Reading Trick

[emmalily]

Hi,

 

Thought I'd share this with you all for your kids. With my big PANDAS exacerbation I really lost my ability to read. I could maybe handle ten pages a day (as opposed to a daily average of 200 beforehand). My reading is definitely back to normal now, but I notice if I'm tired/not feeling well some of the concentration problems that came with the PANDAS start to come back. I'm guessing this is probably a normal reaction to being tired, but I've figured out a trick that I wish I had been able to think of during my exacerbation a couple years ago: listening to an audiobook while reading.

 

First off, it keeps me going when I feel my attention start to stray because the person reading is reading at his own speed, not at mine, so I have to keep up.

 

Secondly, there's a time stamp for each chapter so I know I need to only pay attention for another 5 minutes, or another 10, etc.

 

I thought this might be helpful for you kids to do with homework or to have included in their IEPs. It's sort of on the lines of having a SPED teacher read a test (which a dyslexic friend of mine had done), but it could be applied to longer reading assignments. Maybe SPED could make recordings if audio-books didn't exist, too. A lot of audio books of classics (i.e. school books) are free online for download and on iTunes and can be put right on an iPod/mp3, and then brought to class or used during homework. Gotta use all types of technology, right?

 

Hope that helps, I'm off to listen to the rest of Paradise Lost

[kimballot]

Thanks, Emalily - My son was just telling me the same thing last night. He was looking for the adioversion of his textbook so he could listen and read at the same time! I guess it really does help! Thanks for sharing

[MomWithOCDSon]

Thanks for a GREAT idea, Emmalilly! My DS certainly does have to work harder at getting through more difficult school reading when he's in exacerbation, so this tip is much appreciated.

[KaraM]

Thanks for this idea. PANDAS struck my dd8 just at the time kids are really supposed to be learning to read. After treatment she supposedly reached grade level, but it seems like she just does not enjoy it. It's a struggle to get her to sit down with a book - even for the the 20 minute a day school goal/requirement. I also question her comprehension level. Even though she may get the words - she doesn't seem to be able to put all the ideas together. I think a lot of this comes with practice (reading regularly). Maybe something like this will help get her more interested. I'll go to the library and see what books they have in both print and audio.

 

thanks again,

kara

[Mary M]

Thank you Emmalily. Posts like yours are so valuable to me as a parent of a PANDAS child as you can verbalize what my child can not. I vividly recall my dd's loss of ability to read. She had become quite a voracious reader in the year or two before her second exacerbation last year. And then reading actually became a solace to her as she lost her ability to do other beloved activities (play the piano, play the bass, do puzzles)...and then, painfully, her ability to read was sucked from her as well. I remember her explaining it to Dr K. He specifically asked about her reading and she said she used to read but now she just couldn't any more. She has just recently (at nearly 5 months post IVIg) been able to listen to her IPOD again so audio books would be a great supplement to her reading (which she is thriving at once again).

 

It pains me to see and hear about the losses that PANDAS kids face in their day-to-day function.

 

Thank you, Emmalily, for your insights!

Mary

from Michigan

[momcap]

Thanks Emmalily! I am eager to try this with DS7. He was an early reader, but lost his ability to read this spring. I thought he was just being defiant until I began to understand PANDAS. He started reading again last week. He also started listening to music again the week before that. I am excited to see what audio books I can find!

[kferricks]

Great idea! while my dd has started reading words and wants to read, she is hestitant for more than a page or so. Reading used to be one of her favorite things. Her birthday is next tuesday.... I'm going to look for something like this! Thank you!