with the therapist) and I'm counting down the weeks left.

Now I have to go back and re-read this interesting thread since I am looking for tips on building dd's confidence with reading - at this point I think she's capable of more than she's willing to try...


OK, now that I have re-read about half of this, I wanted to point out that getting lost from the end of one line to the beginning of another indeed could possibly be due to an eye tracking problem. I remember the optometrist specifically mentioning that issue.