Progress with son!

Post Reply New Topic

Hello,

I have 2 sons with Asperger's - aged 9 and 7. My oldest picked up reading and writing easily. In fact he has always been top of his class in reading and writing (and maths and science).

However, my 7 year old had a terrible first year of school with multiple meltdowns and behavioural problems. He's in grade 2 now and has struggled with reading and writing due to anxiety (he is extremely intelligent).

We've had his IEP in place for a few months and he's had 3 months with the psychologist. He is now happy and rarely meltsdown.

So his reading his coming along well - YAY!.

He has been refusing to write because of his poor handwriting and anxiety re not knowing the spelling.

However today, he insisted on writing the shopping list. He didn't want help with the spelling - just did his best. Here is the result. I think he did a great job.

My favourites - he spelt 'tuna' 'choona' (that's how Aussies say it!) 'cucumber' is 'qkumbu'. He's obviously 'getting' phonetics.



Helen

WELL DONE UBBYUBBYUBBY!

I could read every word!

That made my day. Thanks, Helen, for sharing.

I'd say that's a keeper.

Kids will write when they're READY! When they are pushed, it is damaging and takes extra long. When will the educators finally realize this? Writing is natural and kids will pick it up but not always in Kindergarten! For goodness sakes they should be learning how to be away from mom and dad all day not how to do a math worksheet or write in a journal!

What are we doing? It's tragic, really. Kids are marked as LD, behavior problems--you name it--because they are not developmentally ready to hold a pen/pencil and WRITE. Reading--the same.

Some kids won't read or write until they're 7 or 8. As long as they're exposed to learning and literacy, they will catch on when it's their time.

My son, too, did NOT want to write ina journal--ridiculous. He became anxious and would run from the room because he wasn't meeting the expectations of the teacher. It was a nightmare. Well, he's a perfectionist and he simply wasn't ready to write words he didn't know how to spell. It wasn't good enough to just throw something down on the page. Maybe at home, playing--sure. How come a veteran teacher didn't realize this and I did? I teach hs. Don't place too much faith in the wisdom of the educators. Do your homework and trust your instincts.

Chin up. You've got a bright boy. Let him take his time. Insist upon it!

equinn

That is so cool! And Yay for phonetics My son has fine motor issues, too, and wants to write but has a hard time keeping at it. His occupational therapist spent most of last year just helping him hold the pencil correctly and apply the right amount of pressure. He just started first grade coming out of a kindergarden program which actually encouraged phonetic writing. I loved that because it cut down on frustration and got the kids to focus on what they could do. His favorite thing is to make various 'keep out' type posters for his bedroom door

The shopping list looks great!

My son is in kindergarten and just learning to write...I'm amazed at the pressure that is placed on these kids at such a young age. Is a 5 year old's handwriting SUPPOSED to be perfect?

What's goofy is that during my son's SpEd eligability review at the end of last year, the OT therapist made sure to mention in her report that he was "told by his teacher and his mom" that it was ok not to form letters exactly to method... as though that's some kind of horrendous travesty! Around here they're teaching a method of printing that's supposed to make cursive easier down the line. I, myself, could give a flying yingy what his writing looks like as long as I can read it. I just think it's cool that he's willing to try and that he understands the bigger picture of what he can accomplish by learning to read and write.

Just a suggestion...and geez, I don't even know if they exist anymore...but, all through school my handwriting was horrible...I was told by teachers one too many times to type my assignments/research papers, because they could not understand them. I took architecture in high school and we had some "lettering templates" that we constantly used for our drawings...All uppercase, but that's what was used in floor plans, etc...by using these constantly, my handwriting improved dramatically...within a couple of years, I was instead getting complemented on my handwriting. When I write it looks like the letters on a floor plan, but it is very nice writing as opposed to what it was before. I have never again really used cursive writing, but nobody seems to care, not even after 18 years at my job.

Anyway, just thought I'd suggest it.

Oh dear Hexel, I think I'm going to have to call a Social Worker.

Whatamess, thanks for your advice. At this stage I'm happy that he's writing .... this is something to consider in the future.

It's funny, a lot of male engineers I know write in all uppercase ....... hmmm ..... maybe they're Aspies too!

Helen

This is great, Helen. To be honest with you Z's writing still doesn't look much better than this. He does great typing when we can get him to focus on the task, he would rathe just talk. As has already been said and you already know encourag him but don't force it, it will come when he is ready.

I really do love it though.

Corsarzs

Wait.... his handwritings better then mine!... showoff! lol.

Our grandson must have the same teacher

His spelling looks the same....(he is going into 2nd grade too) and it's so precious that they want to do sooo well!

Last night we were reading...he struggles with each word, but he tried something on his own and it thrilled him that he was reading like everyone else....what he did was try to read in his mind, without verbally sounding out each letter....then he came back and read the line lickity split! He was astonished!

NB: Before I was 3, I did not speak... I also had an odd way of spelling (phonetically). That could be an early form of AS ?

I spelled truck as TAK (and mercedes as mepebep)... There are others.... Now, I can't stop talking. But, I have, since then, spelled words normally.

I hope this helps. (i.e. that with age and time , spelling will go normal)

NB: My handwriting is not perfect, but as we say scientists / doctors often have an unclear handwriting.

Is your son a leftie?