Spark Learning Hub

Sometimes when a child is struggling with reading, there may be more going on than we first realize.

There are so many different things that can impact learning. One area that is often overlooked is the difference between eyesight and vision!

A child can have clear eyesight and pass an eye exam, while still needing vision support. Vision is not just about seeing clearly. It involves how your eyes receive visual input and how the brain processes that information.

If a child is struggling with visual processing, you may see things like:
-skipping words or lines of text
-mixing up words or letters (b/d, from/form, was/saw)
-losing their place while reading
-difficulty with smaller text or needing more space between words
-seems to know a word one day or on one page, then doesn't 'know' it the next
-rubbing their eyes, tilting their head, or squinting

For some children, exploring visual processing and checking primitive reflexes can provide more information about what support they may need. I'm always amazed by how much growth some students make after vision therapy!

When we understand why something is difficult, we can provide support that matches a child's needs.

Have you ever discovered something unexpected that changed the way you supported your child’s learning?

⏰ Temporal words can be tricky because their meaning can change with context!

I talked about this in an earlier post about "early" ☀️ and I've noticed something similar with the word "later."

“Later” can refer to different amounts of time depending on context. The listener is usually expected to infer this meaning.

For example, if a child asks "When is recess?" then "later" would likely refer to later today.

But, if a child asks, "When is the our field trip?" then "later" would likely refer to later this week, month, or even year.

This doesn’t mean we should avoid using the word “later.” Kids need to understand flexible temporal words because they hear them all the time.

But, we can start by making sure we pair “later” with more specific language. Like “Later today, around 2PM,” or “Later this week, sometime Thursday.”

By being more explicit, and talking through the different ways "later" can be used, we can help students notice how the meaning changes depending on the situation. Over time, this can help kids begin to infer the meaning on their own or ask questions to clarify!

How do you support kids or students with temporal words like “later”?

When working on fiction comprehension with autistic students, it is important to remember how much background knowledge matters.

Fiction at different levels includes social situations, dialogue, tone, hidden intentions, friendship dynamics, sarcasm, figurative language, implied meaning, and more. Some autistic students may not automatically infer these elements in a text, especially if the situation is unfamiliar.

This is true for all learners- when we read about something we have not seen, experienced, or built a mental picture for, it can be harder to fully understand or imagine it.

This is one reason autistic students may find informational text easier to comprehend. Nonfiction is more concrete, direct, and connected to facts.

So when a student is struggling with fiction, I always pause and ask:
"Has the student experienced something like this before?"
"Does the student have enough background knowledge to picture what is happening?"

If the answer is no, we need to back up and build a connection first. That could mean watching a video, drawing a picture, acting it out, or finding experiences they can connect to (in their life or in a show/movie).

If your child is struggling with fiction comprehension, try starting with realistic fiction or historical fiction connected to topics that are concrete or of interest. After reading non-fiction passages about a time period, event, or place, you can read a fictional story about characters visiting that place, or someone living in that time period, etc.

Background knowledge gives students something to connect to!

⏰ Words like ‘early’ and ‘late’ can be tricky because their meaning depends on context!

When one of my students arrived to a therapy session, his mom said, “We have to wait because we’re early.”
He replied, “We’re not early, it’s not morning.”

And if early means early in the day, then yes, early = morning.
But in this context, ‘early’ referred to the time of the appointment. And that meaning was implied.

This is why temporal language (time words) can be tricky for some autistic and hyperlexic learners. Words like early, late, before, after, etc. can be context dependent, and that context is not always explicitly stated.

Another hyperlexic students had just discovered clocks and learned AM to be morning/daytime and PM to be night.
During a session, we were setting the timer for us to play a game later, and he wanted to put 2AM instead of 2PM, because "it wasn’t nighttime."

And if a child has learned:
AM = morning/daytime
PM = night
Then this makes sense.

But AM and PM don't always perfectly match awake/asleep or morning/night.

We broke this down visually by creating a chart...
☀️Some AM hours happen while we're awake
(EX: 7 AM-11:59 AM)
☀️Some PM hours happen while we're awake
(EX: 12 PM - 8 PM)
🌙Some PM hours happen while we're asleep
(EX:8PM-11:59PM)
🌙Some AM hours happen while we're asleep
(EX: 12AM-6:59AM)

For many autistic and/or hyperlexic children, abstract time concepts can be hard to conceptualize when they're only explained verbally.

Writing them out, drawing timelines, and making patterns visible, can help make the concepts more clear and concrete!

⏳ What time words have been tricky for your child or student?

Something that is often overlooked is that a child using a word, or hearing someone use a word in conversation and responding approporately, does not necessarily mean they have a complete understanding of that word.

Language is complicated – even for adults! There are hidden or implied meanings, every day language, figurative language, cultural influences, and more that change depending on the situation. All of this can affect how someone expresses themselves and how interpret what they say.

The same word can have a different meanings based on the context it is used in or the perspective a person is taking.

I have a student whose vocabulary has been rapidly growing lately. He is hyperlexic and as his speech has increased, he has been asking what more individual words mean, trying to break them down, and figure out how to use them.

One day he told me, “I can do ___ (activity) when I’m bigger”, then added on, “Maybe when I’m 100.”

This was a meaningful and logical association with the word "big", because "big" can relate to growing up or increasing in age. However, it took a few more conversations using the words "big" and "bigger" for me realize that he was still building an understanding of other meanings of "big" and when to use each one.

❗Many words have multiple nuanced meanings that depend on context!

We can ask more questions or add comments to help understand what the child's understanding of a word is and see if they need any more support!

How many associations for the word "big" can you think of?

Sometimes autistic students answer a question in a way that is different from what a teacher or parent expected. And too often, adults assume the child is “wrong” or “didn’t understand."

But I often find that my students did understand. They may have noticed a different detail, made an extra connection, interpreted wording differently, or followed a different kind of logic, but they weren't simply 'wrong'.

Of course, that doesn't mean every answer is correct. If a student is making an inference from incomplete information, missing key vocabulary, or misunderstanding what the question is asking, then yes, we still need to teach those skills.

But instead of stopping at "This is wrong," we can ask: What made this answer make sense to them?

Because many 'wrong' answers are windows into how a student thinks. Implied meaning, tone, context, sarcasm, figurative language, phrasing, and vocabulary can all affect understanding.

Many students take the parts they do understand and build an inference of what is being asked. Or sometimes, they feel the question is too simple, so they make their answer more complex. Other times, they just have a different perspective and may have a hard time explaining the path their thinking took to get there.

We can support this by:

✅ Rephrasing or stating things more than one way
✅ Use clear, specific language
✅ Check for unfamiliar vocabulary words
✅ Ask the child questions to confirm their understanding/perspective
✅ Look for the logic behind their answer before correcting it

When we understand how a student is thinking, we can figure out what to teach next while still encouraging self-expression, reasoning, and original ideas.

As a child, I vividly remember waking up one day and thinking, “I want to clean my room today.” I genuinely wanted it picked up and reorganized.

But then I went downstairs, and my mom said, “Today we’re cleaning your room.” And suddenly, I couldn’t do it.

Even though I had wanted to clean it just minutes before, I completely shut down. I melted down. I spent the whole day refusing cleaning my room, even though it meant I couldn’t play with my friends.

Not because I didn’t want a clean room or didn’t care. But because the moment it became a demand, it felt threatening. My body felt trapped. And once I started refusing, it felt impossible to stop, because stopping felt like “giving in.”

This is one reason PDA can be so misunderstood. From the outside, it can look like defiance, stubbornness, or manipulation. But on the inside, it can feel like panic, pressure, loss of control, and being unable to move forward.

This can be part of a PDA profile. PDA stands for Pathological Demand Avoidance. Some people also call it Persistent Drive for Autonomy.

Kids with a PDA profile are more likely to:

✅ Struggle with or even avoid everyday demands, even for things they want or need
✅ Seem “oppositional" when they are actually dysregulated, anxious, overwhelmed, or trying to feel safe
✅ Experience big mood shifts or shutdowns
✅ Need more control, predictability, sameness, or routine to thrive

For many PDA kids, just like in this example, it’s not about the task itself (I WANTED my room clean!) It’s about control, safety, and autonomy.

One of my students used to throw away and rip up every writing assignment he brought home from school.

Why?

Because adults were telling him exactly what to write. Each sentence he tried to give had to be rewritten. It didn't feel like it was his... because it really wasn't!

Now, he saves his writing in a special binder and actually loves to write.

What changed?

We stopped focusing on correction and encouraged self-expression of any kind! (drawings, words, sentences, verbal speech, songs, videos, etc.)

For many of my autistic + GLP students, I don’t prioritize grammar correction during the writing process because:

1️⃣ Confidence comes first
I want students to feel safe expressing their ideas through any form of communication
2️⃣ Gestalt language processors may not learn best through sentence-by-sentence correction with perfect grammar
If a student is in a different stage of language development, rewriting every sentence for “proper grammar” may not be meaningful yet. We can model language naturally over time to grow in that area
3️⃣ Many of my students are perfectionists or have PDA
Constant correction can make writing feel unsafe, unsuccessful, or like it no longer belongs to them. So, back to #1, feeling safe and confident is more important

When students feel ownership over their ideas, writing can become something they actually want to do.

Classrooms are full of shifting attention demands.

Teachers give instructions, but then pause, answer questions, go on tangents, or shift topics. Students are expected to follow along, filter what's most important and decide what matters, and re-engage quickly when it's time to focus on the learning again.

For students who struggle with executive functioning, that constant switching can be overwhelming!

For students who can process the auditory information but struggle with when and what to focus on, they may be missing the cue that it’s time to focus again. Adding clear prompts can help!

Try explicitly signaling when to refocus after tangents or questions:
• Using clear keywords (“This is important,” “Write this down,” “Back to the lesson”)
• Adding visual prompts (holding up a worksheet, pointing to what should be written, using visual supports)

It might feel redundant, but for many students, these cues are what make participation possible. Making this explicit can be the difference between being present… and actually being able to follow along!

Trouble with reading and motor skills can sometimes be linked to how the brain and eyes are working together (visual processing), or even primitive reflexes that are retained.

Primitive reflexes are automatic movements babies are born with, like the Moro reflex (startle response) or Palmar grasp reflex (gripping your finger).

These reflexes usually fade in the first year as more controlled movement develops. When they stick around longer, they may be associated with challenges in coordination, attention, or visual-motor skills.

Poor coordination, being easily distracted, or big reactions to change can sometimes be associated with a retained Moro reflex. Challenges with handwriting, fine motor skills, or hand strength may be linked to patterns related to the Palmar grasp reflex.

This doesn’t mean reflexes are always the cause, but they’re often overlooked when supporting learning and motor development!

If you’ve worked on reading, writing, or motor skills and still feel unsure why your child is still struggling, it may be helpful to look at visual processing and primitive reflexes as part of the bigger picture.

Along with a proper vision evaluation, there are simple exercises and strategies that may help support development at home!