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girlracer76

problems with literacy

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Hi there

 

My son was diagnosed with ASD back in march - he is 6yrs old and finds school really stressful.

 

His worst times appear to be connected to literacy/writing! He has a reading and spelling ability of a 11-12yr old and is able to write but doesn't 'like' too! He complains that his arms ache and that he does want to. We find that we have the most problems with his 'red beast' waking and he goes into his rage cycles. He does suffer with low self esteem and we wonder if this is part of the problems - we are also aware that he has low imagination levels so to try and just make something up is very difficult for him. My problem is that the school are having distinct problems trying to get him to do the work in class - we were being sent home the work for him to complete but they now say that they can't use this work for continuous assessment as we as his parents are able to get more out of him as home ability wise then they are at home (basically they think that we are dictating the work to him and he is not doing it himself - which we are most definitely not doing!)

.

Basically i guess what i am asking is whether this is a common problem with ASD children? and, if anyone has any ideas of how we can help my son and the school to get him to achieve the work that he is capable of in the school environment?

 

We really are struggling with this at the moment - he spent 40minutes under the table yesterday and went completely into his rage cycle the day prior to this. This has been an ongoing struggle for the past year and we are just looking for any advice that can be offered really.

 

Thanks in advance

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What you are experiencing is common with ASD children, sounds very similar to our son. Unfortunately there is no easy solution.

 

I think it is important for you to realise that there may be several different underlying problems that are contributing to this issue. This might include:

  • He may have motor skills problems that actually makes writing much harder for him than for most children.
  • He may have a limited imagination which makes it hard for him to work out what to say
  • He may have poor understanding of language used in context
  • He may be aware that this is an area of difficulty for him so he may avoid it for that reason.
  • He may have sensory issues that makes it hard for him to function in the (e.g. noisy) classroom environment

Long term you need to start unpicking these individual issues and address each one. In the meantime techniques that might help are

  • Allow him to dictate some of the responses to a scribe
  • Teach him to type and allow him to enter the responses on Notebook
  • Set him differentiated literacy tasks that exploit areas he is interested in
  • Ensure he can function well in the classroom - separate workstation, ear defenders and so on

All of this is very general and none of it may apply in this case.

 

What I would stress is that the problems with Literacy are probably the symptom of a wide range of issues associated with his ASD. You need to start digging down to reveal the core issues and address those rather

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Firstly I think he needs a full assessment by an experienced Speech and Language Therapist. Using "Standardised Assessments" of his receptive and expressive skills will highlight his strengths and weaknesses.

 

Being beyond his years in reading/spelling does not necessarily mean he can comprehend it or make it up himself. And as you say writing from his imagination maybe impossible for him. He may need much more structure to this kind of work.

 

He may have dysgraphia, which is where the brain finds it hard or impossible to organise the body and thinking for writing. So reading maybe perfect, yet writing impossible. My son has this. When he does write, what is it like? Is he pressing hard, does the writing flow or is it shaky or spidery, is he mixing up small and capital letters, are letters reversed etc.

 

But his resistance is for a reason.

 

As he says his arm hurts, he needs seeing by an Occupational Therrapist. He may have dyspraxia, or other writing [motor co-ordination or motor planning] difficulties that need assessing. My son also has dyspraxia and that affects sequencing of movement and also of thought. It also means his arm/hand/whole body gets tired very quickly.

 

The school could use a scribe as suggested to see what he produces, and they may want to use a fiction and non-fiction piece to see the difference. Because facts are easier learnt and regurgitated. Writing something on topic from imagination is difficult.

 

Typing is also something that is used in schools, as is voice recognition software. But at the moment you need the school to acknowledge the problem and refer him to SALT. Or go via the Paediatrician that diagnosed him and ask them to refer to SALT and OT.

 

See what the waiting times are to see these professionals. OT maybe especially long [2 years in our area]. You may decide to get a private initial assessment.

Edited by Sally44

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He has a reading and spelling ability of a 11-12yr old and is able to write but doesn't 'like' too!

 

Hi girlracer76

 

May I also add the following... you mention that his reading and spelling is well above his age but what is his reading comprehension like. Does he understand what he has read?

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Hi Robert7111a

 

Yes he understands what he is reading - he is often sent home with year 4 reading comprehension work and you can discuss what he has read with him at length especially if it is a subject he is interested in.

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Hi Robert7111a

 

Yes he understands what he is reading - he is often sent home with year 4 reading comprehension work and you can discuss what he has read with him at length especially if it is a subject he is interested in.

"If he has problems with "low imagination levels" as you wrote above, what are his reactions to fictional stories -- does he get how the persons interact? What their intentions are?

There might be a huge difference between fictional and non-fictional texts."

 

 

 

I agree. That is why a thorough assessment using standardised assessments, might highlight any speech and langugae difficulties.

 

A difficulty my son had, which has improved alot now, was that he could only draw things he had actually seen. He could not draw from imagination. It has taken him years to gradually be able to do this, but it is still a very weak area. And that difficulty translates into the formulation of sentences. He can repeat what he has heard or seen verbatim, and understands a great deal of that. But writing spontaneously, or answering a question about facts he knows ie. the inference and interpretation of them is much harder.

 

So, as an example, he has told me all about the "bouncing bomb" during WW2. But if he was asked a question "why was it important for the British to develop this type of weapon?" - he probably could not answer, unless he regurgitated an answer he had been given in the lesson by the teacher.

Edited by Sally44

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Hi girlracer76,

Your son's problems sound a lot like my own son's when he was his age. As others have said, he may have problems with coordination and find it physically exhausting to write. He could try a triangular pencil and school could use a tilted surface to put under his book while he is writing, both of which would help. For my son it was also a question of being a perfectionist. He could see that his writing was terrible and wasn't acceptable to him and so he became more and more reluctant to try, to the point where he would scream the place down if asked to write at school. The stress and pressure of the classroom and the time constraints also don't help!

School could offer a quiet area for him to write and give him plenty of time with no pressure to rush. They should also lower their expectations and ask only that he writes a small amount, a couple of sentances, praising him when he has completed this so that he can feel like he has succeeded in finishing his task rather than continually rushing to catch up with the other children and failing. Taking the pressure off him will allow him to relax more and they will get more out of him.

~ Mel ~

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Hi, we have the same with our son he is 8 (AS). In year 1 it was all about his behaviour (so no written work done), In yr 2 it was all about the SATS he was point blank refusing to write in all subjects, and now in year 3 he has improved in his maths and reading but up and down with his written work. From what we have noted (while doing his homework) is that he will do sentences , but will let you know he isn't happy about it! eg having to read a text and then answering questions from the text, he will copy the answer word for word from the text not writing anything more than he has too. But if he is asked to write something from his imagination eg a story. That's when the explosions start, he can't do it it's too much/too hard/hurts his hand. When he went to see a paediatrician we mentioned that his written work was up and down, and the first thing she did was to ask my son if when he has to write a story does he have lots of ideas floating around his head but he isn't sure which one to pick to write down? and that this was probably a factor, she also said that she could tell he had lots of very good ideas by the things he was saying during the meeting (he was very chatty!) . She has also referred him to an occupational therapist to rule out fine motor difficulties and mentioned that studies have suggested that there is an over lap of the symptoms of Asperger's and dyspraxia.

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Why? oh why is my last post so tiny???? Sorry you may all need to use your magnifying glasses for that one!

 

Thanks for your reply - i could read without magnifying glass so no need to worry lol - it sounds exactly like our son - we are trying desperately to persuade our GP to send our son to occupational therapist at the moment! He was given x 2 fixed term exclusion again over the two weeks leading up to half term due to his explosions - he is really struggling and it's so hard to see/watch - did you try any medication with your son? people keep talking about meds for ours but we are not sure - we have tried some herbal stuff which work a little in calming him but if he is going to go into melt down he will do so meds or no meds! We have the board meeting this week to see if they agree that he requires assessment for statementing not holding my breath though! We are having problems with the head as well though as she seems to think that he is just being naughty - she doesnt understand asd AT all!!

Anyway thank you again for your reply and everyone else who has replied - its reassuring that you are all hear to answer questions and reassure that everything is ok

x

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Is anyone at the school trained to work with children with ASD? If not you can request that this be done. It's been an ongoing struggle with my son and his writing it really has, the school have now come to the conclusion that I am hindering him....if only they could see the notes I have been taking down at home for sometime when he has been doing his homework and anything he has spontaneously told me during quiet times.....now I have got to the point of thinking ok I'll get to the bottom of it myself!.

 

What did you tell the Dr? I think it is all down to how clued up the proffessional is who you speak with, you could try a different GP?

 

My son isn't on meds and in all honesty I don't know what my reaction would be if this was suggested, I can definately say it would not be an option I would take lightly.

 

I have read that some areas accept parent referals for occupational therapy you could ring the department and ask who can refer?, Or there is also the option of going private not ideal if money is tight but could give you answers.

 

Good luck with the board meeting, we were told after the EP visited our son and assessed him that if he didn't improve the next option would be a statement and getting one would be highly unlikely due to his test results.....but we'll see about that.

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I would recommend you both get a copy of the SEN Code of Practice [whilst it is still in force, as there will be major changes to SEN in the next few years]. Download it from the top of the "education" forum in the SEN publications link.

 

Unfortunately many in 'health' ie. NHS do not know the requirements of the Statementing process. But once you are at that stage ie. School Action, then School Action Plus with IEPs etc, then you can ask the LA to assess your child for a Statement and the LA has 26 weeks to gather evidence from yourself and any other professional involved or relevent to your child's SEN.

 

So what I did was to put what I needed in a letter to whomever I had an appointment to see in the NHS, or the GP, and I would give it to them. And I would quite simply say that my son had difficulties with a, b and c, and that as he was being assessed for a Statement, the SEN Code of Practice said that "all needs must be identified", and that cannot be achieved unless he is seen by a Speech Therapist, Occupational Therapist, etc. And all those needs must be identified so that they can be included in the Statement of SEN. Otherwise the Statement is not a true reflection of the child's needs, and the whole process has been pointless. And those professionals are supposed to quantify and specify the provision the child needs to meet each of those needs in the school environment.

 

I has taken me some years to get to where I am now, and I have had to be quite straightforward and even forceful for professionals to do what they should be doing anyway!

 

You may come across professionals that say they want to "wait" or that "we don't like to give labels", but the fact is that without a 'label' you don't get the provision/support or therapy to address that 'label' [ie. the diagnosese]. And the more needs/diagnoses your child has the more 'complex' they are and require more input. If no-one is prepared to diagnose, you will be hard pressed to even get a Statement.

 

And there are a number of things that NHS professionals do not like to diagnose, such as Dyspraxia, Dyslexia, Sensory processing Disorder - which are all major SEN and when all combined together, and with an ASD and OCD [as in the case of my son], it makes the school environment, and learning a major area of difficulty and frustration.

 

And a child not getting a Statement due to "test results", which I presume means good academic ability, is rubbish. Get the code of practice and read it yourself. Your child could be a genius, but if he has social communication or speech and language difficulties, or sensory difficulties, or emotional difficulties, or Dyslexia or a physical disability, then they should get a Statement IF the provision they need is over and above that which the school can provide via delegated funding.

 

My own son is above average cognitive ability in some areas.

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