TV with Subtitles

[Stephanie]

My 5 year old is only ever interested in watching anything on TV or DVD that has subtitles. He doesn't want to watch programmes that don't have them.

 

For the last couple of years, he really hasn't been interested in TV at all, but since he found what fun he can get out of the Sky remote control and using subtitles and audio description, he is really getting into it. He is also copying a lot more of the things he hears (echolia) from using the subtitles.

 

He has been able to read since he was two and has always been fascinated by the written word, I have posted on here before about the possibility of him being hyperlexic.

 

I know sometimes he takes a while to process things that are said verbally to him and I think he may process the text more quickly?

 

Can anyone shed any light on this? Will this go away?

[Valiant_Skylark]

I have only one ear that works and the other is variable so we always have subtitles on where they are available.

 

All the family now listens to the TV and DVDs with subtitles and on mono rather than stereo as a matter of choice, as otherwise they admit that they seem to "miss a lot".

 

As you mention, there are all sorts of subtitling and audio description that can be found on DVDs, for example, and my boys have used these to make more sense of the stories and to learn about all sorts of things (eg types of accompanying music) that would otherwise have passed them by. Narnia was watched at the cinema and I'm sure they understood just a small fraction of what they subsequently understood by watching the DVD with subtitles, hearing impaired, audiodescription etc In fact, they watched it at home several times as the audio description was brilliant for describing the facial expressions and emotions that the young actors and actresses were portraying.

 

I've found all this an invaluable aid to learning and I won't, personally, be looking to wean any of us off it. My boys can even spell better because of subtitling - and have realised how often they mis-hear names and the like.

 

Who cares what medium one uses to learn the information so long as it is a successful method? Call it flexible, innovative teaching instead!

 

VS xx

Edited August 26, 2006 by Valiant_Skylark

[Brook]

Hi Stephanie,

 

I have always been interested in hyperlexia, I was astounded by the many similarities to my

7yr old ASD son and it has always been in the back of my mind, I'm not saying that I think he is

hyperlexic and not ASD, but I strongly suspect that hyperlexia is a co-morbid.

 

He too went through a phase of putting the subtitles on when watching the box, many a time I

walked into the room and sat down and watched a whole programme with subtitles without

realising that they weren't actually on the programme.

 

My son is very verbal but has huge difficulties with language, especially understanding receptive

language, he also has difficulty word finding etc...

His reading astounds me, also his comprehension of what he is reading is now progressing very

well, I borrowed a book from the SALT called 'inferential reading comprehension' and I am

AMAZED just how much that book helped.

 

I personally would say that the subtitles will most likely go away in due course, but at the moment

they could well be a very useful tool, if your son has language difficulties , then using

the subtitles makes the language visual which in turn will help his language understanding to improve,

as he will have three clues going on.. the picture and actions..the speaking.. and the reading of the

subtitles.

My son still puts the subtitles on now and again, but I've noticed he normally does this when it's

a new dvd, maybe it helps him the first time he watches it.

 

I remember him watching one of his dvd's in chinese subtitles not sure if he understood it but

I wouldn't put it past him.

 

Brook

Edited August 27, 2006 by Brook

[JenRose]

Hi stephanie

As a child i developed an obsession with subtitles and every now and then i put them on.

 

To me i liked to see what the person was going to say and then hear it or vice versa.

 

My dad sometimes has the subtitles on (we suspect he has AS like me)

 

HTH

[UltraMum]

J always has the subtitles on - he seems to be able to follow the programme better with them on - sometimes I feel that the dialogue tells the story but he doesn't catch the drift whereas the subtitles are slightly simplified and also sometimes have the emotions etc spelt out ...

 

J was reading letters at age 12-18 months - I've often wondered about hyperlexia ...

[mbrown]

My 12 year old boy watches his programmes and DVDs with the subtitles on, and he too often has the foreign subtitles up instead of english. he also displays the time counter. I don't actually know if he is reading them or not. he doesn't mind not having subtitles on when we are viewing something together.

 

He can't explain why he likes to watch TV this way. Hyperlexia sounds interesting. I will look into that more. Here is an extract from Wikipedia re: Hyperlexia. Mike

 

Hyperlexia often coexists with high functioning autism or Asperger syndrome. Hyperlexia is not seen as a separate diagnosis; however, with current fMRI research revealing that hyperlexia affects the brain in a way completely opposite to that of dyslexia, a separate diagnosis may be on the horizon.

[bramblebrae]

Hi I've been interested in hyperlexia too. My son has been reading since 2yo and taught himself basically, thing is he does seem to understand everything he is reading too though I suppose he can read harder words which he dosen't yet know the exact meaning of. He choses to read books about 3 yrs beyond his age and shows good understanding of the story or facts. Anyway here is the link to the american hyperlexia association - I've not been on for awhile and I think it's not being maintained at the moment but there are some good articles - I remember quite a good one to hand to teachers teaching a child with hyperlexia- it seemed to me just the advice you would give to teaching someone with an ASD but it had some good points to it.

 

http://www.hyperlexia.org/

 

Oh on the NAS earlybird course it mentions hyperlexia very briefly just saying what it is and that its a comorbid (sp?) with ASD whenever I've mentioned it to clinical psych she just raises her eyebrows- I don't think it is viewed as an actual diagnosis itself and TBH I'm not sure if it should unless the child has absoluetly no other indicators of AS/D IMO.

 

take care

Lorraine

 

ps we always have subtitles on cause my video was #### and I taped alot off sky for me folks which they either couldnt hear or couldn't see, both wouldn't work at once (sensory overload? ) so they took the seeing and reading option - I've a dvd recorder now instead which usually works much better but I left the subs on anyway incase I'm watching late or trying to watch something with Stephen in the background(hardly ever bother though) as he talks to himself constantly- I only watch recorded programs as I get interrupted at least 10 times trying to watch a 30min show. Stephen likes the subtitles but gets a bit annoyed and obessed really with all the mistakes the subtitlers have made!!

 

pps tip: don't watch a repeat of deal or no deal with the subtitles on the blinking money they had won comes up before Noel's opened the box.

[Stephanie]

There is a book called Babies That Read ... about hyperlexia. Brilliant!! Children that show signs (self taught to read, fascinated by the written word, alphabet etc) need to be educated slightly differently and the book tells how. They are using it at my sons school.

 

My son understands everything he reads too but I would still say he is hyperlexic. He doesn't read phonetically like c-a-t and never has. He just somehow taught himself by looking at lots of books. He reads way above his 5 years but doesn't like books with too much text that will take a long time to read.

 

On the freaky things they do ... when my son was 2 years 7 months, he couldn't write very well but could read. We were in town once and used a public loo. As soon as we got in, my child picked up a pen and got some paper and wrote perfectly "Please Use The Nappy Bins Provided" and came running in to me reading it ... "Please Use the Nappy Bins Provided". He had seen it written on a sign in the toilet and had somehow taken a mental picture of it, he had copied the letters font perfect.

 

I will continue to let him use teletext as it seems to be making him bet more "buy in" to what he watching.

[butterflycake]

My wee son whos 3 flaps his arms very excitedly when he sees subtitles and stands up close to the telly an trys to touch them. He has low functioning autism and is nonverbal.

[Valiant_Skylark]

My ASD son was at a Montessori nursery aged 2. The staff refused to let him move on and up within the nursery school's class structure when they failed to be able to tick all the sensori-motor boxes and thought he was shy... which was why they thought they never heard him talk. He never did talk much after about 18 months, at home or anywhere else (until much later).

 

Imagine their consternation when I pointed out that he could actually read well already - even when he couldn't talk, write or draw! I got the staff to write various words and phrases on cards and to lay them out on a table. Small son was able to pick out all the correct answers, by picking them up, to their questions... very easily.

 

Although he "read" very early, my son went on to have some of the visual problems associated with dyslexia and now prefers to read large print versions of books if poss. Now, age 11, he is reading LoTR and reads widely and for fun.

 

One EP did spot that my son can decode words and "read" texts well above his "age", but hasn't always got a clue what he has read if the gap is too large!

 

Many people I have met who have had children who were early and competent readers say that the gap narrows as the child gets older - the others catch up. It must be very difficult to have a child who can decode words and text but then cannot understand meaning at all. I have heard of one such child, who is now 6. I only hope he can crack the meaning bit.

 

vs xx