I have had several people ask me how my son had learned how to read and spell. I used to use a lot of flashcards with him with pictures and words. I also turned on the closed captioning on the TV. He used to watch the same movie over and over again, day after day.
He was able to make the connection between the printed word and what was being said on the TV. When he started typing out words and sentences for us, we noticed some gaps. Some words he didn't know how to spell, so he would do it phonetically. He would surprise us by spelling out words that we didn't think he would know.
My son has an excellent memory. He never forgets anything. He also has a photographic memory. When he started communicating to us using the keyboard, although at first we were surprised, we all understood how he was able to do it. His therapists and I all believed he was smart and that he had a photographic memory, but it wasn't until he started communicating with us that we knew for sure.
My son has also been fascinated by books and magazines his whole life. He had been teaching himself about things by reading different articles and stories. When I think back about how I used to work with him everyday to try to teach him his alphabet, I now understand why he would always look at me as though I was stupid.
My family and I went through a wonderful journey of learning who this marvelous young boy really is. His likes and dislikes. Some we knew already, others we were surprised about. His activity within the family has increased tremendously. He does not isolate himself the way he used to. My son still takes time for himself, occasionally. He is happier and is learning new things every day.
When he started to communicate with us using a keyboard, we knew that we had to find something that we could carry around with us for him to use. It needed to be small and inexpensive. That was when we found the Spelling Ace and we have been using it everyday since.
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3 comments:
people with Autism are smart in their own way. They learn to do things faster than we can. It amazes me how they can: teach themselves to play the piano or other instruments, read, do physics, do mathematical equations that just boggle your mind, they know how to fix stuff that you or I could never fix and they are all very smart! They may lack social skills, but they seem to want to get the chance to learn.
What a great story! ...thanks so much for sharing :) Big hug to your son!!!
Wow, that is incredible! I love the idea about the closed caption on TV.
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