Bullet Report post Posted February 15, 2006 Now I'm really confused. Just got a booklet from the NAS in which it states that people with ASD's don't like reading fiction. But I do. In fact, I take it to extremes in that I love stories that take place in the past (nineteen sixties is modern to me ) and steer clear of anything that's about modern living (so not keen on Chick Lit, for example. I love the old style detective stories (Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes) because you can usually take a logical approach, or at least an educated guess, at who the murderer is. And I like the old classics because the language is so well formulated and everything seems to well set out. I do like books of trivia, especially when it's set out in lists, but really enjoy reading something like Pride and Prejudice or "The Murder of Roger Acroyd." So is this unusual? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adamsmum Report post Posted February 15, 2006 I love reading Harry Bowling. I love books based on victorion times and war torn britan. So i would say it's not always true. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kathryn Report post Posted February 15, 2006 Now I'm really confused. Just got a booklet from the NAS in which it states that people with ASD's don't like reading fiction. Really?? My daughter loves fiction and always has. She particularly likes adventure stories, fantasy and science fiction: I think generally the kind of stories where plot is more important than character. For a long time, Lord of the Rings was her favourite book - she could win Mastermind with her amazing knowledge of it! At the moment she's into Star Wars spin offs: there are hundreds of these and she's always ordering them from Amazon. I'm not sure about their literary merit! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zemanski Report post Posted February 15, 2006 In our house the AS people read mostly sci fi and fantasy. It's the NT one who reads stories based in reality and non-fiction most! This particular comment from the NAS is a load of cr*p - AS people read all sorts of stuff but they may have a preference for reading books about their special interests which will obviously often be non-fiction, in Com's case his love of dragons leads him to read exactly the opposite! Zemanski Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bullet Report post Posted February 15, 2006 Really?? My daughter loves fiction and always has. She particularly likes adventure stories, fantasy and science fiction: I think generally the kind of stories where plot is more important than character. For a long time, Lord of the Rings was her favourite book - she could win Mastermind with her amazing knowledge of it! At the moment she's into Star Wars spin offs: there are hundreds of these and she's always ordering them from Amazon. I'm not sure about their literary merit! That's exactly it! I like to know what's going to happen, rather than how a character will develop! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kathryn Report post Posted February 15, 2006 Having said that, she went through a phase of reading a lot of "teenage angst" type fiction, the kind written by Judy Blume, Jacqueline Wilson etc, where relationships feature strongly. I may be wrong but I think she was using them to help her figure out what teenagers were all about in this NT world she was trying so hard to be a part of. She would often respond to teasing at school with insults borrowed from books; unfortunately this often made the situation worse. She scorns this kind of fiction now. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Flora Report post Posted February 15, 2006 William reads nothing but fiction; he loves fantas stories, Harry Potter, chronicles of narnia, and Darren Shan are his favourites. Luke is the opposite, he is definately one of those who prefer none fiction; he has dozens of books on trains, planes, bugs etc; however, he does have trouble reading and spends most of his time looking at the pictures (he's dyslexic); maybe if he could read easily he would read fiction. Lauren Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OPooh Report post Posted February 15, 2006 My son doesn't like fiction - so that is interesting to know. We're having real trouble with it because the school said it is key for his sats. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Malika Report post Posted February 15, 2006 Hi H does not like reading too much except factual things about animals insects or reptiles, but he loves watching Pokemon Bionicle and recently Power Rangers which was band from the house when he was younger as he would experiment some moves on his peers or his sister. H thinks in picture but does not have enough data to build a book in picture from his brain so he rather like reading fiction with picture or watching video and cartoons, factual things are easier for him has he can put picture (or find them in the book) to understand what is written. Malika. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Malika Report post Posted February 15, 2006 I forgot to add that H absolutly hate any fiction stories based on everyday human social interaction when he has this as part as his test he is unable to relate to it and keep saying "I don't care about that"... Malika. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tez Report post Posted February 15, 2006 Well, A reads both fiction and non-fiction. Although, it's true, that whatever he reads, it focuses around his special interests, mainly sci-fi and fantasy and that he doesn't like having to analyse motivations and character. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bid Report post Posted February 15, 2006 Poo! I think this is another one of those sweeping generalities, like saying you can't have an ASC if you like cuddles or something!! What I do think may be quite AS is what I did as a teenager, and still have to struggle not to do now, which is copy a character's behaviour in a novel Bid Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DaisyFulkirk Report post Posted February 15, 2006 (edited) Now I'm really confused. Just got a booklet from the NAS in which it states that people with ASD's don't like reading fiction. But I do. In fact, I take it to extremes in that I love stories that take place in the past (nineteen sixties is modern to me ) and steer clear of anything that's about modern living (so not keen on Chick Lit, for example. I love the old style detective stories (Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes) because you can usually take a logical approach, or at least an educated guess, at who the murderer is. And I like the old classics because the language is so well formulated and everything seems to well set out. I do like books of trivia, especially when it's set out in lists, but really enjoy reading something like Pride and Prejudice or "The Murder of Roger Acroyd." So is this unusual? I really like fiction, too - I was a huge reader when I was younger, I don't have the label hyperlexic but certainly very fast, faster than any of the other children at primary school. More recently I went through a phase of reading a lot of Agatha Christie, then Dick Francis, I liked the Philip Pullman trilogy a lot when I was a bit younger, and still am a big fan of the Harry Potter books. Generalising on ANYTHING is a bit risky when talking about Autistic people because everybody is so different. The NAS should know that, though. Edited February 15, 2006 by DaisyFulkirk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Viper Report post Posted February 15, 2006 My AS daughter has trouble with fiction. She can't get to grips with the fact it's not real, she tries to understand things as they would be in her world and if the things don't exsist then she can't make sense of it. If you know what I mean. She has only just got the idea that soap operas are fiction and she's 15. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jb1964 Report post Posted February 15, 2006 My daughter loves both. Reads absolutely loads - although with fiction it very often has to be very descriptive rather than a plot - as she usually struggles with that. Although at the moment she's been reading a medieval thriller. She reads loads of magazines too - Simpsons/Horrible History etc - although I have got her to read 'Sneak' which is a teenage kind of gossip mag - which means she gets some insight into the girl talk at school!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Canopus Report post Posted February 15, 2006 This particular comment from the NAS is a load of cr*p - AS people read all sorts of stuff but they may have a preference for reading books about their special interests which will obviously often be non-fiction, in Com's case his love of dragons leads him to read exactly the opposite! Does he like books where dragons get killed or do they upset him? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bullet Report post Posted February 15, 2006 I really like fiction, too - I was a huge reader when I was younger, I don't have the label hyperlexic but certainly very fast, faster than any of the other children at primary school. More recently I went through a phase of reading a lot of Agatha Christie, then Dick Francis, I liked the Philip Pullman trilogy a lot when I was a bit younger, and still am a big fan of the Harry Potter books. Oh my god! This is me! I can't read as much now because of Ds1 and 2 taking up a lot of my time (thank God for DH being home this week), but I used to read loads. And very quickly. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zemanski Report post Posted February 15, 2006 he doesn't seem too bothered, Canopus - in fact he generally likes killing dragons in computer games Z Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Canopus Report post Posted February 15, 2006 Has he ever played The Immortal? On the last level you have to battle with a fire breathing dragon but strangely enough you don't kill it. When you hold up the amulet to the light your boss Mordamir appears. After battling with Mordamir he gives you a lecture on the past. If you cast the magnetic hands spell then the dragon will incinerate Mordamir and the game is won. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
virtualvisual Report post Posted February 15, 2006 Alex is hyperlexic and will read anything and everything, he's been found reading the phone book before now and we have to stop and read any planning permission paperwork if he sees it on a post. Book wise he goes through just about every type of fiction but he does tend to head towards anything sci-fi or fantasy if he can. DH reads on average 6 books a week, mostly crime thrillers, he just can't get his head into anything that isn't based in reality. I end up reading whatever they have left lying around (our house looks more like a storeroom than a library cos theres too many books for the shelves and boxes everywhere) James is the only non-fiction fan and as his reading ability is well behind his age he tends to prefer books with lots of photos (mostly about football or atlas) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lil_me Report post Posted February 15, 2006 (edited) My son doesn't like reading fictional books, I even bought him 'Billy the Squid' thinking oh it's fiction but one of his fave sea creatures, he threw it at me School ones are an issue for us aswell but they have started letting him choose one book himself, always factual and usually on fish (or something that goes in water) or dinosaurs (thankfully got him into these by showing him ones which go in water) and they have had to stop him bringing the same one home every week, 2 weeks max loan for the same book in a row, this means we have a motivator (bribe), read the fiction one first then you can read the factual one All of this was my suggestions, took a while to get school to listen. He's always reading but 99% of the time its factual. Edited February 15, 2006 by lil_me Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kathryn Report post Posted February 15, 2006 Bullet, my daughter used to read incredibly fast too - she could get through a page of print in a minute and tell you the gist of it, although as we now know she was missing some of the subtleties of meaning. I remember she got through HP and the Order of the Phoenix in a couple of hours when it first came out. She used to get into trouble at school whenever silent reading was called for and she would be finished long before anyone else. Teachers didn't believe that she could do this and would inevitably tell her to do it all over again. Has anyone else noticed this "speed reading" phenomenon in their children or themselves? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lancelot Report post Posted February 15, 2006 Kathryn -- Your daughter sounds very like I was as a teenager, and it does have its uses -- I've been an editor, copyeditor and proofreader of various sorts for years now, having taken it on just as a way to pay my rent and write up the old dissertation. It doesn't pay well (might work better if I was more organised about it!) but could be a standby for her as an adult. You can communicate at one stage removed, so it's not too socially stressful. If she's the sort who glances at a page/cereal packet/CD case and immediately spots the spelling mistake in the middle, there are magazines out there that would love her! As for not liking fiction -- just one of those sweeping generalizations, I think. I did, though, come across one website that described 'classical literature, especially Jane Austen' as a typical Aspie obsession for girls. Its other one was furry animals! (Patronising 'them and us' sort of site, I seem to remember.) Ooh look, my infant daughter has come in, put on her pyjamas and fallen asleep on the mat. L xx aka Bad Mother Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kathryn Report post Posted February 15, 2006 Lancelot, That's interesting to hear what you do: it did cross my mind too that proofreading or something similar would be a good job for my daughter. She has always been good at picking out mistakes and can spot a misplaced apostrophe a mile off! Right now though, she's more into art and wants to be a conceptual artist, but as you say, it could be a good standby. Jane Austen now - she read them all at about the age of 12 but used to go on about how "sexist" they were - she couldn't appreciate them in the context of the time in which they were written. (I hope your daughter made it into her own bed eventually! ) K Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lancelot Report post Posted February 15, 2006 Hi Kathryn No, she's still in here, and her middle brother has joined her -- but don't call Social Services, they're peacefully (!) snoring on the camping mats left out from a sleepover last weekend... i might tidy up when everyone's back at school. Art AND an eye for detail sounds like a great combination -- pay the bills with one whilst thinking up the other! The best way into editing is usually to have a specialist subject and proofread/edit that to gain some experience. Very happy to pass on advice if she'd like it, anyhow. Time I stopped hijacking a perfectly good thread on Fiction and went to bed -- there's another sleeping bag over there that looks tempting -- yawn Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tanya Glass Report post Posted February 16, 2006 (edited) As someone put here, a sweeping generalisation, AS like all conditions is about the individual, i cannot not see how you can make an indivudal fit a set of symptons. Anyone who cites someone as having AS becuase they only read non fiction would have to be pretty silly. From my own experience I love to read biography - mainly to work back on my childhood and I am intrigued by those people good or bad out there on a limb - and fiction becuase I love writers like James Herbert, as a writer in my spare time they are an inspiration for me. Sorry to butt in here, just I have had this thrown at me before, I don't like genralisations, people are individuals, I know these things are often not ill meant, but I think it is easy, too easy to forget the person. James Edited February 16, 2006 by Tanya Glass Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bullet Report post Posted February 16, 2006 You are completely right about the generalisations. Blinking NAS! I also like Terry Pratchett'ds Discworlds and I love spotting the parodies in them Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tanya Glass Report post Posted February 16, 2006 (edited) You are completely right about the generalisations. Blinking NAS! I also like Terry Pratchett'ds Discworlds and I love spotting the parodies in them I feel very out of place posting here, just thought I would add my twopenneth for what it is worth. As for NAS, I do not think it is ill meant, it is human nature to understand or quantify things. Increasingly we seem to live in a society of genralisations, so it is no surprise. James Edited February 16, 2006 by Tanya Glass Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zemanski Report post Posted February 16, 2006 (edited) I remember someone (an AS person) actually saying that so many AS people liked Terry pratchett that it should be part of the diagnostic criteria - talk about generalising (might have been Luke Jackson?) my SIL buys me the latest every christmas your twopenneth is very welcome, as are you, James Zemanski Edited February 16, 2006 by Zemanski Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Canopus Report post Posted February 16, 2006 Are there any fiction books that have a computer related theme? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bullet Report post Posted February 16, 2006 I remember someone (an AS person) actually saying that so many AS people liked Terry pratchett that it should be part of the diagnostic criteria - talk about generalising (might have been Luke Jackson?) my SIL buys me the latest every christmas your twopenneth is very welcome, as are you, James Zemanski Everyone likes Terry Pratchett! I think it's wired into people's subconscious Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kathryn Report post Posted February 16, 2006 I've just asked my daughter about Terry Pratchett: she's only read one which she thought was OK, so she's not a big fan. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tanya Glass Report post Posted February 16, 2006 I remember someone (an AS person) actually saying that so many AS people liked Terry pratchett that it should be part of the diagnostic criteria - talk about generalising (might have been Luke Jackson?) my SIL buys me the latest every christmas your twopenneth is very welcome, as are you, James Zemanski Thanks Without wishing to drag up the past I am not ASD - always been different I guess, exceptionally sensitive, very active creative imagination. It is apparent that my brain works in a different way, but it has never stopped me living life, peer group friendship, getting on, relationships, socialising I have always done without any significant probs. I did go to the docs and talk over ASD - just to relieve the pressure on me. I think I come back here out of curiosity and I am interested in people. internet forums are just such fascinating places. Anyway, rambling now. Interesting thread, James Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zemanski Report post Posted February 16, 2006 Have you read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, Canopus? Com loved it. James, it doesn't matter to me why you are here or whether you have AS or not - people can just be interested if they like, every little bit of awareness helps build a better world <'> Zemanski Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TuX Report post Posted February 17, 2006 I never read fiction,have a few non fiction books [suSE admin and user books,ASD/ADHD books],and computer magazines I read. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Canopus Report post Posted February 18, 2006 Can anyone recommend any really good fiction books ideal for kids with AS in the 10 to 16 age group? They can be from any era and don't necessarily have to be written for the adolescent audience in mind. They could officially be adult books. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites