What do I do with my Aspergers son? Long – would love ideas. TIA

[motherdear]

My Asperger's son is finishing eighth grade this week. Honestly, I'd like to hold him back a year, but instead we're going to delve into high school at a slow pace. He's just finishing Teaching Textbook 7 (not quite mastery, but perhaps a C+ average and will be starting pre-algebra right away through the summer) I mentioned to him that he would probably take five years to finish high school (to avoid discouraging him about repeating a grade).

 

He completed Apologia General Science this year, minus the testing. I really doubt he retained very much of the information. He lacks the ability to think abstractly, so most of his books have to be explained to him (again and again and again), making him very dependent on me. My husband and I don't see college and his future at this point, and we're trying to look for his bents and introduce him to a variety of "vocational" opportunities. Thankfully, he's a very hard worker physically. He also demonstrates skill in PowerPoint/sound systems/computer type things. Does every college require basic liberal arts courses to get a degree in these things? Academically, I'm looking for books that he can understand in the academic subjects. My plan for the summer is to continue the pre-algebra and go "gung ho" on developing his logic and critical thinking skills. This gets tiring and discouraging. I was kind of hoping someone may have high school level ideas at a simple level. I suppose it's like having a student in "track one," versus "track two" or "honors " courses. Does anyone have experience with Lifepacs? It seems to me that this is a fill-in the blank and answer questions studied rotely. Is this so? Now, I realize I'm rambling, but I lack the energy to develop a well-planned letter here.

As I proof what I just wrote, a lot of what I said is actually quite encouraging. I mean his positive skills (his cheerful personality). But I think many of you know what I mean, especially if you have an Aspie learning delayed child. I just needed to vent I guess. Anyone with thoughts or ideas, I welcome.

[Misty]

I am in the same situation.. My 13yr old (14 in Sept.) will be doing 9th grade this fall, but she is not yet done with her TT7.. So she will be starting pre-algebra in a month and zooming through it and then starting algebra around January, finishing that by the end of next summer! She has always done well in school (except math) because of her excellent memory and ability to recall just about anything she's ever read. But ask her to think, analyze, predict, etc.. She melts. So we have a lot of the same challenges.

[ktgrok]

How is his working memory? If he isn't retaining that could be a big factor. Or maybe his visual memory (reading) is not as good as his auditory memory? Or maybe he needs pictures instead of words? Video learning? My aspie learns way more from watching a documentary than from reading a text book. Just some thoughts to help you find what works.