Autism and Reading Comprehension: Ready-to-use Lessons for Teachers

by Joseph Porter

The predictable format, repetition, and routine of these lessons will create a relaxed learning environment, while the variations in the topics will hold students’ attention and help them generalize the reading skills they need to succeed! Starting with Level 1 (The Cat) and ending with Level 9 (The Lizard), special-educator Joseph Porter has developed an amazing 90 hours of animal-themed, whole-group instruction. There are two student worksheets for each of nine animals, totaling eighteen worksheets. Each worksheet has four variations, and there is a ready-to-go lesson plan for each one! There are also two sentence-building exercises for each animal theme, which will build students’ observation skills and help them transform those skills into conversation and written language. In addition to the step-by-step lesson plans, Joseph provides a detailed description of what the lessons will look and feel like in the classroom, complete with valuable, first-hand advice. In the back, you’ll find an appendix with numerous suggestions for complementary activities for each animal theme, so you can supplement on the “off” days with art projects, music, books, and videos. There is even a section containing Data-Collection Sheets, assessment forms that will help you record students’ progress, per IEP standards.

Genres: Autistic Spectrum Disorder

394 pages, Paperback

First published March 30, 2011

Reviews

[Trish Sanders · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an incredibly detailed curriculum, with explicit instructions for how to implement every aspect of the program. The worksheets combine both coloring and writing, mostly filling in the blank or copying a sentence, and they offer lots of practice on following directions as well. There are also several different graphic sentence-building tools that can be used as the students gain confidence and skill.

The book also includes an easy-to-use CD containing printable lesson plans, worksheets, visual tools, and assessment and data collection forms. This program would definitely be most appropriate for beginning readers at the elementary school level.

I like that Porter recognizes real-world limitations and presents lessons suitable for small group instruction rather than only one-on-one interactions. I also greatly appreciate his understanding that comprehension - whether in reading or in conversation - is about having an active relationship with the words that goes beyond simple recognition of basic meaning.