Reading curiculum with no pictures?

[Serenity Now]

My ds has autism, and we're thinking about pulling him out of school. His teacher is OK with him, but the specials teachers are awful. We asked them to fill out forms for his upcoming developmental check-up, and I was shocked and appalled at the language they used in regards to him. There were 2 boxes to fill out, one was about his struggles, and one was about the good things about him. None of them could come up with anything to put in the nice box. It just makes me want to cry. And their language about him was very nasty (choosing to make bad choices just for attention, ignores me on purpose, clumsy, etc). In addition, he is failing all of their promotion requirements, although they are going to place him in first grade anyway.

So, we have decided to do a trial at homeschooling after school and this summer to see if I am really up to the task, and if he can thrive in an environment where I am the one teaching him. He reacts... oddly.. to me, so it might not work.

One problem he is having with reading is that the pictures in the books are distracting him so much he is not looking at the words. I remember reading a study when I was in college that using pictures and words together hinders new readers because the area of the brain that processes pictures, and the area of the brain that reads words are separate. So I am for now looking for a beginning reading curriculum that does not have any pictures. I have not been able to find anything, so I thought I'd ask here.

Thanks!

[Tjej]

I think you could just cover the pictures in a lot of cases - Hooked on Phonics that would work.

Tjej

[Plummeting]

I don't know exactly what you're looking for, so I'm going to recommend a few different things and hope that one might work. :) If you're looking for something to teach the mechanics of reading, then Phonics Pathways might work. The only pictures are of the silly bookworm, one on each page. I think you could easily just cover them up or white them out. I've heard that The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading has no pictures. Tanglewood Reading is free online and has no pictures. These are all programs to teach the mechanics, so may not be what you're looking for.

if you're looking for something to give him practice in using the reading skills he already has, Pathway Reading has books you can get from Rainbow Resource. There are 3 or so chapter books for each grade. These books are made for Amish schools, so they're about life on farms and such. They don't have anything religious as far as I've seen, but we've only been through the first grade books. The only thing I can think of that someone might find offensive was when Dad or Mother "did something" to the puppy because the puppy chewed up a shoe or something. They literally used those words in the book "did something". lol Oh, and in one of the books when the girl goes to stay with her grandparents they call it "Grandfather's house" rather than both grandparents' house. No biggie, though. DD asked about it and I just explained it to her. They do have pictures, but there isn't even one on every page and they're small and black and white. I think you could easily cover them up with a white piece of paper. I know that's not idea, but maybe it would work. Of course you could also retype each chapter as you go through and maybe print it out for him to read without pictures? Obviously, that's something you could do with any program. I'm sure it's not ideal, but maybe that would work if nothing else would.

I'm so sorry about your son's teachers. That must feel terrible for both of you. :(

[Serenity Now]

Thanks for the suggestions, I will look in to all of those.

I'm not sure what I'm looking for either, lol. It's hard to describe, but his learning is extremely inconsistent. He is 6, and can't read at all. Most days not a single word. But then every now and then when we're out he'll read a pretty complex word without prompting. I wonder if he doesn't understand that he needs to look at the words and letters to read. He has a lot of visual problems (he sees fine, he can't process visual input like other people), so this is not helping his ability to read. I think the info is in there, but he is unable to access it and then express it verbally. We have been working with him every day for 3 years on recognizing letters, and he still can't recognize them. I must be doing something wrong. His IQ is very high, but he seems unable to retain and express even the most basic information.

Ideally I would like a real book, with something he might find interesting to read, but with extremely clean pages visually, probably with very few words. He cannot look at things that are cluttered, messy, unorganized, or that has too many colors or things going on, so even using white out or covering pictures would be distracting. His senses process information very differently than ours do, and his hearing, vision, and tactile sensations (particularly his hands, which is why he can't write) are the senses that cause him the most trouble in a school setting.

I was quite upset about the reports as well. I know he is a handful, but most adults really like him because he is sweet, charming, and funny. But reading these reports from his art and PE teachers especially were very difficult. His computer specials teacher wasn't much better. I can't imagine describing any child like they described my son, and especially one with a disability. Since he started school his language about himself is getting increasingly negative, and he is in time out in the principle's office 2 times a week or more, and time out in class 5 or more times a day. We don't use time out at home, so I know he doesn't get it. But he does feel like he's a "bad boy" a "dummy" and "no one likes me." I'm going to have to have a meeting with the school and the specials teachers, because I feel like giving them one more chance is fair. I really want him in school because he needs extremely intensive social input, and in general he has a lot of friends in school, so I think that is a huge positive. But he is obviously unable to learn in this environment, and I don't want him surrounded by people who think he is a brat (and treat him as such) on a nearly daily basis.

The thing is, I think the school is a great school - for typical children. My oldest is absolutely thriving in the school, and I am very impressed with how they are dealing with her (she is gifted). But when you have a child with special needs, they obviously fall flat on their face. I don't think it's a bad school - it is supposed to be one of the best in the state - I think they just have very little training and support for kids with autism.

[lach]

Teach Your CHild to Read in 100 Easy Lessons doesn't have pictures, but it is cluttered.  You could always re-type the lessons, so it's just the words on a blank page.

[AAK]

How about skipping books for now.  You can teach a lot of reading with letter/sound tiles.  You mentioned that your child has autism. . . how are his phonemic awareness skills?  Since he isn't reading "at all", maybe start by working on those.  There are lots of ideas in the book "reading reflex".  Also, you might want to look into OG (orton gillingham) methods for teaching reading.  

After his phonemic awareness skills are up to par (and maybe they are now) you can use the letter tiles to build words, change words, etc.  Then, type up some word lists and have hime read them.  Make up a bunch of word magnets (with words he can read or sound out).  He can "write" with the words a message to you on the fridge.  Then, you write one to him.  Then, using decodable words, type up a story.  After he reads it, HE can illustrate it (if art appeals to him).  

If he is looking at the pictures so that he can make a good guess about the word, you could try the "I See Sam" readers.  They do have pictures.  They are black/white and are a very slow progression of decodable readers.  One thing I love about them is that even if my dd tries to find a picture clue--she can't.  The pictures give no clues to the words on the page, but they do actually add to the story.  My dd is on the fourth set of these.  I will give her a book and let her browse the pictures for about 5 min.  Then I sit down and have her read to me.  It seems that if she has already had a chance to soak in the pictures, she is better able focus on the words.  

Amy

[sapphire_chan]

Just to make sure, are you discussing the school issues in the Special Needs Parenting forum?

Even if you choose to homeschool, the local school district is probably federally obligated to provide services. Such as people who are experienced with working with kids who are too distracted by the pictures to see the words.

[Lillian J]

Originally Posted by Serenity Now 

So, we have decided to do a trial at homeschooling after school and this summer to see if I am really up to the task, and if he can thrive in an environment where I am the one teaching him. He reacts... oddly.. to me, so it might not work.

Don't worry too much about this part. I have yet to hear of a trial working out well. For one thing, it's just not the real thing yet - and it's hard to even explain what that means, but it's not the same as when the time and conditions all come together to be actually homeschooling. For one thing, doing it after school means a prolonging of a school day that most children are quite ready to be done with at the normal time, so that sense is heavy in the air.

And it's a very rare child who feels a rapport with continuing the school year into what was going to be a vacation time, and a time when the other children are out of school. It will probably make no sense to him, even if you explain why - so that's not going to be a smooth trial. Maybe you can pick an activity that allows you to see how you feel about helping him learn some things without either of you thinking of it as a homeschooling trial run, and it's bound to go somewhat smoother.

It's actually not in the least uncommon for a child to react oddly to his mom suddenly taking on the role of teacher - and remember that you're new to this too, so you're probably doing what most people tend to do at first in behaving a little differently, or what he considers oddly, in an ever so slightly more formal role that's different from the mom he's used to. If you were actually homeschooling, that would fall away pretty fast, and you'd be moving on to being more of a facilitator rather than a teacher - you'd be helping him learn in a bit different way. And there may be a whole other factor - even if you aren't behaving differently, he may have an idea of a "teacher" being a person outside of the home - someone whose full time role, in his mind, is that of a "teacher" - so he may just be having a hard time with the idea of his mom being a teacher in his home. 

So you may be up to the task, but the two of you together are not necessarily going to play that out very well on a trial basis, especially after school or during vacation time. A lot of people think homeschooling is going to be like those awful hours they have to spend after school helping and coaxing with homework - but they quickly find, once they're actually homeschooling, that it's not at all like that! It's like a whole different world from those scenes.

I'm so sorry you're both having to go through all the grief  - I hope things start to look up soon.  - Lillian

[Serenity Now]

Originally Posted by AAK 

How about skipping books for now.  You can teach a lot of reading with letter/sound tiles.  You mentioned that your child has autism. . . how are his phonemic awareness skills?  Since he isn't reading "at all", maybe start by working on those.  There are lots of ideas in the book "reading reflex".  Also, you might want to look into OG (orton gillingham) methods for teaching reading.  

After his phonemic awareness skills are up to par (and maybe they are now) you can use the letter tiles to build words, change words, etc.  Then, type up some word lists and have hime read them.  Make up a bunch of word magnets (with words he can read or sound out).  He can "write" with the words a message to you on the fridge.  Then, you write one to him.  Then, using decodable words, type up a story.  After he reads it, HE can illustrate it (if art appeals to him).  

If he is looking at the pictures so that he can make a good guess about the word, you could try the "I See Sam" readers.  They do have pictures.  They are black/white and are a very slow progression of decodable readers.  One thing I love about them is that even if my dd tries to find a picture clue--she can't.  The pictures give no clues to the words on the page, but they do actually add to the story.  My dd is on the fourth set of these.  I will give her a book and let her browse the pictures for about 5 min.  Then I sit down and have her read to me.  It seems that if she has already had a chance to soak in the pictures, she is better able focus on the words.  

Amy

We've been doing the tile things, and magnets, and laminated boards, like PECS, etc for quite a while now. His ability to recall the letters is very spotty. As far as his phonemic awareness, honestly, I have no idea. It's really hard to explain, I wish I could do it better. What he can tell us he knows varies widely from day to day. Some days he can sound out some words, some days he can't even name or pick up a letter. We have the I See Sam readers, and 2 other mainstream learning to read sets (gift from my MIL who teaches). I wish I could describe the issues with the pictures better. He will only tell you a story about the pictures. If you point to a word and ask him to read it, he instantly flips out. I think visually he can't transition from looking at the pictures to looking at words. Transitions are a major issue for him. And so is generalization, so if we teach him the word dog in the afternoon, he won't be able to read it the next morning, for example. I really want to work on transitioning him on to real books, and away from the laminated and magnet folder tasks, so that's why I'm asking for books, so when he is able to read he will easily be able to transition to holding a book and reading.

I'm not blowing off your ideas, truly, and I will try some of these things again, and some new things. I guess we've tried so many things with him over the years, that I feel a bit like I'm at the end of my rope, and need to start fresh with something new. But I don't know what direction to take. He doesn't learn from typical autism educational materials because he memorizes where things need to go, but does not generalize the information. He is obviously not responding well to a regular classroom education. I read to him everyday, and we work on phonics (in a fun way) every day. We do tons of letter play every day. He's been to preschool, he's had professional therapists working with him on his letters and reading for 2 years now, and he continues to have therapists working with him on learning and school skills. And there is just no improvement. We even spent about 6 months doing nothing, thinking he'd pick it up on his own. It's time to think outside the box, and what better place to do that than at MDC, right? :)

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan 

Just to make sure, are you discussing the school issues in the Special Needs Parenting forum?

Even if you choose to homeschool, the local school district is probably federally obligated to provide services. Such as people who are experienced with working with kids who are too distracted by the pictures to see the words.

Actually, there is a little loophole in the ADA, IDEA which states that schools must use federal money to provide services for children with disabilities in a private education setting as well as public school. If the state rules that a homeschool is not a private education setting, as our state has, then they are under no obligation to provide services. It was tested legally in Nevada and the law was upheld. But, his services are mostly provided by our private insurance company anyway. I have not had the best of luck with school district provided therapy (the amount is scant and the quality is not as good as what our insurance provides).

I think our problem with our school lies not with the district policies, but with the individual teachers, the "specials" teachers who teach computer, art, PE and music. They have decided that my ds is a disrespectful brat and they are treating him as such. His teacher is really trying to help him (but it was a bumpy road at the start) and the principle is a special ed teacher, and the other special ed teachers in the school have been fine. It's just that small group that I think it really sabotaging him. Plus he isn't retaining the material he is supposed to learn.

[AAK]

Originally Posted by Serenity Now 

I'm not blowing off your ideas, truly, and I will try some of these things again, and some new things. I guess we've tried so many things with him over the years, that I feel a bit like I'm at the end of my rope, and need to start fresh with something new. But I don't know what direction to take. He doesn't learn from typical autism educational materials because he memorizes where things need to go, but does not generalize the information. He is obviously not responding well to a regular classroom education. I read to him everyday, and we work on phonics (in a fun way) every day. We do tons of letter play every day. He's been to preschool, he's had professional therapists working with him on his letters and reading for 2 years now, and he continues to have therapists working with him on learning and school skills. And there is just no improvement. We even spent about 6 months doing nothing, thinking he'd pick it up on his own. It's time to think outside the box, and what better place to do that than at MDC, right? :)

Oh, I wouldn't think you were blowing off my ideas.  

Have you looked into dyslexia?  I didn't mention it at first because I don't know how to tell you if something is because of the autism or if it could be dyslexia.  But, if the typical stuff for kids with autism isn't working, and the typical mainstream stuff isn't working. . . perhaps your son is also dyslexic.  http://www.dys-add.com/  (if you haven't looked into this yet).  Also, perhaps call Susan Barton and see what she thinks.  I went to one of her presentations and she was pretty remarkable.

Amy

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by Serenity Now 
Actually, there is a little loophole in the ADA, IDEA which states that schools must use federal money to provide services for children with disabilities in a private education setting as well as public school. If the state rules that a homeschool is not a private education setting, as our state has, then they are under no obligation to provide services. It was tested legally in Nevada and the law was upheld. But, his services are mostly provided by our private insurance company anyway. I have not had the best of luck with school district provided therapy (the amount is scant and the quality is not as good as what our insurance provides).

Ugh, how annoying for you. But I'm glad that you're already on top of that end of things.

I'll second AAK's thought about dyslexia. In another thread, I learned that one manifestation of dyslexia is a lack of phonemic awareness.

The teachers are definitely the problem. Where the district would come into play (if you were to decide that remaining in school is best for your ds) is in establishing what you can do about the teachers.

The thing I'm concerned about is that you will have a better homeschooling experience if you decide it is what you are going to do as the best option for your ds. If you go into it because you're pushed out of the school by the specials teachers, I think that the experience won't be as good.

[Serenity Now]

Actually, we were mostly pushed in to school by ds's diagnosis. I had been homeschooling my oldest when he was diagnosed, and then when the 50 hours of therapy a week started, I couldn't keep up, so I put her in public school. His experiences with home based ABA were very negative, plus he needs incredibly intense socialization that I am unable to provide (I'm very shy). A play group a couple of times a week won't cut it. So we put him in school as well.

You have given me much to think of, so I am going to process it for a while. Keep it coming, though, I really appreciate any advice.

As far as his behavior to me goes, it's hard to describe. But if I'm not in the room he behaves pretty well. As soon as I go in to the room he flips out. Sometimes he will just scream and scream. Sometimes I must hold him in my lap in a certain way. If I ask that he does something he goes in to an instant rage. He's always been like this with me. His attachment to me is so intense that it is overwhelming, and he can't handle it. even when he was a young infant it was this way. Sometimes I can get him to quiet if he's cutting paper. He loves to cut paper. And we can chat when he's doing that. We go through a lot of paper! And he enjoys being read to if I am holding him in the way he likes to be held. during these times I try to encourage learning with him in the same way I do with my dd, by expounding on the story, or making silly games about the letters or something. We're kind of a nerdy intellectual household. :)

I will look in to dyslexia. We're also having him checked out for various neurological disorders, because he has some concerning findings lately that make us wonder if his autism goes deeper than it appears.

[Mittsy]

This is not a complete reading program, but it's a jumpstart to phonics for kids with developmental delays/learning disabilities. It's showcased on NATHHAN's site, you might want to look at some of the other resources they have there as well.

http://nathhan.org/ResourceRoom/phonics.htm

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by Serenity Now 

Actually, we were mostly pushed in to school by ds's diagnosis. I had been homeschooling my oldest when he was diagnosed, and then when the 50 hours of therapy a week started, I couldn't keep up, so I put her in public school. His experiences with home based ABA were very negative, plus he needs incredibly intense socialization that I am unable to provide (I'm very shy). A play group a couple of times a week won't cut it. So we put him in school as well.

Since he *needs* the social outlet, the principal and his regular teacher are excellent, and you have experience homeschooling and have already found it difficult with him (and for him), I would actually see what can be done about the specials classes. But that'd be a topic for another forum. =D

[4evermom]

Since you mentioned him randomly reading the occasional complex word while you were out, what about working on reading through building sight words?  Although my ds knew that each letter represented a sound, in theory, he pretty much skipped phonics and learned to read (at an older age, 8) through increasing his sight words.  He must use the letter sounds as clues to some extent, along with context, but he won't do the sounding out thing at all.  He just really hated phonics.  I think he learned longer words before many short ones.  He did better with complex words but the beginner reader books full of three letter words were more troublesome, maybe because they weren't interesting or maybe because all the words were too similar. 

You could print out passages of text of an interesting subject with as few words per page as you want.  Don't avoid the big words or simplify the language too much.  I'd expect he'd memorize it.  Then you could reprint it with a slightly different set up (more words per page so it looks slightly different with the words in different spots).  Maybe rework it so it uses the same words in a different way (rephrase it)?

Just some brainstorming.  I have no clue, really, but the typical ways to learn reading didn't work for my ds and he wasn't dyslexic and showed no signs of vision problems, either. 

[luv my 2 sweeties]

My son was also distracted by pictures and has had a very difficult time learning to read. (He is not autistic, however.)  We had success with Reading Reflex, which does not have the child looking at the book much at all -- it's more of a teacher's manual.  There are some words and letters you cut out and use for the early lessons so the child is looking at only one word at a time in front of him. It does involve "mapping" words in later lessons, which is where the child writes the word slowly while saying the sounds out loud.  So if writing is very difficult for him, it might not be right for him.  You can take a look and see if you think it would work or not. (The Amazon page I linked above has lots of very detailed, helpful reviews.  I browsed the first few and found them spot on.  RR isn't perfect and the authors are rather full of themselves, but it worked for us where a lot of other things didn't, so hey...)

My son is *not* a highly motivated writer, but he *was* highly motivated to learn to read, so he agreed to suffer through that part.  We didn't begin Reading Reflex until he was 7 1/2 after several failed attempts with other methods, so he was getting nervous about his reading difficulty and really wanted to make some progress.  He was also old enough to have some self-discipline about it.  (When I say "some" I mean compared to when he was 6.  7 1/2 year old boys don't have much in the way of self discipline, lol!) 

I'm sorry about the situation with the teachers.  Best of luck in whatever direction you take!

[AAK]

I was previewing a copy of the Barton Reading System. . . There are NO pictures at all in the stories.  Also, the little readers that are like "chapter books" for the student (ie separate from the teaching guide) are made without pictures too.  

This made me think of this thread and I had to share.

Amy

[Serenity Now]

Thank you, Amy, I will look in to that as well.

I wanted to give a quick update, because there have been a few things that have happened. We had to see his developmentalist for his 6 year check up. She mentioned that homeschooling would be a very bad idea for him, because he will probably develop a social anxiety if he is not in nearly constant contact with people. I'm unsure if it is as dire as all that, but we will continue until school ends in a few months at any rate. We are going to ask to change some of his special ed stuff in school to include fewer groups (really, putting a bunch of 5 year olds with behavior problems in the same room and telling them to play nice is just a bad idea), and more one on one work during the school day. We are also increasing his ABA, so I will be pulling him out of school probably about 15 hours a week anyway. They are going to love that. (sarcasm) We are also finally going ahead with seeing a neurologist, as she concurs that his behaviors seem off, even for an autistic kid.

Another thing, we had open house at school, and going through his work was fascinating for my husband and I. One thing I noticed off the bat is how much he has improved overall, and I'm shocked they do not see that. Secondly, he is incredibly creative. Gifted, I would say, creatively. His pictures and stories, while a bit dark, are amazingly inventive. He has an ability of looking at things and doing things in a way that is stunningly intelligent, and should not be stifled. They are being too controlling and need to get off his back. The boy has talent. He is also riotously funny. In his journal he had to draw pictures of things that start with certain letters, like ghost for G. On "P" he drew a picture of a spider, because he is hearing "pider" instead of spider, and I have to say everyone cracked up. It's too cute. His stories are also extremely funny. Yes, his drawings and writing ability are probably the worst in the group. But, I think his creativity is outstanding. The writing skills will come with time. You can't teach inventiveness and creativity (IMO).

Also, the boy is reading. I have no doubt now that he can read nearly everything. He read many things there. While at my oldest daughter's room they had a word puzzle of words that describe them, and she accidentally put his name right next to girl, so it looked like he was a girl, and he read it, and acted put out about it. However, if you ask him to read, he immediately shuts down. I wonder how to draw him out. after reading one word, he is bored and won't do another. Apparently ADD-like behaviors are very common in autistic kids, although it has been drummed in to me that it is NOT ADD, but autism. Whatever. It's still the same challenge - an inability to pay attention. I'm not sure how to go about lengthening this for him, but it does clue me in that asking him to read one word, and then moving on to something else for a while, might be the way to go. He also seems to have no idea when you ask him to read, what to do. He will point out words and read them, but I don't think he knows that that is what reading is. He seems lost when you ask him to read, just as if I asked him to pin point our location using a sextant. He has no idea what to do. And I'm unsure of how to teach him such an abstract concept.

So, for now I am going to look in to these suggestions you have made, and probably try them all out and see what he responds to. We do a lot of academics at home anyway (my oldest is very gifted and enjoys education), so this will just be another part of our day, and I'll see if it helps him. I am also requesting a meeting with the school counselor, principle, and specials teachers to get all of my concerns straightened out. So far I have been very laid back and "whatever" about things because I really believe in allowing people, my kids included, find their own way through things. But they have not found their way, and now I have to go in and demand these accommodations they should have figured out by now. I hate doing that.  But it is what it is, and that's the way you often have to get the system to work for kids when they are special needs. I always hope that things will just work out on their own. My kids seem smart enough to figure out what to do without me harping on them all the time; why are adults so different?

I am, in general, feeling much more optimistic. I am still thinking that homeschool for a few years will only help him. He needs people around him to see all the good things about him and are willing to wait for him to outgrow the negatives. He's barely 6 for Pete's sake!

[AAK]

Just had to respond again.  :) 

It seems that you are getting things figured out.  Whether or not the developmentalist is right about his constant need to be around people, she does seem to have a "stereotypical" viewpoint of homeschooling.  Many (not all) homeschoolers find ways to be around people a lot.  We do.  No, it isn't "constant" like at a public school, but as you mentioned the ps can be negative towards a kid with difficulties.  My dd may not be around people all the time, but the overall quality of the interactions is far greater. 

The hearing "spider" as "pider" could be a sign of auditory processing issues or dyslexia or maybe nothing.  Mention it when you go the the neurologist.

Amy

Oh, and I don't get why your son can only be given one label.  I mean, it might be true that many traits of autism can look like traits of ADD. . . but is there a reason why your son couldn't actually have both?  I really don't know, but that idea was stuck in my head.  It would be nice if we could all just be x or y or z.  Treating things in isolation is so much easier. . . but (I will use an example that I am familiar with) many dyslexic kids also have ADD (or ADHD), or APD, or dysgraphia, or visual issues, or sensory issues ---  but some really are "Just dyslexic".  If you only allow a kid to fall into one category, they won't ever get the help they truly need.

[Climbing Rose]

Just for a reading book with no pictures, we like Alpha-Phonics by Samuel L. Blumenfeld.

It's about as basic and straight-forward as you can get.  It was about $20 new on Amazon when we got it, and our library had it as well.