tmf Report post Posted October 25, 2006 Hi Does anyone elses children have a very stubborn attitude to school? Getting him there....fine i have a very bright intelligent little boy, he is in the top group of most subjects, and those he is in the middle he is the top end of the scale 2. How.....i really dont know, he doesn't listen, his concentration is diar and most of all his attitude stinks! If he can't be bothered to do something he really won't do it, he is even telling the teachers no. His handwriting is barely eligible (spelling ###### sorry). The only time he writes nicely is in cards and when i discussed this with his teacher she says its coz he sees the purpose with writing cards, but he can't see a purpose of 'practising' writing. His teacher is fantastic, 100% improvenment on the last! she also stated that children with aspergers find writing hard coz there is so much to think about (spelling, capitals, full stops ect) and their brains can't cope with the complexity that comes with what seems simple to us as a short sentance. Can any1 else relate to this....any advice on helping him 2 concentrate, or realising that school is imortant? Also has any1 heard of teodorescu perseptuo moto prgrame?? it is a hand writing program. If so any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you. tmf Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Canopus Report post Posted October 25, 2006 I recognise this problem and it's nothing to do with AS. He is too clever for the work he is set and sees little point in doing it because he feels as if he isn't learning anything. The crushing boredom results in poor concentration and generally irritating behaviour. The only real solution is to give him more challenging work of a higher intellectual level. His teacher is fantastic, 100% improvenment on the last! she also stated that children with aspergers find writing hard coz there is so much to think about (spelling, capitals, full stops ect) and their brains can't cope with the complexity that comes with what seems simple to us as a short sentance. I'm not too sure about this one. People with dyslexia have problems with spellings and punctuation but I don't think many people with AS do. I had very few difficulties with capital letters and punctuation marks, and my spelling was to a reasonably high standard. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PinkSapphireAngel Report post Posted October 25, 2006 My older 2 boys have both used the writing programme, it was given by O.T, they did not seem to like it too much and seemed to get bored and speed through it (they are meant to do it slowly and accurately. Not sure how much it helped but as they are both Dyspraxic (eldest also has ASD, younger also has Dyslexia) But it did no harm, they saw it as extra work on top of all the home work they already got so it was stressful for them really. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nic m Report post Posted October 25, 2006 Hi tmf, My daughter cant really be bothered with home work and anything which requires a lot of effort.Her writing and spelling are the subjects she struggles most with.For a while she was given an alphasmart to complete class work but she doesnt need it now,her writing is improving with a great deal of effort.For short periods of writing it is quite legible but she tires easily and her wrists get sore so i think it is a mixture of effort and sore wrists that cause her problems not forgetting concentration.if asked a question she will find the shortest possible way of writing the answer. Nicola Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Valiant_Skylark Report post Posted October 25, 2006 My eldest (severe dyspraxia & ASD, 12) did the "Write from the Start" Teodorescue Perceptuo-Motor Programme twice - once at infant school and again at junior school. His handwriting improved a bit, but for the effort it took not a lot. His Statement now provides for a scribe (someone to write for him) and access to IT (AlphaSmart word processer), although the senior school do not always do what the Statement requires (but that is another story!!!) My youngest (dyspraxic traits) is currently on Book 6b of the programme and he is now Year 4. His writing has improved more quickly, but is still a slog. Youngest son has eyes that cross the midline, whereas eldest son's eyes don't, and I'm not sure if this is part of the reason why eldest son still struggles with things like reversals etc. Also youngest son uses punctuation etc correctly which eldest son still can't do. Eldest son did all his Teodorescue at school (either before or during assembly with TAs) whilst unstatemented. In contrast, I am expected to do all youngest son's programme as "extra" on top of normal homework at home. This is a lot of extra work! Youngest son does one sheet a day, (and it must be reasonably carefully done to "count") at the same time each day. If he does all the sheets (and his reading, maths and literacy homework) he is given �20-00 at the end of each half-term. He gets no pocket money and all his other money is earned from chores (which he can pick). Youngest son manages this well. If I had to do the programme at home with eldest son, I would arrange some similar "motivater", but keep the time interval between rewards shorter and build in more flexibility to cope with days when too much ordinary homework came in to make doing "extra" feasable. Teodorescue is a slog and boring and you may not even see fantastic results if your son proves to have any large degree of dyspraxia, so the more sympathetic you can be in terms of giving yourselves a "treat" for being responsible and doing it, the smoother it should go for all involved. Best of luck with it. VS xx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chriss Report post Posted October 25, 2006 My son has aspergers but not dyspraxia. However, he struggles to write tidily because of his hypermobile fingers. They really are super bendy so it takes more effort for him to control a pen. He gets narky about doing homework because his fingers get really tired. He has no problem with fullstops, punctuation marks etc as once he has learnt the rules of grammer he has no problem remembering them. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chriss Report post Posted October 25, 2006 (edited) oops! What do you do when you post the same thing twice? Edited October 25, 2006 by chriss Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jools Report post Posted October 25, 2006 my son has dyspraxia, asd and is double jointed. writing is not one of his favourite things to do! he has done the writing programme at school. i did it with him (i'm a TA in his school) every day for 10 mins. this should be enough time to do one sheet although as the programme progresses we sometimes needed more time for a sheet. it has definately improved his handwriting and also his attitude to writing now he can understand what he has written. he has also got an alphasmart for any long pieces of work, usually literacy. this was obtained with help from the specialist teacher at camhs who suggested they get the outreach teacher from the local special school to assess him. he was given it to help his concentration aswell as his handwriting and seems to having the desired effect. he would get stressed at the prospect of having to write more than a couple of sentences and his wrists would ache. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tmf Report post Posted October 25, 2006 Hi, Thanks for advice. Just for the record, ds only has AS, he doesn't have dyspraxia.......that i am aware of, in fact i am not 100% on what dyspraxia is....think i will go look it up. Going back to this program, is it something organised thru school or is it something u arrange off own back? I am willing to try anything!! DS is used to doing homework everynight at the same time, so bringing in an extra 10 mins a day shouldn't be too much of a problem...i hope! thanks again, tmf Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BusyLizzie100 Report post Posted October 25, 2006 Hi, DS2 did this programme when he was in Year One, on the recommendation of his OT. You need to do a little every day, eg 10 mins daily, although it didn't make much difference for him. He did it at school for a bit on the OT's recommendation, but the teacher was making him do too much in one go and then it tailed off completely... it took us a few months to find this out, then we picked it up again at home. DS1 also has AS, but the dyspraxic element is just part of the AS, ie the difficulties with coordination and clumsiness, etc. For him he has huge difficulties with handwriting and he falls over all the time... Basically, dyspraxia is difficulties with praxis, or the planning and doing of things. You can get a dx of dyspraxia as a stand-alone - as you can dyslexia - but DS1's dyspraxic elements are part of the AS, apparently. DS1 has also just completed the Speed Up! programme, aimed at children aged 8 and over, and he didn't get a lot out of that, either. He did that in a small group with the OT. His handwriting has improved over the years - it's now just about legible (he's 8) but I think a lot of the problem is down to the discrepancy in his intellectual profile, ie his Verbal Skills are on the 99th percentile (Gifted) and his Spatial skills are on the 19th, so he's flippin' brilliant can't get his ideas down in writing. He also tires really quickly - he presses really hard with the pen etc. We haven't had much luck with either programmes, but that's that not to say they won't work for others. Good Luck! Lizzie x Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UltraMum Report post Posted October 26, 2006 (edited) J has had this programme twice - complained both times that it waS BABYISH AND BASICALLY RUSHED THE WHOLE THING TO GET IT OVER AND DONE WITH ... sorry about the caps! Edited October 26, 2006 by UltraMum Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
