Reading/Story

Comprehension:
Why This Skill Is So Elusive and
How It Can Be Fostered
Marion Blank, Ph.D.
Columbia University
Developmental Neuropsychiatry Program
May 23, 2008
Autism One: Chicago
 Goals of Presentation
 Provide the background to this vital, but
neglected area of language and
communication
A paradox: Often co-exists with hyperlexia
Comprehension problematic –even in those with high
levels of verbal skill
 Offer the model for a new program
 Present the program
 Background:
The Invisible 800 Pound Gorilla in the
Intervention Closet

 Language –a skill so valued that it gets a

“pass”
Resulting in teaching that leads to:
errors of commission
errors of omission
teaching the “unteachable”
 Needed:
A Model of Language and
A Model of Verbal Communication
 Components in a Model for
Language

 Language is not simply words; it is an organized

SYSTEM which allows words to be combined
 The combinations follow certain rules or patterns
 One key set of patterns fall in the domain of
syntax (grammar)
 The basic foundation for syntax rests with two
classes of words: nouns & verbs
How Issues of Syntax Transform
Meaning
The boy is sitting.
The boy was sitting.
A boy is not sitting.
The boys are sitting.
The boys were sitting.
Most boys are not sitting.
The boy is going to sit.
The boy does not want to sit.
Some boys are going to sit.
The boys do not like sitting.
 Techniques to Enhance
Language Production
 Goal: to expand, build, elaborate the children’s language
base so they can comprehend & produce the language
of “reading” (stories)
 Starting point: an already established base of
expressive language (via speaking or writing)

 Method: the key (neglected, disparaged, controversial)

technique for this expansion is sentence imitation
 A Model for Verbal
Communication
 Communication is one of the “functions” of
language— it is how we use the language
system to express & comprehend ideas
 The possible taxonomy is endless
 To make it manageable & coherent, the functions
appropriate to each domain need to be specified
 Story (reading) comprehension –is one central,
but complex domain
 What Makes Stories So Difficult
 Hidden communication: reader is not alone
 Reader is a responder (not an initiator)

 Language contains the complex

formulations inherent to expressing the
“non-present” (“there and then”)
sets of connected sentences
specialized syntactic forms
consolidating the varied sentences into
a “main idea”
The Complexity of
Connected Text
It was kitten’s first full
moon.
When she saw it, she
thought,
There’s a bowl of milk in
the sky.
And she wanted it.

Kitten's First Full Moon

Kevin Henkes
 The Perceptual Complexity of
“Simple” Content

One or more
characters that are
simultaneously in two
places
(Separate placements in
space are deemed
equivalent to separate
placements in time)
 Another complexity: Use of the
past tense to describe a “current”
scene
Another Example
It was kitten’s first full
moon.
When she saw it, she
thought,
There’s a bowl of milk in
the sky.
And she wanted it.

Kitten's First Full Moon

Kevin Henkes
 Making Comprehension
Comprehensible
Incorporating the essential features of stories
while keeping the material simple
 Retain sequences, but keep them
as short as possible
 Retain sets of sentences but
keep them within child’s level of production
 Make the sentences as redundant as
possible
 Who Is The Program For?
Children
 4 years & older who regularly produce, via
speaking or writing, sentences of 4 or
more words.
 who show the willingness & ability to
cooperate with an adult on a regular basis
for periods of 10 to 15 minutes
 who may or may not be able to read
 Design of the Program
Step 1 Skills Assessment
↓ ↓
if Module I if Module II

Step 2 Level A (Module I) Level A (Module II)

↓ ↓
Level B (Module I) Level B (Module II)
Assessing a Child’s Language Skill

This is a lady.

This is her house.

She is at the door.

She wants to go
in.
She has a
key.
She will
Assessing a Child’s Language Skill

This man has a lot of tools.

All the tools are hanging

on the wall.

Now he is reaching for one of the

tools.

He wants a scissors because he

needs to cut something.

Right now, he is reaching for the

scissors.

When he gets the scissors, he will

 The Sequence of the Story
Teaching Process
 The first step:
Present the verbal material (in the present
tense)—require child to imitate each
sentence
 A Sample Level A Story
Module I-Page I

Here is an animal
He is hungry.
He wants to find food.
He sees a hole in a tree.
There is fruit in the hole.
He wants to get the fruit.
 A Sample Level A Story
Module I-Page 2

He puts his tongue out.

Fruit is on his tongue.
He can eat the fruit.
The animal is happy.
He has food to eat.
 A Sample Level A Story
Module II-Page 1

This animal is very hungry.

He is hoping to find some food.
He has been searching for a long
time
But he has not found any food.
Then he sees a hole in the bottom
of a tree.
In the hole, he sees some pieces
of fruit.
He likes to eat fruit and he wants
to get to it.
 A Sample Group A Story
Module II-Page 2

The animal pushed his

tongue into the hole.
By doing that he got food on
his tongue.
Now he is going to bring his
tongue back.
Then he will eat the food he
picked up.
The animal is happy
because he found what
he wants.
 The Sequence of the Story
Teaching Process
 Present the verbal material (in the present
tense)—require child to imitate each sentence
 The second step:
Present a short summary of the story (in the past
tense) –then repeat leaving out key words that
the child has to fill in (cloze procedure)
 Starting the Summary Process
Module I Module II
i. An animal saw food in a i. An animal found some
hole and he ate the food. food in a hole and he ate
the food.
ii. An animal saw food in a ii. An animal found some
food in a
_______________
________________

and he ate the

and he ate the
____________.
____________________.
 The Sequence of the Story
Teaching Process
 Present the verbal material (in the present
tense)—require child to imitate each sentence
 Present a short summary of the story (in the past
tense) –then repeat leaving out key words that
the child has to fill in (cloze procedure)
 The third step:
Request the complete summary from the child
Requesting the Complete Summary
Criteria
(i) past tense
(ii) cover the key points

Animal saw (found, got to) food (that was) in

a hole (place, tree)
Animal (he, it) ate (chewed) food
 The Value of Stories
 It is the retelling of events for the purposes of
communication—it is at the heart of much
conversation
 It represents the ability to convey, in a
meaningful, coherent account, events that have
transpired (“meaningful action patterns carried
out by a range of “beings” over time)

 It represents the ability to comprehend accounts

told by others (in person, or via books)
For Further Information
Email
info@stepstostories.com