I received my son's results today...

[Jilly]

I am still trying to take it all in. He is 11, and I knew something was going on. I wasn't quite prepared for the results though. 

 

He was diagnosed as being on the spectrum. He is on the border between level 1/level 2. He has a slow processing speed, and he has visual processing deficiency with a significant discrepancy in mathematics reasoning and mathematics calculation. While he tested at an eighth grade level in reading and spelling, for math he tested at a second grade level. He does not have ADD or ADHD, but he does have a great deal of anxiety. 

 

She recommended that he continue with counseling (it was his therapist who referred him for testing), take a social skills class at a local autism center, and for me to consider enrolling him in public school. She was not anti-homeschooling at all, she was just concerned about him getting services for his learning disabilities. 

 

I am not going to put him in school, so that is not an option. I am hoping that one of you may have some ideas in regards to math. Is there any great books or programs out there that he and I could work on? 

 

Also does anyone have any great book recommendations for an older child diagnosed as having ASD. Thanks for any suggestions. 

 

 

[OneStepAtATime]

Well, what has slowly started turning things around here was going way back to basic subitization skills (after DD went all the way through 5th grade not making much  progress in brick and mortar then I floundered trying to help her during homeschool in 6th).  She is now going into 8th and finally is moving forward.  We are nowhere near 8th grade math yet but we ARE moving forward.  

 

You might look at the following:

 

Overcoming Difficulty with Numbers by Ronit Bird

 

How the Brain Learns Mathematics by David Sousa

 

Dynamo Math (British on-line math program)

 

Math U See (hands on math program that many have found success with)

 

You might also read the book My 13th Winter.  It is written by a young woman who struggles with math.  It is not a "this is what helped me learn how to do math" book.  But it did help me to better understand my own child's struggles with math.

 

Hugs.  You are not alone.  Best wishes.

[dtsmamtj]

My son had success with MUS.

[Snow]

I don't have any great advice. Just wishing you all the best as you sort things through.

[Jilly]

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I am off to research all the suggestions. 

[OneStepAtATime]

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I am off to research all the suggestions. 

Good luck!

[Ottakee]

Has he been evaluated by a vision therapist?  that might explain some of the vision issues.

 

Also, treating the anxiety---meds, therapy, or a combo might really help as well.

[kbutton]

We were blindsided too--some people who know him well were totally shocked also, and others were surprised but not shocked.

 

I would consider a COVD evaluation to rule out any ocular motor issues. My son is just finishing up vision therapy for eye-teaming troubles. He was mostly asymptomatic until a few months ago for this problem. It's my understanding that ASD kids frequently have some motor troubles with their eyes.

 

What concerns you about the discrepancy between his conceptual and computation skills in math? Does he seem behind to you in his understanding or just his ability to complete work and calculate accurately? I ask because it makes a difference in the advice--for computation issues, using math fact charts while eventually switching to calculator use is one major approach. Vastly different than going back to Ronit Bird subitizing (which clearly helps if it's applicable to your situation). We use Singapore math, and I let my son use fact charts. He is very strong in conceptual stuff and has a strong preference for word problems. He has a really hard time finishing work in a decent amount of time--if he finished fast, he's usually just made a hash of it and disregarded instructions, etc. If he gets the concepts though, he either gets everything correct or makes only really logical mistakes. 

 

Anxiety may be a huge factor in the math category. Anxiety was paralyzing us the first year homeschooling (he started in a private school). Getting that under control will help you figure out where you are everywhere else. Anxiety heavily influences everything else. Our psych says that anxiety and sensory issues are intertwined, so you might benefit from a thorough occupational therapy eval. We've been told to see someone SIPT certified--I recently found out that SIPT is for kids 9 and under, but a place that is SIPT certified might be more familiar with sensory issues anyway. We are working on this evaluation ourselves, and we looked specifically for a place that will teach him self-regulation.

 

For reading, I would try to assess his ability to understand inferences and work on it if necessary (it's likely to be a big problem). We use Inference Jones by The Critical Thinking company. They have samples online, and while they have a computer program for it, I think having a hardcopy book is better--you can talk about stuff and analyze things together before the computer tells you it's right or wrong. I also found the readings and questions to be unambiguous rather than a curriculum that makes you guess the writer's intent. I would hide the grade level and consider starting with the 3rd and 4th grade stuff. My son (he's ten with high reading level) found the only difference between the 3/4 level and the 5/6 level to be the length and reading difficulty of the passages. The inferences were not easier or harder in either level. You son is likely to also have trouble going forward with figurative language, expressions, etc. He might need to work to understand character development in literature--you can work on this with books at or below his reading level to give him a leg up later when he gets to more intense literature. I'm trying to put together a list of short stories so that I can tackle these things with my son without getting totally bogged down in a big novel. We are using The Reader's Handbook for ideas for this, but you might find other resources that do a great job of this. 

 

For further reading...

http://www.amazon.com/Kids-Syndrome-Aspergers-Tourettes-Bipolar/dp/1843108119

http://www.amazon.com/Aspergers-Rules-Sense-School-Friends/dp/1433811278/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408726591&sr=1-2&keywords=survival+guide+for+kids+with+autism+spectrum+disorders

http://www.amazon.com/Survival-Autism-Spectrum-Disorders-Parents-ebook/dp/B00AYULEVK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408726591&sr=1-1&keywords=survival+guide+for+kids+with+autism+spectrum+disorders 

 

The last book is on the younger side, but my son who is ten, gifted, and has an 8th grade/high school reading level likes it just fine. You can never tell with these kiddos--their taste is their own, that's for sure!

 

Social Thinking is highly recommended for social skills. I am currently trying to find the best way through this problem. I tend to be kind of jaded about human behavior and the lack of consistency, so I am clearly not the best teacher for my son in this area. I'm hoping to get some tutoring in this area with this curriculum or another reputable source. I hear groups are wonderful if you can find the right group.

[Jilly]

Has he been evaluated by a vision therapist?  that might explain some of the vision issues.

 

Also, treating the anxiety---meds, therapy, or a combo might really help as well.

 

He has not been evaluated yet, but that is on my list. He is in therapy for the anxiety, but we haven't tried meds yet. He has only been in therapy for about six weeks, so hopefully he will have some success the longer he is in. 

 

We were blindsided too--some people who know him well were totally shocked also, and others were surprised but not shocked.

 

I would consider a COVD evaluation to rule out any ocular motor issues. My son is just finishing up vision therapy for eye-teaming troubles. He was mostly asymptomatic until a few months ago for this problem. It's my understanding that ASD kids frequently have some motor troubles with their eyes.

 

What concerns you about the discrepancy between his conceptual and computation skills in math? Does he seem behind to you in his understanding or just his ability to complete work and calculate accurately? I ask because it makes a difference in the advice--for computation issues, using math fact charts while eventually switching to calculator use is one major approach. Vastly different than going back to Ronit Bird subitizing (which clearly helps if it's applicable to your situation). We use Singapore math, and I let my son use fact charts. He is very strong in conceptual stuff and has a strong preference for word problems. He has a really hard time finishing work in a decent amount of time--if he finished fast, he's usually just made a hash of it and disregarded instructions, etc. If he gets the concepts though, he either gets everything correct or makes only really logical mistakes. 

 

Anxiety may be a huge factor in the math category. Anxiety was paralyzing us the first year homeschooling (he started in a private school). Getting that under control will help you figure out where you are everywhere else. Anxiety heavily influences everything else. Our psych says that anxiety and sensory issues are intertwined, so you might benefit from a thorough occupational therapy eval. We've been told to see someone SIPT certified--I recently found out that SIPT is for kids 9 and under, but a place that is SIPT certified might be more familiar with sensory issues anyway. We are working on this evaluation ourselves, and we looked specifically for a place that will teach him self-regulation.

 

For reading, I would try to assess his ability to understand inferences and work on it if necessary (it's likely to be a big problem). We use Inference Jones by The Critical Thinking company. They have samples online, and while they have a computer program for it, I think having a hardcopy book is better--you can talk about stuff and analyze things together before the computer tells you it's right or wrong. I also found the readings and questions to be unambiguous rather than a curriculum that makes you guess the writer's intent. I would hide the grade level and consider starting with the 3rd and 4th grade stuff. My son (he's ten with high reading level) found the only difference between the 3/4 level and the 5/6 level to be the length and reading difficulty of the passages. The inferences were not easier or harder in either level. You son is likely to also have trouble going forward with figurative language, expressions, etc. He might need to work to understand character development in literature--you can work on this with books at or below his reading level to give him a leg up later when he gets to more intense literature. I'm trying to put together a list of short stories so that I can tackle these things with my son without getting totally bogged down in a big novel. We are using The Reader's Handbook for ideas for this, but you might find other resources that do a great job of this. 

 

For further reading...

http://www.amazon.com/Kids-Syndrome-Aspergers-Tourettes-Bipolar/dp/1843108119

http://www.amazon.com/Aspergers-Rules-Sense-School-Friends/dp/1433811278/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408726591&sr=1-2&keywords=survival+guide+for+kids+with+autism+spectrum+disorders

http://www.amazon.com/Survival-Autism-Spectrum-Disorders-Parents-ebook/dp/B00AYULEVK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408726591&sr=1-1&keywords=survival+guide+for+kids+with+autism+spectrum+disorders

 

The last book is on the younger side, but my son who is ten, gifted, and has an 8th grade/high school reading level likes it just fine. You can never tell with these kiddos--their taste is their own, that's for sure!

 

Social Thinking is highly recommended for social skills. I am currently trying to find the best way through this problem. I tend to be kind of jaded about human behavior and the lack of consistency, so I am clearly not the best teacher for my son in this area. I'm hoping to get some tutoring in this area with this curriculum or another reputable source. I hear groups are wonderful if you can find the right group.

 

Thanks for all the information, especially for the suggested reading. 

 

In regards to math he gets the big ideas, but he has trouble with the steps required. For instance he understands multiplication and division but when it is a multi-step problem, such as 3256 X 7248, he gets overwhelmed with all the steps. He also never seemed to get his math facts down which holds him back some. He told me during the test he didn't do any of the problems that would take numerous steps because it overwhelmed him. I am not sure if it is his anxiety or his processing issues, but there is something going on there that is causing him some problems. 

[Guest]

.

[Heathermomster]

He has not been evaluated yet, but that is on my list. He is in therapy for the anxiety, but we haven't tried meds yet. He has only been in therapy for about six weeks, so hopefully he will have some success the longer he is in. 

 

 

Thanks for all the information, especially for the suggested reading. 

 

In regards to math he gets the big ideas, but he has trouble with the steps required. For instance he understands multiplication and division but when it is a multi-step problem, such as 3256 X 7248, he gets overwhelmed with all the steps. He also never seemed to get his math facts down which holds him back some. He told me during the test he didn't do any of the problems that would take numerous steps because it overwhelmed him. I am not sure if it is his anxiety or his processing issues, but there is something going on there that is causing him some problems. 

Try to get the anxiety worked out because it affects all learning.  

 

I think that the RB book Overcoming Difficulty with Number would benefit your DS.  My DS with maths disability but is not ASD, uses lattice multiplication for numbers like above.  We gave up trying the traditional steps, and he is now correct almost 100% of the time.  Pick and choose your math battles carefully.  Maybe look at math books and the blog by James Tanton.  He's brilliant and I appreciate his work now more than ever.

 

I agree with the others about seeking an OT and COVD assessment.  Good luck!

 

 

[kbutton]

In regards to math he gets the big ideas, but he has trouble with the steps required. For instance he understands multiplication and division but when it is a multi-step problem, such as 3256 X 7248, he gets overwhelmed with all the steps. He also never seemed to get his math facts down which holds him back some. He told me during the test he didn't do any of the problems that would take numerous steps because it overwhelmed him. I am not sure if it is his anxiety or his processing issues, but there is something going on there that is causing him some problems. 

 

We found that anxiety influences this, but steps and sequencing are always a bit of a problem even without the anxiety. It shows up in math the most, but it shows up in all of life if I look closely enough. Some people make checklists for math problems, but I do think that checking into other algorithms (like lattice multiplying) is reasonable and may help a great deal. 

 

I forgot to mention that my son retains his x and division facts better when we do thinks like factoring vs. drilling.

 

For division, we started with partial quotient methods (you can find videos about that). This is another possible help: http://www.rainbowresource.com/proddtl.php?id=025280

 

We also found this math reference (it comes in an apps format also): http://www.prufrock.com/Math-Dictionary-for-Kids-The-Essential-Guide-to-Math-Terms-Strategies-and-Tables-4th-ed-P2089.aspx

 

He's not too old to benefit from some of the videos on Education Unboxed (free). They use c-rods, which can really help visual kids. Alternatively, he may be able to draw some of the concepts if you don't have c-rods.

[Jilly]

Thanks everyone for all the wonderful advice. I am still trying to take it all in, but thanks to all of you I have so many wonderful resources now to draw from. The recommendation after the testing was to put him in public school so he would receive support for some of these problems. I have no intention of doing that as I believe it would create a whole new set of problems. As I work through this new school year on my own, I am so glad I have this board for support and for ideas. Thanks again. 

[OneStepAtATime]

Thanks everyone for all the wonderful advice. I am still trying to take it all in, but thanks to all of you I have so many wonderful resources now to draw from. The recommendation after the testing was to put him in public school so he would receive support for some of these problems. I have no intention of doing that as I believe it would create a whole new set of problems. As I work through this new school year on my own, I am so glad I have this board for support and for ideas. Thanks again. 

Best wishes.  And huge hugs.  Just take your time.  Read through. Do the research.  There have been many days when I had to just step back, take a deep breath (or several hundred deep breaths :) ) and try to come at this whole process from a state of rest, not stress, KWIM?  Good luck!

[SandyKC]

Additions for your consideration: Reflex Math, Hands-On Equations, and Touch Math, depending upon the specific skills you'd like for your DS to work on.  Using Reflex Math in addition to a standard curriculum program can really enhance math fluency, which in turn, can enhance working speed and confidence.  

 

OneStep's advice to take your time and do the research is invaluable.  It's a lot to take in when you get new evaluation results and have to research different avenues that might help.  Resting in confidence that at least now you know can help bring a certain level of peace about where you are.  

I'm glad for your son too that you won't put him in public school.  Talk about increasing issues with anxiety--public school often does that to kids who are on the spectrum with anxiety.  Maybe knowing the key issues to work on will help lessen the anxiety too.  

 

HUGS!