any Ideas for Autistic Daughter & the Beyond LH?

[Jenene]

Hello,

This is my first time posting. We just started HOD program Beyond LIttle hearts for his Glory. I thought this would be a better cuuriculum for her and myself. But she is struggling with the stories of the pilgrims and the American Pioneers books. She gets that I have no idea what you just read. She is 10 but is really lost when there are too many words on the page. We have read the "I can read books" level 3 to introduce her to Christopher Columbus. That is at her comprehesion level. I do love this program but cannot figure out how to stay with it and have her learn about history too. Is there anyone who can help?
We tried FIAR for years and I wasn't organized enough to do that and MFW was too hard for her. I really love this program for my peace of mine and really want it to work for her.


Thanks,
Jenene

[Molly]

First of all welcome to the HOD message boards. It is such a great place, with wonderful people willing to help.

Are you reading it to her or having her read it to you? I think I would be reading aloud to her, and if due to too many words on the page, I would have her not look at the book but focus on listening. To focus on the comprehension, I would split the reading into three portions and stop after each portion and ask questions then to see that she has understood. It obviously is a very difficult thing with her being autistic, and I don't have an autistic child myself, but one with learning disabilities, so please feel free to ignore this.

I will however be praying that you will find the way to make it work for your daughter, as this is such a wonderful programme.

[Jenene]

I am reading it to her and she doesn't look at the book... more like she looks around and doesn't seem to be listening at all. (can ya tell I am befuddled as what to do?) I have started looking up level 3 readers to see if I can find some about pioneers and use those instead. I know those books have great info, but it is just going over her head. And I don't want to just mark if off some list that she had it taught to her... I want her to learn.

[Molly]

I completely understand what you are saying about wanting her to learn rather than just tick off a box. One thing I have found with my wee boy who has learning disabilities, is to tuck him under my arm cuddled on the couch and read it and stop when he starts getting wriggly to see what he heard and get his attention back. I may stop three or four times during the passage, but I have found it helps him to focus. So much so that it is getting less that I am having to stop during the passage. Hope that helps a little.

Maybe another thing, with her being 10 is to have her try and follow along with where you are at in the book, although with the autism thing, I don't know how practical that would be.

[mamas4bugs]

My youngest daughter has an ASD, and the only way she learns is if there is a visual cue. Have you thought about pictures to go with the stories? Mine likes to color, so sometimes she'll color a pic of, say, the Garden of Eden while we read the story from the Bible.

I was just debating this yesterday, actually, because I know that as she starts K next year, she isn't going to get anything out of just hearing the stories read. It has worked well for PreK to have a picture on the bulletin board in our school area of whatever we are reading about. Could you do something like that, maybe?

[exodus4]

The ladies gave you very good advice. I am going to tell you about my experience with my 7yo who has high functioning autism, ( Aspergers ).Like your daughter , he did not comprehend any books without pictures before starting HOD. Even now he has difficulty but the last few weeks after about 30 units of LHFHG , I noticed a major improvement . Now he is able to comprehend most of the story and narrate some of it. Narration and comprehension skills are the the foundation of education and IMO are even "life skills" so we have to work hard on that.

It is known that people in the spectrum think in pictures and learn better with pictures , but comprehension without pictures is important too. Try to borrow from your library Visualization and Verbalization and incorporate the ideas from this book into your reading time. Short readings and stopping to check understanding as the ladies suggested, might help too. I am not using Beyond yet except for the readers, but it seems that it includes a lot of hands on activities . These would help with comprehension.

I should also add that besides HOD materials,which I believe helped with his progress, I use other materials for comprehension and abstract thinking which lacks in children in ASD. One of these is Comprehension Plus by MCP, Worldy Wise and CLE reading,besides all the readers used in Beyond. Yes, this adds a lot to our extra time, but I consider this as therapy. I don't use all these with my typical children,but my ASD child really needs extra work. This year, he tested way above average in reading, including comprehension, which is not common in children with Aspergers.

[Jenene]

Thank you all very much. I know it will get better. Using visual cues is a great idea, even if I just write each paragraph down in stick figures to give her a "cartoon" of what is happening. I love this program and am so pleased to have found it. Thanks again for all your posted! Hopefully I can post in a month with "SHE is getting it!!" Lord willing!

Jenene

[my3sons]

I just thought this was very insightful and excellent advice ...

... I am going to tell you about my experience with my 7yo who has high functioning autism, ( Aspergers ).Like your daughter , he did not comprehend any books without pictures before starting HOD. Even now he has difficulty but the last few weeks after about 30 units of LHFHG , I noticed a major improvement . Now he is able to comprehend most of the story and narrate some of it. Narration and comprehension skills are the the foundation of education and IMO are even "life skills" so we have to work hard on that.

It is known that people in the spectrum think in pictures and learn better with pictures , but comprehension without pictures is important too. Try to borrow from your library Visualization and Verbalization and incorporate the ideas from this book into your reading time. Short readings and stopping to check understanding as the ladies suggested, might help too. I am not using Beyond yet except for the readers, but it seems that it includes a lot of hands on activities . These would help with comprehension...

Like exodus4 pointed out, many times dc need some time to grow into fine-tuning their listening skills, especially with quality living books like CM advocated and HOD uses. I also love Molly's idea of tucking the child under your arm and having her follow along. I do think you are going to see improvement with the thoughts in mind these ladies have shared!

In Christ,
Julie

[chillin'inandover]

Welcome to HOD & your journey with dc. I have a dd that has educational autism vs medical autism. I am so pleased with progress made while completing HOD. My dd is in K age 6. I have been taking it slowly finishing LHTH and added R side of LHFHG and then added L side of LHFHG. I am amazed at the progress she has made in her listening and comprehension. She tells me to read more from the Bible & history reading. She is grasping the Burgess stories too & just loves Peter Cottontail. It wasn't always like this so it is exciting to see. What has helped is reading a little of the story and checking her retention after this small amount of reading. Sometimes she acts out the story as I am reading (must be somewhat of a kinesthetic learner) and sometimes she acts it out when I am done. I have her put into words her actions as she does struggle with knowing words. She has drawn pictures of the story when indicated in the TM (teacher's manual) and loves to write letters to the characters in Burgess. She has developed compassion for Reddy Fox-made him a card & gift. She giggles at Peter's antics to get fat for winter.

The one picture in the Bible has been enough to get an idea of story. This is her third time through the Bible -2 years of LHTH prior so repetition has helped. Reading Right Choices by Kenneth Taylor has put into story/picture what it means for many concepts that she had difficulty with ie stealing, patience, lying etc. So the foundation has slowly been laid brick by brick.

The history in LHFHG is Little Pilgrims, it has a visual timeline at the start of each chapter. This has helped dd understand that history is a road that starts with creation, then the fall, Christ is born & dies for our redemption, we are now walking on the road, and it ends with a promise of Christ's return. I believe putting time/history on that road has put a visual into her memory so that she understands what I am saying about history. Perhaps a timeline of stick figures if needed will help with retention of history story. Pausing during the story to catch up dc understanding of what is taking place and a road map picture of what is taking place will help cement the story. My first time through HOD I skipped many activities because my ds wasn't interested (now he is). I would not skip any activities because at first glance it may appear to be nothing too significant but I have found everything builds on what has been done and these different learners can not skip any of these pegs.

My dd loves the rhymes in LHFHG and this has also cemented learning. I can't recall if Beyond has any of the above mentioned but perhaps they can be added without adding too much to day. I was referring to pausing, drawing a timeline road, rhymes, acting out story, pictures, and additional story that is tied to history story. My dd is visual and loves to draw pictures so I am not the one drawing the picture because then for sure it would be stick figures.

Tammy
Tammy

[Jenene]

thank you very much Tammy, I think that is exactly what I need to do for dd. Drawing is her passion too, so she will love the visual. She is 100 visual learner! So is my ds who also has HFA. He is much more engaged, so it is a lot easier, but still needs pictures. I also may have started dd is a level that is too high for her... has anyone gone back one book instead of forward?
(also Tammy, what is educational autism vs medical? I haven't heard of that before)

jenene

[chillin'inandover]

Jenene,
My dd received services in public school after an evaluation by a team including a psychologist and met criteria for autism that they have. We had dd evaluated privately but she didn't meet the criteria for medical dx (DSM). We were relieved to know she didn't have autism but it has prevented her from getting any services-speech, respite care, autism resources. We did receive education from ps that helped us-picture prompts and visuals. DD attended private speech that didn't even apply towards our deductible so now we are doing therapy at home. We use resources from Super Duper Publications but I have found HOD teaches excellent skills and is just what dd needs that day to learn something. God is so gracious! We have also used Teach 2 Talk videos from our library that really helped to get her to communicate and learn social skills.
I found my Beyond guide and I don't think you would need to go back a guide. You may just want to slow down what is difficult. For my dd the reading might be too much for one sitting. Try reading a little at a time and determining retention. The key idea could be put into time line format, acted out, or a picture drawn. The more practice at oral narration & listening the easier & more successful it will get.
The schedule can be slowed down so that reading about history and storytime could be rotated each day. Are the learning the basics (language arts, reading choices, and math) at grade level? The storytime box is like DITHOR except teacher reads the book rather than student. Storytime is excellent for engaging dc with literature analysis especially for those dc who may not be reading yet but need to have higher level comprehension.
Tammy