Reading & Learning (Re: new/ anyone in similar situation?)

July 2, 2011

This post caught my attention. My 17 y/o daughter (with OCD, Asperger's, NVLD)

is homeschooled, and she has a major problem with reading and learning, even

though she has a high I.Q. (She is very knowledgeable about her area of

interest, which is movies (a trademark of Asperger's)) To further complicate

things she has a history of developmental vision problems (she couldn't track a

line of text with her eyes and needed vision therapy).

It's gotten to the point where she practically refuses to learn anything,

academically, and she becomes extremely anxious if I ask her to read or try to

read aloud to her, even if it's only a few pages. She does read things online,

or reads things she's written (she writes fiction), but when faced with a book

she becomes really anxious and resistant, even if it's something she really

wants to read. And she definitely feels completing high school is beyond her

reach. :-(

There was one stage, years ago, when she tried to read, or have me read aloud,

but she was obsessed with the idea that she wasn't " reading it well enough " --

she seemed to think she needed to memorize every word that she read or it wasn't

worth doing. We would re-read the same line again, and again, and again. We also

spent a LOT of time discussing what reading comprehension is -- it's not

memorization or perfect recall. It's absorbing the main ideas. She is perfectly

capable of understanding and doing this, but her OCD ruined it for her.

Now when I read aloud, she doesn't seem to absorb any of it. I don't know how

much of this is the distraction of her intrusive thoughts, how much is the

sedating effect of her medications, and how much is just disinterest and

resistance to anything she doesn't feel like doing.

Obviously, this is a complicated mix of issues, but I was wondering whether any

of this sounds familiar to anyone on this list. Do you have children with high

academic ability and OCD-related learning problems or literate kids, like my

daughter, who " can't " read?

Thanks,

Steph (Virginia)

>

> P.S. Meant to add that 's OCD has affected him with his reading again

too. I think it sparks " bad thoughts " or something. So partly why he avoided

reading homework/studying.

>

Recommended Posts