Hi from mum in Scotland with 15yr old

 I really struggled through school and mainly because I just couldn't write down what I wanted to say quickly enough. Now 40 years later I suspect I has Aspergers and that this accounts for many of the stuggles I've gone through.

When about 15 I realised that to get through my exams (most of which were essay based) I needed to find a way to speed up. Since I struggled thinking and writing at the same time I developed a technique where I learnt an essay topic/answer word for word. So when I was in the exam I just had to concentrate on writing and called the words and sentences up from memory. My revision consisted of writing out answers to typical questions over and over again.

It sounds an absolutely crazy plan but that was the method that I created to all on my own to fix my problem.

I'm now a Senior Engineer, who still takes hours and hours to write reports but I must say Aspergers really does sit well with engineering as it is the clarity of thought that is one of the most essential skills.

I'm not suggesting that your son copies what I've done because he will find his own approach. My guess is that he knows the subjects perfectly so the challenge is to find a way that unlocks the process of getting it down on the page.

For example can he close his eyes and dictate the answer? If he can memorise the answer by dictating it can he then practice writing down what he is dictating. Finally he may be able to dictate it silently and write it down.

One of my key weaknesses is doing more than one process at a time, something that NT people don't recognise as an issue. For me the solution is to break the task down into a series single activities. Eventuallty I can refine the process so it looks as if I just doing it naturally like the gliding swan paddling furiously beneath the water.

I don't know if you can find a way to share these ideas with your son.

Dunk

 I really struggled through school and mainly because I just couldn't write down what I wanted to say quickly enough. Now 40 years later I suspect I has Aspergers and that this accounts for many of the stuggles I've gone through.

When about 15 I realised that to get through my exams (most of which were essay based) I needed to find a way to speed up. Since I struggled thinking and writing at the same time I developed a technique where I learnt an essay topic/answer word for word. So when I was in the exam I just had to concentrate on writing and called the words and sentences up from memory. My revision consisted of writing out answers to typical questions over and over again.

It sounds an absolutely crazy plan but that was the method that I created to all on my own to fix my problem.

I'm now a Senior Engineer, who still takes hours and hours to write reports but I must say Aspergers really does sit well with engineering as it is the clarity of thought that is one of the most essential skills.

I'm not suggesting that your son copies what I've done because he will find his own approach. My guess is that he knows the subjects perfectly so the challenge is to find a way that unlocks the process of getting it down on the page.

For example can he close his eyes and dictate the answer? If he can memorise the answer by dictating it can he then practice writing down what he is dictating. Finally he may be able to dictate it silently and write it down.

One of my key weaknesses is doing more than one process at a time, something that NT people don't recognise as an issue. For me the solution is to break the task down into a series single activities. Eventuallty I can refine the process so it looks as if I just doing it naturally like the gliding swan paddling furiously beneath the water.

I don't know if you can find a way to share these ideas with your son.

Dunk