Home-School Reading Study Parent Questionnaire
Thank you for considering doing this questionnaire. It should only take you about 10 minutes to complete and your answers will be extremely useful. They will help me to understand how you support your child’s learning at home and what the school can do to help you further. If you have any questions or concerns about this questionnaire, or would like help to fill it in, please contact me via the school office.
Thank you, Rachel Walker (Doctoral Student Researcher and Senior Assistant Head, Cherrycroft School)
Section 1: Information about you and your family
1. Parent/carer’s name (the person who is filling in this questionnaire) and relationship to child: Mother, stepmother or female guardian
Father, stepfather or male guardian Other (please specify)
Name:
2. Name of child who attends School: ___________________________________________ 3. Do any other children live in your house? Yes No [please circle]
If Yes, how many? ______________ What are the ages of the children? ___________________ 4. What is the main language that you speak with your child / children?
English Another language [please specify] _____________________________ 5. Your employment status: [please tick one box only]
Employed for more than 20 hours a week Employed for 20 hours a week or less Unemployed
Economically inactive (looking after family, student, disabled retired, etc.) 6. What is your highest educational qualification? [please tick one box only]
No educational qualifications
GCSEs or ‘O’ levels (D, or E) or BTEC Introductory Diploma
GCSEs or ‘O’ Levels (C grade or above) or BTEC First Diploma; C&G Level 2
‘A’ or ‘AS’ levels or BTEC National Diploma or Extended Certificate Certificate of Higher education
Diploma of Higher Education or Foundation degree
Bachelor degrees, graduate certificates and diplomas; BTEC Advanced Professional Diplomas, Certificates and Awards
MA, PhD, PGCE or Advanced professional awards, certificates and diplomas Other (please specify)___________________________
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Section 2: Reading experiences in your home
7. In a typical week, how much time do you usually spend reading for yourself at home, including books, e-books, magazines, newspapers, religious texts and materials for work?
Less than one hour a week 1 – 5 hours a week
6 – 10 hours a week More than 10 hours a week
8. Please indicate how much you agree with the following statements about reading: [please tick one box per row]
Strongly Agree Agree a little Disagree a little Strongly Disagree Too hard to say I read only if I have to
I like talking about books with other people
I like to spend my spare time reading I read only if I need information Reading is an important activity in my home
Section 3: Your child with autism’s reading (or pre-reading) ability
9. How often does your child with autism do the following? [please tick one box per row] A lot A bit Hardly
ever
Never Too hard to
say Notice or look at printed words in the
environment Watch others reading
Listen to an audiobook or story read aloud Show an interest in a range of books
Show an interest in specific books (e.g. picture books, information books, story books) Look at favoured book or reading material on their own
Look at digital texts (e.g. on the computer, on a tablet, on a phone)
Read aloud (either individual words, phrases or whole sentences) to someone else
Look at a book or other reading material with someone else (sharing)
Try to join in with well-known stories/rhymes/songs
Look for specific words or images in books or reading material
Play word or reading related games (with game pieces or on the computer)
156 10. How often does your child with autism use the following to communicate with you at home? [please
tick one box per row]
A lot A bit Hardly ever
Never Too hard to
say Verbal language
(single words and short phrases) Verbal language
(longer phrases and sentences)
Verbal sounds and approximations of words Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS): single symbol level
Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS): sentence level
Makaton signs
Gesture and physical interaction Other [please specify]
11. How well does your autistic child know or do the following? [please tick one box per row]
12. If someone in the home does reading activities with your autistic child, who is it on most occasions? [please tick one]
Mother, stepmother or female guardian Father, stepfather or male guardian Other (please specify)
Very well Quite well Not very well Not at all Too hard to say Recognise symbols/pictures that are important to
him/her
Recognise letters or words that are important to him/her
Match some words to pictures Find words/pictures when asked Read some familiar words aloud Read phrases or sentences aloud Know the sounds of the letters
Use phonics (letter sounds) to work out unknown words
Break words into smaller chunks to help work out unknown words
Use pictures to work out unknown words Understand/ make sense of what s/he had read Follow a story/information which someone else reads to him/her
Treat books appropriately/with care
Hold books/reading devices the right way up Turn pages correctly
157 13. How often does the main reader do reading activities (e.g. looking at books together and/or reading
words) with your autistic child? [please tick one] Every day or almost every day
Once or twice a week Once or twice a month Never or almost never
14. When the main reader is engaged with your autistic child, how long do they spend reading together?
Less than 1 minute Less than 5 minutes Between 5 – 10 minutes More than 10 minutes
Section 4: Your feelings about reading with your child/children
15. How confident do you feel in supporting your autistic child to learn to read? [please tick one] Extremely confident
Very confident Quite confident A little confident Not confident at all
16. If you have other non-autistic children, how confident do/did you feel in supporting them to learn to read?
Extremely confident Very confident Quite confident A little confident Not confident at all
17. What do you think of your autistic child’s school?
Strongly Agree Agree a little Disagree a little Strongly Disagree Too hard to say School includes me in my child’s education
School should make a greater effort to include me in my child’s education School cares about my child’s progress in school
School does a good job in helping my child become better in reading
I understand how my autistic child is taught reading at School
158 18. How do you feel about supporting your child with autism to learn to read? [please tick one box]
19. If you do not do reading activities with your autistic child, what are the main reasons?
_____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire. Your responses will be treated confidentially.
Please return to Rachel Walker, Senior Assistant Headteacher, by Wednesday 18th September, 2013
Strongly Agree Agree a little Disagree a little Strongly Disagree Too hard to say Teaching my autistic child to read should be
done entirely by the school
Teaching my autistic child to read should be shared between teachers and parents I try to support my autistic child in developing reading skills at home I would like to be more involved with the school in learning more about supporting my autistic child in their reading
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