Do you want your child to read, but they are not speaking, are nonverbal or unintelligible? You are not alone. And whether a child can express themselves verbally in a way others can understand, does not indicate, foresee, or predict whether your child can or will read.
Let me preface this with a couple of disclaimers. I am not a reading specialist, although I have taught reading skills to many children with disabilities. I do not have a degree in reading, but I have been on the front lines teaching reading skills. If you break down the skills of reading into small steps, based on the child’s motivation to read, amazing things can happen.
Reading can seem complicated, but it’s not always that way. Reading comes from the motivation of the learner. Why does someone want to read? Maybe they want to earn rewards? To please their teacher or parents? The interact with others? Reading looks different from person to person. A child learns to read a book by an adult reading it to them everyday before bedtime for years (memorization or mimicry). Some children learn by breaking the reading skills down (from identification, to phonics, to phonemic awareness, to fluency, to comprehension). Some children wake up one day and start reading after years of skills training that appeared to be unsuccessful.
How is this possible? How can a child read but not be reading loud and proud so we (teachers, providers, parents, friends, family) can hear? Or how can we be convinced they are reading?
We experience this concept ourselves everyday. Someone on the news said an ingredient in your favorite food is bad for you. So you start reading labels and ingredient lists on the back of all of your containers. You can’t say it, but you know if when you see it. You might even be able to sound it out in your head, but you can’t just say it.
I can rattle off all the words in all the songs in Hamilton in my head. But I can’t say them as fast as Daveed Diggs does. My mouth and oral motor do not connect and move that fast.
Have you ever read a book outside, on the beach, to yourself? How do other people know you are reading? You are not reading and sounding out each word aloud. You are reading to yourself.
I think it’s the same for our kids with disabilities who are nonverbal, or not verbal enough, or unintelligible, but who want to interact and want to know things. They want to be a part of and interact with the written and readable society. They are capable of reading to themselves.
Can I teach a nonverbal child to read? Yes. For functional reading purposes like reading menu, reading signs in the community, reading a book on their level? For sure. But what is the key? Motivation of the child. Does the child want to interact with the printed word and are they interested in learning it?
What does a child have to display to show they are ready, or interested, or motivated to learn to read? They crave independence and to be like everyone else, despite their disability. They also believe they can overcome any obstacle to get what they want.
The method of instruction would depend on the child and on the circumstances. Their interests and motivation would play a huge part. How they learn best is also critical.
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