Hmm...what is this???
Find a Conversation
Hmm...what is this???
| Wed, 10-24-2007 - 5:33pm |
As many of you know, our ten year old Aspie is really struggling with writing assignments this year.
| Wed, 10-24-2007 - 5:33pm |
As many of you know, our ten year old Aspie is really struggling with writing assignments this year.
Pages
Hi Amy,
Thats part of Chris's problem too.
Amy,
Amy,
What happens if you read the story it to him? Can he tell you anything about it then?
If he can, then it is some probably kind of issue with visual input. If not, it may be a deeper issue.
-Paula
visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
Amy, what you've described is text-book hyperlexia: the ability to decode sound/value related symbols without the ability to internalize (comprehend) the context (meaning) of the symbols. It's a reading disorder that is almost as common among ASDs as dyslexia.
This sounds like a pretty severe case though, and I have to wonder why the schools didn't catch it before this? There are reading therapies available for it though. It just depends on how your district handles such things.
~C
Hhmm...Nathan can't tell me about a story either.
Lainie-
Amy,
I don't have any advice but just wanted to say congrats on the baby.
Teresa
This is a very very typical aspie problem. They unfortunately don't comprehend up to the level they can decode just like Candes said.
Curious, can he answer visual questions about things he has read? Either in multiple choice or fill in the blank?
Open ended questions are much easier for ASD kids. It is possible this was not caught before because the vast majority of comprehension questions are very concrete and often in a fill in the blank or multiple choice. THey are also offered visually. I am guessing you asked all these questions verbally which is another typically tough thing for our kids.
Do me a favor, when he is not stressed over this, have him read a small exerpt or story and make a short multi choice quiz and see how he does.
There are a number of supports and accommodations that can help him with this including some assistive technology. There are some great software program suites that would help that your district should have available but you need to know exactly where this is breaking down for him. I have some ideas but need more info.
I am thinking it could be a combination or one of the following:
1) comprehension particularly inferencing- If any of those questions involved inferencing (making conclusions based on information given) it would have been tough. for instance if the boy had mentioned wantig to shovel drive ways and wanting to start his own business you would have to infer the business was snow shoveling.
2) Memory and Recall (short term)-VERY common problem for kids with executive function/organizational skills problem which is basically all Aspies. They have to hold the information in their short term memory and pull it back out to make comparisons, etc. As kids get older they read longer and longer material. It is possible that he is having a harder time retaining all the pertinent information over the longer reading material. It wasn't picked up earlier because he could compensate for shorter readings.
3) THe way the questions were presented. Book reports are too friggen open ended for our kids. If you are asking him the information verbally and he is already stressed over this material it is likely he cannot recall it. Cait is forever telling me she doesn't know stuff she does when under stress. It literally leaks out of her brain I swear to god. That is why I am wondering if he can do it with multiple choice or fill in the blank.
That is long enough for now. For writing papers there are a variety of graphic organizers he can use. He also can do fill ins and multichoice to help accomodate for whatever is the difficulty.
Check out SOLO software programs. When I get into a different computer I can send a link but you may be able to do a search. In particular I am thinking of "Draftbuilder".
Oh also you can get a free trial of Inspiration software. This would likely work great for him and he could likely get a copy from school. It does a visual map and then turns that into an outline to help write a paper.
Get an assistive tech assessment for him as well. Then they could provide these to you at home as well as at school and train him how to use them.
Wow Renee, that's a lot of info.
If he has an alphasmart then he already has some assistive tech services making it a bit easier to get more maybe.
Assistive tech is a WAY bigger PITA than it should be. I have been fighting for it forever with my kids too and even when you get it, it is nearly impossible to get them to implement properly but our AT dude is useless.
I am lucky in that I have had some of this stuff at home due to John's work license on many of these programs.
My thought, get the demo of inspiration from their website and see if it helps him to write reports, etc. If it does help him see then if you can get it through the district. Get as much data as you can to prove it is essential to his writing reports. That may help.
Many schools use Inspiration and not always just for kids with special needs or assistive tech so if you ask around it may be available for him.
Pages