MamaSheep Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 And how do I make it STICK?! After all the posting I've been doing lately about ds's Aspie writing issues, last Friday he VOLUNTARILY cranked out a half page of outlining. He had started explaining to me how to defeat a 'boss' in one of his video games. He was doing it in such a structured fashion "step one, make sure you're wearing the metal boots" that I thought on the spur of the moment it might make for a good quick review of all that outlining we so painstakingly worked our way through last year (we went over the general concept of outlining step by laborious step several times, and I dragged him through a number of paragraphs with me doing most of the writing). I grabbed a sheet of paper and jotted down what he was saying as he went. When he was done, I showed him the page and chatted him through a quick review of outlining. He then actually ASKED me if he could write an outline for how to defeat boss number 2 in that game instead of doing his dictation for the day (he's been doing ok with short dictations this year, but he shuts down if he has to think what to write). Um...sure, ok, I nonchalantly agreed...whatever. (ASKING? To WRITE?) And then he wrote up a half page outline explaining the steps. He even made a couple of notations on my outline. Ok, well so I thought that was pretty much a fluke. They happen sometimes. So then he was sick over the weekend and I let him skip school Monday and Tuesday. But TODAY! Today, he asked me AGAIN if he could skip dictation and instead write an outline for boss nubmer 3. Gee, lemme think...yeah, I guess so, ok. THEN he asked if he could skip his lit reading (which he is ahead on anyway) if he did an outline for the next boss. He wrote an entire page. An. Entire. Page. I had to check outside to make sure the earth had not stopped spinning and the sky was still blue. He says he wants to do outlines for one boss each day until he gets to the end of the game. Holy tamole! I wonder if that will actually happen. I've given him the go-ahead, though, so we'll see. If not, no biggie, we'll just go back to doing dictations for a while. But either way, this is tremendous! A whole entire page of VOLUNTARY writing that is organized, legible, and cohesive. Knock. Me. Over. With. A. Feather. I just had to share. That is all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Celebrate, celebrate!! You've found the magic key: working with obsessions! The drawback: you might have this kind of writing going on every day until you are ready to scream because it's always the same! I will join you when you reach that point; my daughter writes (and talks and breathes and lives for) ONLY things related to Star Trek. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SproutMamaK Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 ROFL! I can COMPLETELY picture my son doing this. Nothing gets him excited like a good video game boss. Hm, maybe I should offer him this option.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elise1mds Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Woohoo!!!! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jensway Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 That is great! :hurray::party: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happygrrl Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Woo Woo!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSheep Posted February 11, 2010 Author Share Posted February 11, 2010 Celebrate, celebrate!! You've found the magic key: working with obsessions! The drawback: you might have this kind of writing going on every day until you are ready to scream because it's always the same! I will join you when you reach that point; my daughter writes (and talks and breathes and lives for) ONLY things related to Star Trek. Lol...well, at this point I'll take what I can get. I've tried working the obsessions before, and it has never gone over well. In fact, it's been worse than if I just assign some random topic because if I pick one of his obsessions he feels like I'm intruding on sacred ground or something and gets very defensive. I do suspect that I will get lots of video game outlines for a while (assuming this even keeps up), but at least he plays a wide variety of games so it won't all be the same game...hee hee. And if I can get him feeling like writing an outline of ANYTHING is routine, that is unbelievable progress for this kid. He not only has Aspie issues about writing, he also has some PTSD type issues about it left over from his public school days. It has really been our very biggest hurdle. I'm feeling giddy. Also, I'm feeling like it can't last. But if it does, once it becomes routine to outline I will start walking him through writing a sentence, and then a paragraph from the outline. Wouldn't THAT be something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zootle Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 Wow can I relate. The only thing mine gets excited about is rifles, pistols, and WWII. Guess what I am getting to learn about. Cindy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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