Review: ASD Reading Program

The ASD Reading Program (www.ASDReading.com) was designed to help children on the autistic spectrum learn to read, but it actually works for all kids.  I signed up because my kindergarten son needed a little extra help with reading and I thought this looked like a fun way to incentivize him to work on his reading.  I was right.  He enjoys the “game” and has even asked me a few times “can I do my homework”?  Here are some of the Pros and Cons I found to the program.

Pros:

• It is a game (for some reason kids like computer games)
• It not only teaches reading but also requires basic computer navigation skills, which is another thing that some kids need to work on
• It is fun (some parts more than others)
• It is meant to be played without adult help (so theoretically I can just put my kid behind the computer and go take a nap)
• It is relatively simple (in design and game play), which is appropriate for kids
• It doesn’t require installation (you play it online)
• It comes at a good price point (first 30 days free)

Cons:

• While it’s cool that a lot of research is behind the software, I’m an educational researcher with game design experience and their in-game explanations were boring to me, let alone my child.  I wish it wasn’t required for the kids to hear why certain features were included in the game
• This was very difficult for my child to do on a laptop without a mouse.  I would guess that the tablet experience is very different from a traditional computer without a mouse.
• Because of the computer difficulties there were a lot of things that my son couldn’t complete on-time.  I wish there was a speed setting because it was demotivating to know how to complete a task but not be able to because he couldn’t navigate the game very efficiently.

Updated 6/5/17.  ASD Reading actually read this review and emailed me some clarification regarding some of my concerns (see below). 1) There is a “skip” button that you can use to skip all the instructions you referenced. They are not required. 2) When a student is having difficulty using a mouse, Dr. Blank, the creator of ASD Reading recommends providing hand support as outlined in this document: http://www.asdreading.com/downloads/ASD-Reading-Hand-Support-Tutorial.pdf This is typically only required for a week or two and then the child will be able to use it on their own. (We also recommend slowing down the program – see below – and doing the additional keyboard and mouse practice which is accessible from the student report. 3) You can change the speed!  To change the response time, log into your account. Then from the dashboard menu (in the blue bar at the top) select: Account Settings > Modify Account Settings Scroll down and you will see 2 options: – Change Response Time: This changes the allowed time for all the problems in the program except the books. – Change Books Response Time: This changes the allowed time for the books.

Overall, I’m quite happy with the program and am actually tempted to get a tablet just so my son can take full advantage of all the program offers.  My kids don’t do computer games so there’s a bit of a learning curve just getting comfortable behind the screen, but he’s picking it up and having fun with it.  And I love that this is helping his reading AND helping him gain computer skills.

Purchase: get started with a FREE 30-day trial at their website https://www.asdreading.com/store