program for reluctant writer?

[blue daisy]

What writing program would you recommend for an 11 year old high functioning ASD kid who struggles greatly with written output?  He is highly gifted in math, sciences, etc. but writing anything is SOOOO hard for him.  The more open ended the writing, the harder it is for him to get anything out.  He does read very well and has an advanced vocabulary.  Sometimes once he gets started he can produce some nice writing.  Other times he just can't do it at all.  What would you suggest?

[Farrar]

I think Brave Writer is usually good for reluctant writers. However, it might or might not work for a kid with ASD. BW is very open ended and encouraging. It's meant to help you, the teacher, relax and focus on the child's strengths and help the child write in a less stressed context with the right sort of support. However, for a kid who needs things really broken down step by step, which some ASD kids might, then it might not be the right choice.

[shinyhappypeople]

What writing program would you recommend for an 11 year old high functioning ASD kid who struggles greatly with written output?  He is highly gifted in math, sciences, etc. but writing anything is SOOOO hard for him.  The more open ended the writing, the harder it is for him to get anything out.  He does read very well and has an advanced vocabulary.  Sometimes once he gets started he can produce some nice writing.  Other times he just can't do it at all.  What would you suggest?

 

I encourage you to investigate IEW's Student Writing Intensive.  It is very structured with clear expectations.  Students start by rewriting fables.  They are given very specific instructions on how to do this.  No guesswork.  

 

 

IEW has a money-back guarantee, so it's a low-risk investment.  It is the only program that has even remotely made sense to my 12 yo DD (SLD-written expression, among other things).

Edited May 15, 2016 by shinyhappypeople

[Storygirl]

I have several children around that age who struggle with writing (various LDs, including written expression). At home, we found that IEW materials provided good structure for them and practice in writing without having to come up with original ideas. We also used the Writing Skills series by Diana Hanbury King, because it breaks the writing process down into incremental steps.

 

In their IEPs for school (we enrolled them this year), they start with a goal of writing one good paragraph, focusing on writing a topic sentence, supporting details, and a concluding sentence. They use graphic organizers to plan their thoughts and also learn some editing strategies. The Writing Skills series works on these same skills, though without the emphasis on editing.

 

I've found that it take a lot of teaching and effort to make small amounts of progress, so it can be discouraging. Set small goals and celebrate them!

[Storygirl]

Also, trouble with writing can be related to autism. I like this article as an overview, but each child is different. Narrowing down the specific reason for the difficulty can help you target ways to help. You may need to take bits and pieces of various programs; one approach might not address all of the underlying needs.

 

http://autismdigest.com/write/

 

 

[SilverMoon]

My 12yo was much like you described last year. He is very neurotypical, but a STEM geek who would rather not use a paragraph when three syllables would do. He loathes creative writing of any sort, but finally doesn't really mind non-fiction writing.

 

Any writing curricula just hasn't sat well with him for awhile now. What worked really well for him this year was establishing a pattern of sorts and mostly sticking to topics that interested him. He could help with topics, which meant most of his papers were about a vehicle of some sort. Planes especially. I decided on the sources to pull information from and gave them to him, like an article from a museum website, an encyclopedia entry, and so on. I tried to make sure they were all coming from different angles. He read them on his own and we discussed what angle his paper was going to have, such as history of the plane, development of the engine, or how it was used in a war. At first his first assignment was to pull important details from those sources and write them down; later on this turned into an organized outline of the information. 2-3 days later his rough draft was due, and we'd discuss weak areas. 2-3 days after that his final was due.

 

His papers did grow. They're in order. They have transitions and they're pleasant to read. The major details were there. He is still a concise KISS sort of guy and that likely won't change anytime soon. Toward the end of the year he and I read through much of Lively Art of Writing together and ran a few papers from it. We mixed in some Art of Argument to shake it up (just reading the student book together and discussing it). We turned some of the end chapter questions into bigger writing projects. He really liked that one. Next year (8th) I'm going to do Lost Tools of Writing with him, which will allow us to choose our own topics, so he can write even more about aviation and sailing. LOL

[MEmama]

I encourage you to investigate IEW's Student Writing Intensive. It is very structured with clear expectations. Students start by rewriting fables. They are given very specific instructions on how to do this. No guesswork.

 

 

IEW has a money-back guarantee, so it's a low-risk investment. It is the only program that has even remotely made sense to my 12 yo DD (SLD-written expression, among other things).

Seconding this for kids who need structure.

[mysticmomma]

Wordsmith apprentice has very explicit assignments interspersed with some more open ended but still directed ones.

[blue daisy]

Thank you everyone!  There are some great ideas here.  I love, LOVE the idea of BraveWriter but I am trying to remember to teach the student in front of me, not just get sucked into the curriculum that *I* love the most.  I need to spend some time researching the other programs listed but at least we have some different methods to try.

 

The article about autism and writing was very helpful too, with tips to help a writer regardless of the program used.  I'm printing it out as reference.

 

Thanks!

[Guest]

I was in your shoes a few years ago and started using Essentials in Writing. We are just completing our 4th year with EIW, and it has been a true blessing. :)

Edited May 25, 2016 by Guest

[MerryAtHope]

Essentials in Writing is what helped my reluctant writer as well.

[blue daisy]

Thanks, I will look at Essentials in Writing too!

 

[mom31257]

Another vote for IEW!

[blue daisy]

So if I use Essentials in Writing, I do not need a separate grammar program, correct?

 

Is this the case with any of the other programs mentioned? 

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

IEW has been great with my reluctant writer too. Andrew Pudewa's talks are great too and he addresses this issue a lot.

[Freedom]

Another vote for IEW. They have amazing support via forum or yahoo group with detailed help for nearly every type of writer.

[MerryAtHope]

So if I use Essentials in Writing, I do not need a separate grammar program, correct?

 

Essentials in Writing includes grammar in levels 1-6. You would not need a separate grammar program unless you wanted more grammar. I've heard some people comment that the grammar was on the lighter side--I haven't used the lower levels. Personally, I tended to alternate grammar and writing anyway--I didn't try to do a full year of both, but either did these subjects in "units," or did a focus on writing one year and a focus on grammar the next--so to me, being lighter on the grammar wouldn't have mattered. 

 

We've used levels 7-11 and will be using 12 next year. Here's a review I did after using part of level 7.

[sandra in va]

One more vote for IEW - the only thing that worked for one of mine that got stuck on the figuring out what to write part.  The key word outlines of source texts was a huge help!

[blue daisy]

Thanks so much for the input everyone!  I'm looking pretty closely at both IEW and EIW. They both look great.  Now the hard part is making a decision! :)