Reading Comprehension: The Power to Unlock Worlds and Change Lives
Reading is an essential life skill that enables people to communicate through writing and decoding text. Being able to read is very powerful and in most cases, life changing. When children start to truly understand their text, they can do amazing things with what they read. For instance, they can travel to new places and learn about different cultures using their imagination. They can also learn from people who lived centuries ago and understand their thoughts. Understanding text is however only made possible by a crucial reading skill called reading comprehension.
What is Reading Comprehension?
This is a cognitive process that allows a child to make sense of what they read. It involves connecting what they are reading with what they already know. For example, when your child reads a story about a cat, they will make sense of it using their knowledge about the family cat, or a friend’s cat. This foundational skill is one of the pillars of reading. It is important because it enables a child to understand text more deeply.
Be sure to grab this FREE Reading Passage with Questions, Answers, and a Graphic Organizer! It is an incredibly helpful tool for improving reading comprehension for students.
The Crucial Role of Comprehension
Decoding text is only the first step of learning to read. True reading success comes from understanding the meaning, making connections, and engaging with the text. Reading comprehension is the skill responsible for making that happen.
The ability to understand written text is an essential life skill. This skill gets more advanced over time as students progress in their learning. As children become better readers, they start to infer meaning, recognize themes, and make predictions about what will happen next.
Comprehension is vital for academic success. The higher students go in their education, the more they will have to understand complex topics to meet academic objectives. Understanding text is also important for safety and overall well-being. For example, most warning signs are in written form with the expectation that people will read and keep safe. That is why developing their comprehension protects a child’s well-being.
Navigating Comprehension Challenges with Autism
Children with autism usually struggle with reading comprehension even though they tend to have strong decoding skills. Autism makes it difficult for a child to understand certain aspects of reading due to challenges with social communication and cognitive processing.
A child with autism may find it difficult to do the following:
Interpret figurative language and metaphors.
Draw conclusions and inferences from text.
Understand abstract concepts
Grasp the overall meaning of a text.
These challenges are common in children with autism. But parents and teachers must keep in mind that not all children experience the same level of difficulty with comprehension. Understanding a child’s challenges and appreciating their uniqueness is crucial to providing effective support.
Be sure to grab this FREE Reading Passage with Questions, Answers, and a Graphic Organizer! It is an incredibly helpful tool for improving reading comprehension for students with autism and other reading challenges.
Achieving Success Despite the Challenges
Improving comprehension skills for children who struggle with reading can be achieved. With appropriate and personalized strategies and interventions, your child can significantly improve and become a strong reader.
Teach Bloom Grow has a passion for helping students with reading challenges including dyslexia and autism. Over the years, this journey has revealed that using specific strategies and resources can produce positive results. These strategies and resources which I will be sharing in future posts include:
Using visual aids such as charts, diagrams, and graphic organizers.
Supporting students with social cues
Reading together
Individualized instruction
Giving students opportunities to interact with text in their own way
Literacy Support
Our literacy tutoring works for students with autism as well as students who are struggling with reading and writing and falling below grade level. Be sure to reach out for a Free Consultation!
Teaching students with autism requires patience and personalized support which is unique and tailored to the student. Taking timely action and using the right strategies can greatly improve outcomes in reading comprehension.
