Why One-to-One Reading Support Transforms Learning for Neurodivergent Children

18 months ago my first pupil came through the door into my bright shiny new Reading Room. I felt a little nervous but as soon as I started to work I knew that this method encompassed everything I valued about teaching and very soon I realised how successful it is. A scared young man arrived who gave off all the signals of feeling like a failure. He was nervous and didn’t want his Mum to leave, so she stayed. Embracing the ethos of the ‘Reading Doctors’ we began with what he knew and felt confident doing. He liked football, he enjoyed some competition, he liked to feel like a winner when we played games. So I taught in the style that he learned. I set up tasks so that he could win. Gradually, he began to look less nervous, he gained confidence in his ability to work out what each word was. With a fierce determination to succeed, every week he tried to put into practice everything we had done the week before. Mum, Dad, and Nan supported him positively every step of the way. We have laughed, had sad moments, found his resilience, dug deep, and giggled our way through, oh and I lost a lot of games. He is now writing using cursive handwriting, answering comprehension questions easily, asking many questions about words and sounds, checking for meaning, inventing his own stories, has great fun in Storylands on Reading Eggs, and reads beautifully. He knows to sound out unfamiliar words, try sounds out in different ways until it sounds right, chunk larger words into parts and then rebuild them, read the sentence again, and make sure it makes sense. He has all these tools, and knows how and when to use them.

He began his journey on Pink level books and Phase 2 sounds and has now completed Phase 5 sounds and is reading at Orange level. He’s moved in 18 months from pre-reading to age 7 reading and is so close to moving up again. He is 6 ½ years old. Today he read a whole book with pace, pause, tone, intonation, and the most wonderful expression. I wanted to video him, as I would have loved to capture the moment, but I didn’t want to spoil it or push him out of his comfort zone. I could feel a little tear in the corner of my eye as I listened to him emphasize and use a sing-song voice and then mimic the animals in the story. He independently chose the book he wanted to read and he was a very proud young man who left the Reading Room, with a beaming smile, telling his Mum everything he had achieved. 

He confidently reached the top step on the Steps to Reading Ladder and happily says ‘I can read anything’, instead of quietly saying ‘I want to learn to read’. 

A few weeks ago when I was reflecting on how much he had moved on I felt a slight sadness that soon he will be ready to fly and I will have to let him go. When his dad picked him up that day he asked me if I would be able to fit his younger sister in. She’s just four and a very bright little girl who has a speech impediment, so I get to continue to work with this lovely supportive family, they also have a baby so maybe they could be with me for years to come.

The saddest part of this tale is that the books he brings home from school have one sentence on each page whereas, when he works one to one he is easily reading a whole story. Perhaps, his confidence is not yet fully integrated into all aspects but I know that one day soon it will be and he will feel confident within his peer group and be ready to fly independently. I look forward to watching him soar.