"We Read From a Real Book"
Teaching Literacy to the Student with Autism
Volume 3, Issue 5 ~ July/August, 2008


Teaching Book Readiness Skills

A Strategy from Michelle Beck, MA www.PumpkinLittles.com

Before a student can read books independently, it is important to learn how to use a book. This includes learning to open a book, turn pages, look at the book pages from left to right, and close the book when finished. The following strategy can help develop these skills, while keeping the student motivated by incorporating characters or topics of interest to the learner.

Teaching reading readiness skills to a three year old who is only interested in Thomas the Train can be difficult. Add a learning difficulty into the mix and the task becomes a larger challenge. The skills can be simplified into 4 basic skills: (1) open book left to right (2) turn pages one at a time (3) attend to each page through book (4) final page of book means finished. Breaking down reading readiness into these four categories is the beginning to the stages of using Task based teaching to teach a child.

Take a simple small binder and cut and punch 10 pages or more for inside. Paste a picture of the child’s favorite television or movie character on the right side of each page and laminate. Place a piece of Velcro on top of the pictures. Use the exact same pictures and Velcro to the corresponding left page. Stand silently behind the child and demonstrate hand over hand how to open the book and move the Velcro picture from the left to the right to make a match. When finished close the book and give the child a congratulations (toy, hug, etc.) Repeat this as often as needed until the child can do the skill independently. After the child masters this skill, then you can challenge them by putting two Velcro pictures on the left page and letting them match the correct picture. Another level up is to replace the pictures with letters, then words, then sentences to match with pictures, etc. This structures the reading readiness skills in a step-by-step scaffolding process that creates a clear beginning and a clear ending for the child and consequently makes the learning structured and successful.



About Michelle Beck, MA
Michelle Beck has been in the field of special education with a primary focus on Pervasive Developmental Disorders and Autism for 10 years. She has been deeply involved with research and theory of practice of autism and related disorders. Ms. Beck has taught Autistic and PDD preschool to 2nd grade children and 3rd grade inclusion in the New York City Public Education System. She has experience working with people in a variety of areas, including education and community outreach with the ability to work productively with professionals, volunteers, administrative personnel and families incorporating workshops and one to one center based therapy. Ms. Beck has a solid understanding of the field of special education for early age ranges and a strong knowledge base in behavioral intervention techniques and educational tools to productively facilitate in the growth, nurture and development of early education. She currently owns and operates Pumpkin Littles, an early intervention center for children with autism in Dallas, Texas.

Pumpkin Littles opened in Dallas, Texas in August 2008. At Pumpkin Littles children diagnosed developmentally delayed have a chance to have fun being kids and learn valuable skills. Often times, children with autism are educated through only one theory: ABA, TEACCH, RDI, DIR, EDMARK etc. At Pumpkin Littles children receive early intervention through a combination of the most renowned autism education principles. In the world of autism there is always a new theory that catches parents and children alike. Many approaches are developed from previous teaching strategies. They are proven to work on a handful of children with autism and therefore many families try these strategies with their children only to be disappointed. Through experience with many different principles of learning it has been proven that the best approach depends on the child.

Each child responds to something different. This is inherent to the nature of all children. Each child has a different personality and sometimes “symptoms” are confused with the child’s personality traits. While one theory may focus on the play of a child another one may focus on tasks. Each child’s personality leads them to respond to a different tactic. Training includes ABA, TEACCH, PECS, DIR, Floortime, Sensory Integration, Data Collection, Edmark Reading Program and many more educational theories of practice. Pumpkin Littles integrates each of these approaches in 55 minute sessions one to five days a week. For children that begin to socialize, there are also social classes offered with 2-4 children. For more information please visit www.PumpkinLittles.com or call (972)569-7141.



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