Early Childhood Education Commons^™

A Reason To Read: Discovering A Purpose For Books Through Play, Sara Russell Dewey

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Children need desire and motivation to learn. This study examines the responsive, child- centered teaching practices of a reading and literacy specialist as she helps a student, with low motivation for reading, find a reason to want to read. Although her student is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and aspects of autism come up in this study, the focus here is not on teaching children with autism. Since no two children with a diagnosis present similarly, teaching to a diagnosis is not individualized or sensitive enough to meet the educational and emotional needs of a student. Instead, teachers must …