Skip to main content

Book Review and Giveaway: "How do I teach this kid to Read?" by Kimberly A. Henry, M.S.

This is a "Best of the Best" post - Giveaway details are at the end of the post.

The full title of this book is;

How do I Teach this Kid to Read?
Grade Levels K-3
Teaching Literacy Skills to Young Children with Autism, from Phonics to Fluency
by Kimberly A. Henry, M.S.

How do I teach this kid to read is a great text book aimed at very young readers on the spectrum. Unlike most books of its kind, this book comes with a companion CD.

The book has amazingly simple organisation with each chapter introducing a new teaching concept and outlining;
  • What it is
  • Why it works
  • Materials Needed
  • Ideas for Use
As well as parents, this book is also a great resource for teachers and would-be teachers in special needs as it explains a lot of great techniques and most of the ideas in this book could be stretched beyond reading and into other areas of a child's education or social life.

Most of the materials needed sections refer to resources which are already on the supplied CD (which contains 48 files, mostly in PDF format) but the book also contains redirects to other suppliers, web sites and references.

The book covers word walls, flipbooks, pictographs, thinking in pictures and more. Along the way, the "why it works" section for each activity frequently explains autistic traits and how the world appears to people on the spectrum.

This is best demonstrated in an example from the why it works of "Question Sticks";
"Because some children with ASD have difficulty processing questions, Question Sticks put the question in a visual format - a format the child may better understand."

This very practical book is a necessary resource for parents and teachers who deal with difficult readers from about Kindergarten to Year 3. I have no hesitation in recommending it.

How do I Teach this Kid to Read? can be purchased online from Future Horizons or from Amazon.

Honesty clause: I was provided with a copy of this book for review at no charge.


ENTER GIVEAWAY!!!
Contest ends April 29, 2011 at 5pm

All you have to do to enter this giveaway is leave a comment on this post saying why you think the book will be particularly suitable for you. If you can't think of anything, just leave a comment anyway - I'll be drawing the winners randomly.

PLEASE leave me a way to contact you via email or facebook if you win - If I can't make contact within 48 hours, I'll need to do a redraw.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Please enter me in the contest. I have two little ones and we're constantly working on their literacy skills. This book looks like it'd be a great fit for us. Thanks!
beknme said…
I like the statement, "...most of the ideas in this book could be stretched beyond reading and into other areas of a child's education or social life." It sounds like a wonderful book--wish I would have had it years ago. Would love to read it and pass it around to my Aspie friends and relatives. Bless you. (I'm at: beknme@gmail.com)
Anonymous said…
Reading is a main area of concern for my son. He should be reading at 40 words per minute but is only reading at 14 w.p.m. Sounds like this book could really help me to help him!
Anonymous said…
Reading is a main area of concern for my son. He should be reading at 40 words per minute, but is only reading at 14 w.p.m. It sounds like this book could really help me to help my son!
Paul Anthony said…
I was diagnosed with Asperger's about 3 years ago aftermy song was diagnosed. While learning about it, I began to suspect that I was an aspie too. Finding that out has really helped me relate to my son and how he learns differently. Recently, I started volunteering to teach music at our local church.

In addition to helping teachers and parents of Asperger's kids, I think this book would also be beneficial to me, as a teacher, to better understand how to relay the information I have, as well as being able to allow me to help my son, who has also recently started studying music.

My email address is anthony.rockstar@gmail.com. Also, I have a music blog at http://www.soundwavesamurai.blogspot.com that I am just starting up, so please feel free to visit and take a look around.
Pia said…
Consider me entered!! This is one topic that has me completely stumped, and since I am considering homeschooling J-man, it might be good to know, ehe?? I am also on of the BOB Bloggers so check out my book review too (www.thecrackandthelight.com). My contact info : pia.prenevost@gmail.com
Patty O. said…
This book is fantastic. I'm not entering (sorry if that confuses things) since I already own this book, but just wanted to say how great it is!
Unknown said…
I am a teacher for kids with Autism and I have had my eye on this book for a while and would love to win it!

Thanks for the chance!

*******
I am dedicating my blog all month long to Autism Awareness.
Amber said…
I could absolutely love to win this. Please enter me. We homeschool our 4 kids. I have a 6 1/2 year old that has autism, tourettes, sensory processing and integration disorders, low tone, severe visual spatial delays and eye tracking problems. We have tried so many many things with him. Now we are starting to get our 5 year old son tested and believe he is autistic as well. Its hard because as a homeschooling parent the financial is all on you. We are on our 5th phonics program for my son. This would be a huge blessing to our family with all the heartache over phonics and attempting to teach him to read we have been though. He is my 3rd child I have taught (well trying to teach him)to read but my 1st with Autism (plus everything else) Thanks so much.
my email is
Jennifer said…
My son has just turned five and was diagnosed with Aspergers about six months ago. He loves books, but no matter what we do, we just can't manage to get letters to stick in his brain. Letter recognition is hard. We've been reading to him for years, and he often walks around the house reciting entire books he's memorized (he listens to audio books a lot). Any help we can get would be great, and this book sounds like a good resource.
Anonymous said…
Please enter me in this contest!! Sounds like a fabulous book!
teheinold@gmail.com
Unknown said…
please enter me in the contest. thank you. i can be found on facebook - debbie lynch garrett
George Berdes said…
I am presently spending $75/week for reading tutoring for my autistic kid. Would love to win this book.

Celia Berdes
8049 Kenneth Ave.
Skokie, IL 60076
847-763-8849
PLEASE sign me up...my son is mostly nonveral, but is interested in words and letters...reading and learning to spell would be a GREAT thing for him, communication-wise!
Jennifer Garrison
jenhpauler@hotmail.com
This looks great! My son Norrin loves to read and recognizes many sight words. However, he's not really reading but memorizing everything. I would love the opportunity to really teach him.
Robert Hickman said…
@Lisa Quinones Fontanez If Norrin can memorize the information he sees, and re-produce it in some form, such as speak or writing, by definition he is reading. He may not be reading following the stereotypical methods, but he _is_ reading.

As an autistic myself, I never remember a time when I could not read in some shape or form. Writing and reading come to me much more naturally than speaking or listening ever did.

The following article details my own experience with learning to reed, and how I managed to work around sticking points:

http://achievingextraordinarysuccess.com/2010/11/12/learning-to-read-as-a-dyslexic/
Melissa Taylor said…
this looks practical and helpful!!
~Twins~Are~Joy~ said…
What a great book. We struggle so much with reading with both my boys (twins-one with ADHD/ODD & Severe Dyslexia and the other Asperger's) third grade has been particularly rough for them because of their lack of reading skills... we cyber school at this point because our local district is so deplorable! Thanks for the chance at winning this:-) zejunkdrawer@gmail.com
Gavin Bollard said…
We have a Winner!
Congratulations Jennifer Garrison!

Popular posts from this blog

Why do Aspies Suddenly Back Off in Relationships (Part 2)

In part one, we looked at the role that Change Resistance plays in causing aspies to suddenly go "cold" in otherwise good relationships. This time, I want to look at self esteem and depression; Self Esteem The aspie relationship with themselves is tedious at best. People with Asperger's commonly suffer from low self esteem. As discussed in earlier posts, this low self esteem often results from years of emotional turmoil resulting from their poor social skills. Aspies are often their own worst enemy. They can over analyze situations and responses in an effort to capture lost nonverbal communication. This often causes them to invent problems and to imagine replies. Everything made up by aspies will tend to be tainted with their own self image. This is one of reasons that people with Asperger's will sometimes decide that they are not good enough for their partner and that they must let them go. Sometimes, the aspie will develop a notion of chivalry or self-sacrific

Aspie Myths - "He Won't Miss Me"

I apologise for the excessive "male-orientated" viewpoint in this post. I tried to keep it neutral but somehow, it just works better when explained from a male viewpoint. Here's a phrase that I've seen repeated throughout the comments on this blog on several occasions; "I know that he won't miss me when I'm gone because he's aspie" Today, we're going to (try to) bust that myth; Individuals I'll start off with a reminder that everyone is an individual. If all aspies were completely alike and predictible, they'd be a stereotype but they're not. Each is shaped by their background, their upbringing, their beliefs and their local customs. An aspie who grew up with loud abusive parents has a reasonable chance of becoming loud and abusive themselves because in some cases, that's all they know. That's how they think adults are supposed to behave. In other cases, aspies who grew up in those circumstances do a complete about-fa

Why Do Aspies Suddenly Back-Off in Relationships? (Part 1)

One of the most frequent questions I'm asked is why an aspie (or suspected aspie) suddenly goes "cold" and backs off on an otherwise good relationship. It's a difficult question and the answers would vary considerably from one person to another and would depend greatly on the circumstances. Nevertheless, I'll try to point out some possibilities. Negative Reasons I generally like to stay positive on this blog and assume that people are not necessarily "evil" but simply misguided. Unfortunately, I do have to acknowledge that there are some people out there who take advantage of others. I read a book a few years ago on "sociopaths in the workplace" and I was stunned by the figures. They suggested that sociopaths were so common that most workplaces (small business) had at least one or two. The fact is that there are lots of people out there who really feel very little for others and who are very manipulative. I'd like to say that aspies aren