maths reccomendations

[kiwik]

Asking for a friend.  Her 11.5 year old has just been given a diagnosis of moderate autism.  She has been trying to get someone to listen for years but the school insisted he was just lazy and not very bright.  A few years ago she got a dylexia/dyspraxia/dysgraphia (which seems to include dyscalculia) diagnosis but the school continued to opine not very bright and needs to work harder.  This year she finally managed to get CAHMS to listen and the diagnosis has now been confirmed by a soecialist.

They have mostly been working on literacy with a SPELD tutor up to now but she thinks he now needs some maths remediation.  He is resistant and she is not completely confident.  Any ideas? 

 

Edited July 30, 2018 by kiwik

[sbgrace]

That is so sad. My son has moderate autism, but doesn't struggle with dyscalculia, so I hope others with these kinds of issues see the thread and reply.

 I see Ronit Bird mentioned here a lot for dyscalculia, if he needs that level of remediation. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GstqJ5sEEoo) That might be hard to have confidence to jump back like that, but it seems that foundation is really important if it's not there. After or instead of that, I'd think she would want something with a lot of handholding. I wonder if MUS would be a good fit.   

 

[kbutton]

Peter Pan might have some really useful math ideas, but she'd likely start with Ronit Bird recommendations too. 

I am sorry she is going through this! My son has had a diagnosis since age 9, and we still sometimes get that it's about trying harder, though thankfully not as often anymore. She needs a backbone of steel if she's continuing to have him in school, and she needs an all-purpose "don't take no for an answer" lines she can say over and over that puts the responsibility on their plate. Something like the nice version of "Now that you see I've been right all along, what steps are YOU going to take to REMEDIATE my son's problem with X," and just keep saying this over and over for every single thing. They should potentially be able to provide an aide or behaviorist to help out with getting him used to trying again. While kids with autism have real issues with behavior and being resistant to things, it's not unusual for at least a certain percentage of that to be based on negative experiences, such as trying harder and having it NOT WORK. He'll need positive behavior supports to get him to be compliant and willing to try things--having him be repeatedly unsuccessful is literally training him to not want to do something. The school needs to acknowledge this and provide support to get him back on board.

Then, they need a plan for how to help him be successful in his subjects and help him understand what he is good at. He's likely pretty smart if they missed moderate autism plus LDs at this point!

Whatever program works out for math, I suggest she ask for work that helps him understand number sense and recognizing quantities (called subitizing, I think). I would make sure that it progresses in chunks that are meaningful for him and loops back later to be sure he's still got the concept. I would make sure that language isn't in the way--difficulty following directions, being overly literal, etc. can really make regular classroom work hard. My son was in school from K-2, and he had far more trouble figuring out what a teacher wanted than understanding the math! And if a teacher makes a mistake (misspeaks, writes the wrong thing down, etc.)--then the kid who is struggling has to reconcile that mistake. That can be disastrous when it's at a crucial spot for a child. Anyway, there could be a lot of misfiled information in his brain that needs to be straightened out.

BTW, on a side note, he's likely to have a lot of language holes if he has moderate autism--there are some fantastic threads on the Learning Challenges board about narrative development in autism and about language testing. This is an issue for my son, and we are currently trying a speech therapy tool (for helping with writing and reading) called The Story Grammar Marker. Even if he's not reading super well on his own, these principles can be used with him to retell stories, check for comprehension, help him compose his own work for writing assignments, etc.

[kiwik]

Thanks.  I have recommended Ronit Bird before and she is looking at MUS.  NZ is very stingy on aides though he has just been approved for assisted technology. NZ has also gone for an MLE model which basically means little group instruction (the kids have optional workshops instead) and combined teaching of classes of 60 to 90 students.  It is not good for ASD or ADHD or 11 year old boys who have poor time management skills and low interest.  I think half the time he is not sure what he supposed to do let alone how to do it.  Home school may be an option but he is resistant and has a special needs older brother -  she needs the break although she also pays for it when he gets home.

 

 

[kbutton]

12 hours ago, kiwik said:

Thanks.  I have recommended Ronit Bird before and she is looking at MUS.  NZ is very stingy on aides though he has just been approved for assisted technology. NZ has also gone for an MLE model which basically means little group instruction (the kids have optional workshops instead) and combined teaching of classes of 60 to 90 students.  It is not good for ASD or ADHD or 11 year old boys who have poor time management skills and low interest.  I think half the time he is not sure what he supposed to do let alone how to do it.  Home school may be an option but he is resistant and has a special needs older brother -  she needs the break although she also pays for it when he gets home.

2

You might include this information and re-post on the main learning challenges board for a broader audience.

That's quite a lot of students in one class. Wow! 

[happycc]

Where to even begin with Ronit Bird? Which book? Program? Lost. 

[happycc]

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