Story time questions

[waterdreamer]

My son (5) loves when I read to him but sometimes he doesn't seem to be paying attention. Also like he is spaced out. If I stop and close the book he gets upset and wants me to finish. Sometime I try to get his attention but soon he is "out in space" again. 
Now I bought the TW course and the book says children learn when they seem to be not paying attention. 
Now my question is should I just read and besides asking him about what's happening in the pictures and usual storytime activities not try and get him to "pay attention". He is not being disruptive just seems zoned out. 
Other times he repeats each word after I do while reading. I always point to the words while I read but having an echo is sometimes, well annoying. However if it is beneficial I won't stop him. What do you think?  

[reei]

do you change the tone of your voice when reading story.. like acting out the story.. as in bad witches,, bad voice, scared.. and whisper .. or.. help.. and a little shout.. help..
what kind of story do you read.. when he seems zone out.. maybe you can.. say beep beep till he look at you .. or wait for a while.. or just continue reading.. unless when he zone out a bit too long, then do something to attract his attention back.

[waterdreamer]

Thank you for your reply, yes I do try to change my tone. Sometimes it works other times it doesn't. I try to read books that are not too long winded, but not to easy. I usually let him pick out of a handful of 5 which book we should read. Oddly enough Halloween books seem to hold his attention so that's what we have continued reading .

[LMsMum]

I could have written your post, waterdreamer, as this is exactly what has been happening with my daughter. She also starts humming or biting her nails sometimes. I noticed, however, that it only happens with books which are a bit of a stretch for her comprehension, so she is more "switched on" if we read simpler and shorter books with more pictures to support the story. She also is much more attentive when I read her books in Russian, which she understands better. As we read a few books during our "reading sessions", I try to have a mix of easier and more advanced stories. Also, her attention seems to be at its worst before going to bed when she is tired.

I have been asking myself the same question and I am quite doubtful she takes much in when she is "zoned out" as she almost never responded correctly when I asked her a simple question about what I had just read. I think to her my reading then simply turns into a background noise. She is a visual learner and auditory processing is a challenge, so I guess it will take a while before we get to chapter books.

What has been helping a bit, although temporarily, is pausing whenever she zones out to get her attention back. I also make her hold the book while I read (to take her attention off her nails!). If that does not help, rather than reading the story, I try "talking" the stories, making fun comments about the picture, making references to something she can relate to, etc.

I will greatly appreciate your tips if you discover other methods to hold their attention.

[Deneen]

have his eyes and hearing been checked?

[waterdreamer]

Yes we had his ears checked when we first noticed issues with his speech and they were fine. Then we had his eyes checked by a specialist when he was younger because they would tip in when he was concentrating on something really hard. He out grew that, and was seen about 8 months ago by a normal eye doctor and everything us perfect.

[AussieMumofOne]

What an interesting topic you raise and one we have ben seeing a lot of in our clinics. I think this is something you really want to get on top of. Right brain programs suggest that is OK if they are 'zoned' out or distracted and maybe this is ok for passive learning but I believe that reading (and other things where concentration is required, such as at school) should be an active process and concentration is required. I am wary of mentioning Auditory Processing Disorder as this terminology is thrown around far too often these days and IMHO, is far too over used. I could go on and on about this subject but won't bore you (unless you're interested!) but this can lead to problems with processing and concentration and audiotory memory. Would you describe your home as fairly noisy? If there is a lot of background noise all the time, ie; TV or radio, then children learn to tune these things out and this can continue into other areas such as when reading stories or listening to the teacher at school. It can be rather a bad habit. Regardless of if he has APD, he (and all children) will benefit from listening games where you encourage him to remember words, numbers and series of information and this can be done in a fun way, but will encourage his auditory porocessing and concentration skills. Hope that helps!

[waterdreamer]

Your not boring me at all. I'd love to know more. He has issues were he has trouble finding words he wants to use when he speaks. I forget what it is called. But we are working on that. Who would you suggest I ask for a referral for testing for APD?

[LMsMum]

Occupational therapist?

[LMsMum]

waterdreamer, may I ask if your son had any history of early ear infections/glue ear?

[AussieMumofOne]

I think you are referring to aphasia? Where you can't find the words to say what you want to say. To get tested for APD, you will firstly need a current hearing test (well you would in Australia) as they will want to rule out progressive hearing loss and middle ear pathology as a matter of routine. If the test is normal then you can proceed with the APD testing. Here in Australia you don't need a specialists referral to get tested but I'm not sure what it is like in the US. If you need a referral, I would imagine either an audiologist or speech pathologist could organise this?

We don't conduct APD testing at the clinics I work in here as we have concerns about the tests. The whole process takes several hours and therefore problems such as attention and motivation come into the testing. These aspects should be kept out of the investigation as they are seperate issues from the ability of the brain to process auditory information. I have seen studies where the children have failed the test and then once offered some motivation (bribery!) to re-do the tests, the then pass. If the child really has geniune APD then it doesn't matter how hard they try, their brains cannot appropriately process the sounds.

Another concern about the testing is that once the diagnosis is reached, it can sometimes be used as an 'out' or excuse of either the parents or the teachers, to allow the child to slack off. 'Oh it's ok that Johnny isn't doing his work because he has APD...' or 'It doesn't matter than Johnny is behind in his reading becaue he has APD'...

And finally, the concern for us is that the once the diagnosis has been reached, there is no specific treatment! This is the situation here anyway. There are certainly lots of programs to help children develop their listening, concentration and auditory memory for example, but these are not only useful for children who do have the 'diagnosis' but also for those who need help in this area, regardless of a diagnosis. There isn't a specific 'pill' or solution to the problem, therefore you don't necessarily need the diagnosis to access the 'treatment'.

OK, so reading back over this and it all sounds so negative towards APD testing, but rather than saying not to do it, I think it is important that you go into it with an open mind (and open wallet) and understand the limitations of the testing.

Absolutely best of luck with this particular journey waterdreamer, I hope I have been of some assistance! Let me know if there is anything else you'd like to know! Or you can just tell me to butt out!

Lisa

[waterdreamer]

Thank you so much for the info. I will ask his speech path next month about a referral. I'll let you know what happens from there.
Thank you again.

[AussieMumofOne]

My pleasure! Glad I could help, good luck with it all.

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