Special Needs Students and Poor Reading Comprehension

I have an student (high functioning) who is in 2nd grade and reads at a grade 4 level. While his level is 4, his comprehension is extremely poor. Is there some way to push his reading forward, yet address his comprehension issue? Some of the other teachers believe that I should not push him in his reading level …they said the focus should be on comprehension. I would like for him to continue reading at the level he is challenged at, while addressing his comprehension. What are your thoughts?

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Comments

Anonymous said…
Mark, that information is great.
On my daughter's case, 7th grade, she reads fast but her comprehension is poor. She has difficulty seeing the big picture.

When asked what is about she can't tell the main idea, she goes over the whole details and gets lost.
I was wondering which strategies would be appropriate for her rade level.
Thanks for your good topics.

T
December 6, 2010 at 12:27 PM
Anonymous said…
We also find that our daughter's struggle with reading comprehension reaches over to a struggle in writing reports. She has had to write many paragraphs this year and I DREAD the melt-downs that usually come with them. She is slowly managing, but it is frustrating for both of us for her to continually have to deal with these assignments. She can't SEE the big picture let alone WRITE about it! Any chance there will be a follow up article addressing that, Mark? :)
I will say that I am extremely pleased with daughters school in what they have done for her in her reading. They implement all of the suggestions given and her comprehension in reading is usually in the higher percentages. We just need some good tools for the report writing...
Tammy
December 6, 2010 at 4:10 PM
Bulldogma said…
We are dealing with the same thing. One of the biggest problems we face is that my 7-year-old girl Aspie is so literal. If she reads that "Joey had ants in his pants as he waited for his ride on the roller-coaster," well... in her mind small insects have invaded poor Joey's clothing as he stood waiting.

Often the questions used to measure comprehension include emotion queries; "Why was Silvia happy to see James?" or "How do you think Ronald felt when he saw Jessie?"

In all honesty, these questions are not *fair* for children with Aspergers and should not act as a measure of reading comprehension - they are a measure of social comprehension. My daughter finds herself at a complete loss when it comes to answering questions about other people's feelings.

Just my thoughts...
December 7, 2010 at 5:37 AM
Anonymous said…
I've known my son to have this problem since grade 1. Maybe this article will finally get the schools to understand.
December 8, 2010 at 8:59 AM
Anonymous said…
Try finding someone who teaches the Lindamood-bell learning process. My 6 year old has just started and is already improving. It seems he really is starting to read and understand the story. The whole year in kindergarten was a disaster! This year he is making fantastic progress. Monique.
February 19, 2012 at 7:01 PM
Anonymous said…
I needed to see this, as I have Asperger's myself and I really struggle with this issue, among others. Is there any kind of help for an adult like myself on the spectrum who's been graduated from school for close to two years? Would this kind of support/ help help with any other issues that come up and I experience? All suggestions are appreciated and thank you in advance!
August 8, 2019 at 1:17 PM
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