Autism Imagination and a Preferred Topic, Plus Pizza This blog is about a project my son did for his English class. What did he do? First, his English teacher assigned a book reading project for the semester. His students had to read a teacher-approved, substantial book over the course of the semester. My son chose a book about trains. It’s a non-fictional book, but the teacher approved it. He read it over the last three months and took notes that had to go into a notebook check that happened once a year (for a separate grade). Even … [Read more...]
25
Mar 2019
A High School Open House with My Child with Autism Open house. Every school has them, at some point during the year. It’s a chance for the student and parents to visit their classrooms, see some work, and talk to the teacher. What about my son’s open house? This year open house, my son’s second in high school (sophomore year), was a success. We live close to the school so we walked. Once we arrived, my husband and I let our son take us to his classes, in whatever order he wanted. We visited with his Spanish teacher, his math … [Read more...]
24
Feb 2019
Autism and College-Related Standardized Tests I was speaking with a relative recently who mentioned that her child, who is one year older than mine, has had trouble with standardized tests. This typical sixteen-year-old struggled with the “practice” PSAT and then again on the SAT. She was planning on retaking the SAT or taking the ACT later in the year. Her mom was confident she’d improve, especially since she was planning to take the prep course. She was planning on going to college and (knowing her) she would work hard to improve those … [Read more...]
22
Oct 2018
How to Deal with Meltdowns As I prepare to talk about how to work with children on the autism spectrum with my co-workers and staff at my job, it made me think about one of the many key elements… how to handle a child’s meltdown. What’s my job? I work at a gym's child care, the place where you can check in your three-month-old to 13 year old while you workout. We're not taking care of your kids like a school. We try to do activities with the kids, however, (IMHO) our main job is the safety of our kids. Parents have signed them over to us … [Read more...]
03
Jun 2018
Autism and Organizing for Finals - Part One What do we do with finals? Finals creep into our lives twice a year. For me, twice a year I have to remember how finals work best for my child with autism. We really began to focus on how to approach finals in middle school. What happened in middle school? Middle school is the level of school with “real” finals. There are finals in the elementary grades, but they really begin to be super important in middle school. The first semester of middle school for my son didn’t end very well. Why … [Read more...]
17
Sep 2017
A Student with Autism and a Behavior Chart My son is in ninth grade, which means high school. And, he’s had some bumps in the road during this all-important transition. What are some of the issues? *First of all, my son is going without an aide for the full school day. He has never been aide-less before in school. He wanted to go to high school without an aide, and we’re supporting his wishes. *He has been late to a few classes. *He has also been caught playing games on his phone. *He has forgotten to turn in homework. And, he has mixed … [Read more...]
10
Sep 2017
A Student with Autism Transitions to No School Aide Our son wanted to not have an aide in high school. And, here’s how it’s going… How did we begin the transition? My son had a full time aide in 7th grade. As the year ended, the aide would give him “breaks,” she wasn’t with him during snack and lunch. She would meet him at the classes that followed snack and lunch. He did well getting to those classes on time. By the time 8th grade started, my son wanted more independence. At his IEP, we talked to his teachers, and made a … [Read more...]
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