BARKING AT PRINT – Reading Comprehension with ASCs
- jennydavis8
- Aug 18, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 9, 2022
Many students with ASCs are described by educators as “barking at print” because their ability to decode text can be extremely good, but they read without understanding. I have heard many children with ASCs reading stories beautifully and often with appropriate intonation; but when asked to retell the story or explain a character’s motives students cannot do this in their own words.
I have also noticed a marked preference for information texts among my students – often related to their particular interest. Preference for Information texts such as dictionaries, atlases, encyclopaedia – may be driven by the ability to understand the structure and purpose of such texts. Preference for such texts may indicate that fiction texts are more problematic and therefore less enjoyable.
Why do students with ASCs struggle with reading comprehension?
In order to understand the thoughts and motives of characters in stories (or other people generally) we need to understand that other people may have thoughts and ideas that are different from our own – this is known as theory of mind. It is very difficult to understand the motives of characters in stories when theory of mind is underdeveloped as it is for people with ASCs. This is also shown in the way that children with ASCs tend not to engage in pretend play or only do so in a limited way.
Overarching themes of stories elude those whose central coherence is poor, and the purpose of the text is then difficult to understand.
Studies show that people with ASCs show a relative failure to process information for context-dependent meaning in tasks such as pronouncing tear in ‘In her eye/dress there was a big tear’. (Happé, 1997).
Problems for teachers:
Barriers to learning for those with ASCs:
· Weak central coherence
· Lack of theory of mind
· Poor ability to generalise skills
· Difficulties with abstract thought
· Literal understanding of vocabulary
These barriers can cause problems when teachers are trying to help students achieve the learning outcomes required in the National Curriculum(Department for Education, 2013) such as these targets for students in year 1:
· discussing the significance of the title and events
· making inferences on the basis of what is being said and done
· predicting what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far
I have found that these problems can be overcome by explicitly teaching comprehensions skills:
· “Reading pictures”
· Pre-teaching vocabulary and exploring new vocabulary
· Teaching students to ask questions
· Role playing the story and exploring characters motivations and feelings
· Visualise stories
· Link what you are reading to what you already know
I will be exploring ways to teach these Reading Comprehension Skills in future blogs.
Theory of mind
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