Tutoring an 18-year-old autistic student with literacy problems...with my iPad.

Since March, I have been working for several hours daily as a mentor for an 18-year-old high school student with Asperger's Syndrome. I was hired mostly to be a "big brother" to him and help him socialize and be comfortable with himself (and all that this implies), which we're doing pretty well. Made some friends (though we infrequently do anything with them), have completed several projects, and I've introduced him to many new hobbies. Even got him a part in a local Shakespeare production alongside myself, which he's doing great in!

Anyhow, he also loves to read and be read to. He aspires to write, as well. There are some problems with this:
- He has severe difficulties communicating his ideas adequately. He is vague in his descriptions, to say the least, and will besides often say things such as "like that thing from the movie", without stating what thing from which movie or what it does. He picks up on suggestions pretty well (ex: if I say, "You mean the yo-yo that the cat was playing with?", he will say "Yeah, that."), but will often accept these as what he was thinking, even if they're completely off-base (to use the same example, if he WAS actually thinking of a yo-yo, but I said something like "You mean the massive chaingun Arnold Schwarzenegger had in Terminator 2?", he would probably still say "Yes" to it.)

- He cannot spell very well. He knows HOW to spell a lot of words, and can identify when he misspells something, but will ask for direct help (as in "how is this spelled?" rather than "is this right?") instead of working it out on his own. Almost always.

- He is not a confident reader, but I've helped him a lot lately. He has similar issues with reading longer/complicated words as he does with spelling; if he can't pronounce something or recognize it, he'll just ask me to read that word for him instead of sounding it out, despite my insistence. Lately, I've been working with him a lot on having him sound out new words sound-by-sound (syllable-by-syllable), and making little mini-lessons with him has has great results so far.

We read eBooks on my iPad, and he likes it quite a bit, because we can switch books (I don't allow more than two books to be read at once, though, which he accepts) and do other stuff. I have a couple of apps for learning (such as letter sounds), but I'm looking for others that would be geared more toward middle and high school age students with reading trouble (phonics and such) and less toward toddlers who are just learning to read letters.

Does anybody have any suggestions for some good iPad apps that might help with some of these skills?

Hi there, I have a similar situation at school, my student is 18 and autistic but unfortunwtely he would always speak as if out of context, I've come to the conclusion his communicative skills are really limited and then I can't do much about it.

Tablets have made wonderful advancements in assistance learning - but the focus has been on the younger kids unfortunately.

You just have to be creative with what you have.

1. If you are working on a book and he is getting frustrated because, as you say, he has a lack of confidence with reading - see if there is an audio version of the book that you can switch back and forth (between the audio and print) in order to give a rest but still be reading.

2. I don't know what this student's relationship to art is, but there is something stimulating about the art and music apps, allowing the student to exercise the act of creation in a free flow environment.

I'll let you know if I come across others.

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Originally Posted by jpveedubs

We read eBooks on my iPad, and he likes it quite a bit, because we can switch books (I don't allow more than two books to be read at once, though, which he accepts) and do other stuff. I have a couple of apps for learning (such as letter sounds), but I'm looking for others that would be geared more toward middle and high school age students with reading trouble (phonics and such) and less toward toddlers who are just learning to read letters.

Does anybody have any suggestions for some good iPad apps that might help with some of these skills?

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I know what you mean ... most apps target children ...

You might want to take a look at Acceleread which helped me improve my reading speed...

Hi there, I have a similar situation at school, my student is 18 and autistic but unfortunwtely he would always speak as if out of context, I've come to the conclusion his communicative skills are really limited and then I can't do much about it.

I have to commend you for your effort and ability to work with a challenging student. The most important thing to me is for you to maintain a positive outlook and to consult with others about how to work with this young man. Most state departments of education have well trained autism staff trainers on board who can help you select materials and even come out to observe you and give pointers as needed. Better yet, they mostly do it for free! This is a bit of a dated thread, I'd love to hear an update of sorts. Students like this are very rewarding to work with, especially once you figure out how they specifically learn and you are able to find the combination to unlock it.