Blueridge Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 I am excited to have made some breakthroughs in understanding my youngest dd and all her challenging and quirky behavior. I will be locating a doctor to speak with fairly soon but I believe she has Asperger's, and just considering this will help me to be even more patient and understanding. It also leaves me with many questions about the way I teach her and the type of curriculum I usually purchase for her. Does anyone have suggestions of programs that seem more appropriate to use with special kids? Workbooks? Independent, scheduled programs? She is almost 14 and I am fearful I've been using all the wrong methods. Many thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SadieMarie Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I remember reading something like "If you have met one person with Asperger's, then you have met one person with Asperger's." I think it is more trial and error with my SN child. My dd is gifted verbally. She learns best through her ears and loves stories, words, anything to do with language. This made math sort of challenging, especially as I started with Singapore. I don't want to give up on her being able to learn visually but I want to play to her strengths. So we found Life of Fred and now I have a kid who does not hate math and start crying when I pull it out. The stories are just wacky enough to keep her interest and she is willing to do the problems at the end of the chapter to keep reading. If it is not part of a story her second preference for math has been hands on so we just started to do some Miquon too. Anyway, that has been my experience. When we first got the diagnosis, NLD for my dd, I changed everything up based on what seemed like it made sense for NLD. But in the end my dd is still a very unique individual and so it came back to just looking at her that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsmith Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 It has definitely been trial and error with ds. I have tried programs that were highly recommended by a parent with an Aspie child only to have it completely bomb with us. We have finally hit our stride this year with Math U See, A World of Adventure and The Fallacy Detective. The thing I really love about A World of Adventure is that except for the required literature, it leaves book choices up to the parent. I can tailor resources to fit ds's learning style, add to the program, skip things that I know ds won't like, etc... But while this program has been working great for us, it may not work at all for another Aspie. The quote mentioned in the post above is often heard coming out of my mouth, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 My DD seems to do well with "do the next thing" type stuff when she knows what's coming next, can control her schedule, and check off steps as she goes. She doesn't do as well with unit studies or integrated materials because they're too open-ended. She LOVES online classes for the same reason. When she was younger, I had to take pages out of books in order to skip material or skip around because she couldn't tolerate something being incomplete. She's gotten better at that. She's clinically supposedly not Aspergers, but she has so many of the traits that I wonder.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 My answer would be that Aspie's don't all have the same learning style and the same things won't work for all. However, some things that typically are good include: • Schedules and predictability • Using their obsessive topics for motivation • Concrete ideas, thought and plans - including for writing! These kids often stay in the literal world longer than their peers who move on to more abstract concepts younger and more easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 My answer would be that Aspie's don't all have the same learning style and the same things won't work for all. However, some things that typically are good include: • Schedules and predictability • Using their obsessive topics for motivation • Concrete ideas, thought and plans - including for writing! These kids often stay in the literal world longer than their peers who move on to more abstract concepts younger and more easily. I love your big picture bullet points! They make a nice measuring stick. Have you tried/do you have much luck with Socratic dialog for fostering abstract skills? My son has a lot of trouble with this type of dialog, not because it doesn't lead to more abstract thought, but because the "aha" moment makes him feel dumb for not getting it on his own. I keep telling him that the "aha" is the whole point. It means the discussion is working and that I don't expect him to figure it out on his own. It falls on deaf ears. Also, he didn't really get this kind of mental workout when he was in school (1 year of our homeschool completed), so that may be part of the problem. I am also curious what tips you have in general for fostering abstract thinking. My son is newly diagnosed with PDD-NOS, and he is also "cognitively gifted." He is 9, and he is very uneven in his abilities as he doesn't fit the profile of a neurotypical 9 y.o. or a gifted 9 y.o. He had some "holes" across his Woodcock Johnson test that show a pattern of trouble with abstract thought. Some of the missed areas in subject matter where I know he could answer if he was asked "the right way," but I assume that if his abstract thinking was better, he would know what was being asked. We use Inference Jones, and that has been a good fit. He likes MCT language arts, which is more dialog-oriented, but we have LOTS of trouble when we try to use dialog with math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 I am also curious what tips you have in general for fostering abstract thinking. My son is newly diagnosed with PDD-NOS, and he is also "cognitively gifted." He is 9, and he is very uneven in his abilities as he doesn't fit the profile of a neurotypical 9 y.o. or a gifted 9 y.o. He had some "holes" across his Woodcock Johnson test that show a pattern of trouble with abstract thought. Some of the missed areas in subject matter where I know he could answer if he was asked "the right way," but I assume that if his abstract thinking was better, he would know what was being asked. We use Inference Jones, and that has been a good fit. He likes MCT language arts, which is more dialog-oriented, but we have LOTS of trouble when we try to use dialog with math. Great questions. My ds is highly gifted and PDD-NOS as well. You can throw in a few other labels too like dysgraphia and ADD to get even more of the picture :). His testing has always had holes as well. I'll go with a bulleted list for encouraging abstract thinking too. • Discuss everything, no really, I mean everything! Look for patterns, relations, bigger ideas, ideas within ideas. Stop if it is frustrating, but start again with the next opportunity! • Be patient • Be patient • BE PATIENT! Really, it just takes longer. Abstract thinking comes later and harder, but it can come. Don't expect it to be at the same level as age peers. In spite of being very intelligent and knowing and understanding so much, connections may be difficult and abstractions impossible. Just wait it out and don't let yourself be frustrated (harder to do than say). Your frustration will make them feel frustrated and stupid for not getting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Great questions. My ds is highly gifted and PDD-NOS as well. You can throw in a few other labels too like dysgraphia and ADD to get even more of the picture :). His testing has always had holes as well. Lol, we've got moderately gifted, SPD, and dysgraphia on board (borderline on ADD, but seems to be okay when sensory stuff is somewhat under wrap). He may have convergence insufficiency, and we're getting some other screenings ticked off the list. :-) Thank you for your encouragement! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3kidswild Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 We started homeschooling DS when he was 13. Middle school wasn't a good fit for him. We initially used textbooks but he wasn't successfully absorbing the information. We switched him to computer based/visual programs and his learning took off. He's done exceptionally well with Teaching Textbooks for math. He thought he was "dumb"" when it came to math. Now he frequently gets 100%, which has also helped with his self esteem. We use CK12 for science because it has video links on the topics. For literature last year we used Movies as Literature. Abstract thinking is not his thing so watching the movies instead of reading helped him understand a bit more. For history we used a spine but supplemented with a lot of videos (History Channel, etc) and documentaries. Once we understood his learning style, it all clicked and he has excelled in all his subjects. Now to restore his faith in kids his age...baby steps forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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