School reports - how were yours?

I've just dug out my old school reports. Very enlightening!

Once I adapted to primary school I coped fairly well. I had the same teacher and class throughout, which helped a lot. My primary school teacher was lovely and I think she may have been autistic herself.

Some extracts from my last report from primary:

"expresses her views well on paper, although not forthcoming orally", "A quiet member of the class"

Already very apparent that my verbal skills were a long way behind my written skills.

"has shown a particular interest in maths"

Too true, I was obsessed with maths! Every day I used to ask my teacher for extra maths questions that I could do during break times and at home. I would much rather do maths questions than be forced to go out into the playground with the other children.

Like others have already commented, the transition to secondary school was extremely difficult for me. I went from having the same teacher for years to multiple different ones every day. My secondary school was  a rough comprehensive too, I did not fit in at all 

My first year at secondary school:

"lacking self confidence", "very quiet in class", "needs to speak up more in class discussions"

Even quieter than I was at primary school.

"exam results disappointing due to problems of timing", "tentative approach under timed conditions"

This was something I really struggled with under timed conditions. My brain needed more time to process questions and to think what to write. I could rarely finish exam questions in the time allowed. If I'd been able to finish I would have done much better in tests and exams. I note in the video posted above that this was something Sam struggled with too"

Years 2 and 3 at secondary school:

"quiet but very conscientious", "works quietly and conscientiously during lessons", "most conscientious", "conscientious and capable", "quiet and methodological", "participation must improve in the oral aspects"

A theme developing here. That word is used in my reports so many times in addition to the examples I have quoted. One of the comments below the linked video says "there should be a system that books an Autism assessment whenever a teacher describes them as "conscientious" 

"must learn to work quicker", "very slow on the practical side of the course"

Still struggling with timing. In practical lessons, such as home economics and needlecraft, I was hopeless and couldn't follow instructions or do any practical tasks without disastrous results.

Years 4 and 5 at secondary school. This is when I really started to struggle more and more. I stopped attending many lessons and just about dropped out of school completely towards the end. 

"works conscientiously", "conscientious worker", "conscientious effort", "continuing to work conscientiously", "oral work is poor"

Interestingly in year 4, despite my appalling attendance stats, my frequent absences barely seem to have been noticed by my teachers! I was obviously so quiet they did not notice if I was there or not.

"poor attendance record, will have to make much more effort", "progress hindered by frequent absences", "what has happened?", "must make effort not to miss lessons", "ability alone is not sufficient"

By my final year my teachers had finally noticed I was no longer attending their lessons. However nobody asked why or offered any support 

Autonomistic said:

I would much rather do maths questions than be forced to go out into the playground with the other children.

I used to love in junior school a rainy day when we were allowed to stay inside and read or draw instead of being forced out onto the playground! Another worse thing about senior school, since we didn't have our own classroom we had to fend for ourselves in the rain.

Not all of us are conscientious though. I was very bad at bothering to do my homework. Although I think I was in some ways.

I am surprised how many have said their poor attendance was not chased up. Makes me think i could totally have got away with skiving PE! Missed a trick there.

Autonomistic said:

I would much rather do maths questions than be forced to go out into the playground with the other children.

I used to love in junior school a rainy day when we were allowed to stay inside and read or draw instead of being forced out onto the playground! Another worse thing about senior school, since we didn't have our own classroom we had to fend for ourselves in the rain.

Not all of us are conscientious though. I was very bad at bothering to do my homework. Although I think I was in some ways.

I am surprised how many have said their poor attendance was not chased up. Makes me think i could totally have got away with skiving PE! Missed a trick there.

I was also at secondary in the 80s but I don't recall strikes causing so much chaos, maybe my school handled it better, or maybe a different part of the 80s? It sounds horrendous, as if school wasn't bad enough!

Yes, other kids were the worst. I did have some good friends which helped immensely. We had places to go at lunch, it was the breaks between lessons, but since my school was large and spread out, often half that time would be used going between classrooms. Still had to dodge the bullies. But I did fight back so it was more teasing than physical for me, which was bad enough.

Ah yes in secondary school there was no option to stay inside. I used to try hiding in various places, but I always seemed to be found by a teacher or a prefect and sent outside to fend for myself in the wild  It wasn't the rain that bothered me it was the other kids.

Being conscientious certainly isn't a prerequisite to be autistic, but those children were much more likely to be overlooked.

I attended secondary school in the 1980s. Due to the widespread and long running strike action even the teachers didn't bother turning up a lot of the time. I doubt I would get away with such a poor attendance record nowadays.

It really added to my anxiety, not knowing who the teacher was going to be in advance of lessons. Often the supply teachers couldn't control the class at all and the resultant noise was unbearable sensory overload for me. Different ability classes were often combined, as there weren't enough supply teachers available.  Sometimes no teacher turned up at all, not even a supply teacher. You can imagine how the other kids ran riot.