Has the NAS carried out any research into what the most difficult and troublesome subjects are in secondary schools for students with ASD, and why?
Has the NAS carried out any research into what the most difficult and troublesome subjects are in secondary schools for students with ASD, and why?
I know what you mean about the math. I hated math until a good teacher explained WHY math works and how it came to be. Once I actually truly understood why we have the formulas we have and who came up with them and why, I finally got it and actually came to LOVE math to the point that I would solve algebra problems to relax. Yeah, I was called the weird kid in school. The first math teacher I asked about all that got really mad at me and told me the formulas work just because they do. Then he kept giving me failing grades even when I got the answers right. My dad made the school put me in a different class and that teacher was the one that actually took the time to teach me everything. It was actually a class for talented and gifted kids, which shocked me. Lol. But it was the best decision for me! I went from hating school to loving it. My dad was my hero for stepping in. That first teacher eventually got fired.
I loved math, science and art the most. I loved reading but hated English class. I hated PE the most. I used to do algebra equations to relax and people thought I was weird. I struggled socially and hated having to talk in front of the class or get called on to answer questions. I would literally nearly pass out when I got called on even if I knew the answer. My favorite subjects in college were anything having to do with science and medicine. I aced medical terminology and anatomy & physiology. I think I liked math the most because it was fairly set in stone and predictable. It took a good teacher to actually explain to me how and why math worked the way it did before I came to truly understand and love it though. Once I understood how and why things in our universe work the way they do, I started to really enjoy learning. Same thing with IQ test puzzles. At first, I could just guess the right answer but didn't understand why. Then someone on YouTube explained what patterns to actually look for and now I can spot the answer and know WHY. Good and patient teachers and professors made all the difference in the world to me! I even found an English teacher that explained things in a way that made me not hate the class so much. Lol. We're still friends to this day and that was over 35 years ago that she was my teacher! I found that I liked diagramming sentences and she made me see a connection to language I never saw before. It made me want to be a teacher myself but my social anxieties got in the way of me believing in myself so I went another direction. I studied medicine instead but then got too sick to finish medical school. I still love teaching other kids that remind me of myself when I was young though and tutor when I can. A quiet setting one on one fulfills my love of teaching better than trying to teach an entire class of rowdy kiddos. I loved and hated school. Loved learning... Hated socializing. That's about it in a nutshell.
A friend told me that one of his classmates failed (got an X grade in) his biology GCSE for refusing to dissect a dead rat that was pregnant as it was a coursework assignment. It was not possible to pass the GCSE without it.
PE due to lack of coordination and complete lack of interest in competitive sports. However I quite enjoyed cross country running. I also hated German, again because of lack of ability, coupled with having a teacher who made us stand up in class and read stuff out. Still, at least my pronunciation gave everyone a laugh.
Favourite subject was Biology, I have always been interested in nature. Didn't really enjoy having to dissect a cow's eyeball, though.
There's a lot of unanswered questions relating to ASD and research that the NAS should have carried out decades ago.
I actually found this quite easy, it seemed regardless how long ago something had been written it always was related to things happening around me. I could also come up with ideas to make it fit the time, unfortunately the teachers didn't agree with my interpretations. I found this quite arrogant because they had not met the author either...
Has the NAS carried out any research into what the most difficult and troublesome subjects are in secondary schools for students with ASD, and why?
...Apart from what has so far been volunteered here... that question - the original question (!) - is indeed a very good question. A "NAS-Moderator" needs to Reply to that in person. Good luck with trying to get them to do that...
Then there are the subjects that you actually like, but they can't be bothered to go the extra mile to make it useful to you. Late in life I seem to have discovered that I probably should have done more metalwork. My grandfather ran a foundry. My father didn't go into the family business because of the slump. And I probably inherited some of my manual clumsiness from him. But now I can see I have some ability with metal fabrication, that no one at school ever really made much effort to cultivate, as the family moved so often I just became an inconvenience to most teachers. I'm quite good at improvising. It is worth noting that people on the spectrum often have engineers in previous generations.
Greetings to you. Perhaps regretfully, I contribute, and state that at school the only troubles I ever had was with Socializing... (and so "Sociology").
I myself excelled in Art and English, and was quite alright with PE, Literature, Computing, Science (Chemistry, Physics, Biology)... yet (as I wrote in another Thread) I was also very good at Mathematics... until my own teachers insisted at me that "Mathematics is Difficult"!!
Thus my Post is to say... that everything is easy... until you are surrounded by persons who say that "no-one" finds it easy... and then you are finally surrounded by persons who STOP you from succeeding just to prove their point!
"What do you think the author meant by this?"
"Nothing at all, sir, it's just a story. Why can't you just accept that at face value? Why has there always got to be some sort of secret, hidden meaning? It's futile to ponder what the author might have meant, because unless he wrote his reasoning down, no one could possibly read his mind. And we can't ask him now, because he's dead..."
I hated languages, literature and art.
Sports were an absolute nightmare. I did everything I could to avoid Sports. This caused me so many problems. Including, extreme stress and anxiety. Finally, at some point I was exempt from Sports. That was a huge relief.
My favorite subjects were Algebra, Geometry, History, IT, Geography, Chemistry, Astronomy and Biology.
Languages, Literature, Art and Sports caused me a lot of problems and headaches.
I was struggling so much with Literature, Art and Sports.
I have almost zero interest in sports now.
Then the horrors of school changing rooms... I only ever attended the rooms once and I refused ever to go to them.
Sports and gymnastics are likely to be a big issue for many.
To this day, I have almost zero interest in competitive sports, and far prefer exercise in the form of walking, cycling and what I would call occupational exercise. To that end I have always really preferred work with quite a degree of manual labour. Although there are some sports I quite enjoy watching, I can't even begin to tell you the rules of most of them either. It just doesn't seem interesting. I'm a very ill-coordinated person with appalling balance and very erratic manual skills. I balance better when moving fairly rapidly, so a fairly strenuous walk or cycle ride appeals to me. I was late learning to balance on a bike, and even now I have to be constantly observant while riding. Over the years, I've worked hard to master construction skills, and enjoy them despite still being cack-handed. Skills also desert me sometimes. Today, I might make a good job of fitting a door lock, and the next day make an appalling hash of it. But still I persist.
I think there could be an element of infant neural damage in my case. I seem to have issues with balance. I could hardly climb a couple of feet up a tree until my early teens, and I definitely fear heights - although I eventually found I could cope with roof carpentry. I've heard that some people on the spectrum avoid gymnastics because they can't stand the idea of having their legs and body above their head. When I heard that, it immediately rang a very loud bell with me. And it does suggest some sort of what might be termed neural impairment - in my case possibly through a serious metabolic disorder in infancy.
Maths has been a pain, but I have to say that with a decent teacher it can be quite a joy. Particularly when the practicality of each course component is explained right from the start.
