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ASD and GCSE English

Athena

Hi,

My oldest son is 15 and has had an ASD diagnosis since he was 9. He now copes pretty well in after years of developing strategies, however, he has come up against a brick wall with his GCSE English. He can discuss the work in class but goes blank when it comes to putting it down on paper. I have discussed this with him and he says it is like he has the thought but the moment he picks up a pen it disappears. We had a meeting with school as they put this down to him not wanting to do the work and they weren't rentirely wrong as if he thinks he can't do it then he doesn't want to do it but it all stems from his ASD reactions. We thought that this was just with the Eng Lit exam so didn't put alot of pressure on him (they take it at the end of year 10 and then do Eng Lang in Year 11). We spoke to him about support options but he wasn't interested in using a laptop or speaking and getting someone to scribe instead. He took his exam but doesn't think that he did very well - all the little noises in an exam room were off putting for him too. Now my son has started doing his English Language and this seems to be worse. He has to find the metaphors etc in the work and he just can't do this, in his words "the curtains are blue because they are blue", it has nothing to do with indicating depression etc. Again school are saying that they have tried everything to help him and he is just refusing their help, he will now have to take his English lessons in inclusion. I don't know how to help him. I have tried to talk to him about it but he says he just can't do it and there is nothing we can do.

I have read in many places that English is a classic area for ASD to have issues with but I have found nothing to suggest how to deal with it.

Does anyone have any suggestions? My main concern is that my son will struggle with any further education etc without any form of English GCSE.

Many thanks

Parents

  • Wow, it was so long ago I had commented on this subject. My son is now 22 and in the middle of doing a degree at university. He finally got a B for his GCSE English on his 5th attempt, and with his BTEC got to uni. He would not have got his English if not for an excellent member of staff who finally made sure he got everything he was entitled to in order to take the exam, ie, extra time, to be able to type on a computer, to work with no interruptions in a quiet place. I think as a parent one must go on and on at the staff, which I did, but in the end this one lady made sure things were done properly and fairly, and I thank her from the bottom of my heart.

    The university and Student Finance have all sorts of support (much more than school or 6th form college) and he has the services of a mentor and a note taker, a computer with helpful software and help with accomodation. He had to have assessments galore to get these things, and it was a bit of a slog. Sometimes things are difficult for him, but he is still there, loving the course and managing independent life pretty well and socialising much more. A bonus for him is that the course doesn't have exams.

    He now has a bit more choice with future employment or self employment with skills in a vibrant and growing business sector. It just took that one person to understand and be bothered to find the right help for him, and others like him, to progress. There are so many hurdles.

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  • Wow, it was so long ago I had commented on this subject. My son is now 22 and in the middle of doing a degree at university. He finally got a B for his GCSE English on his 5th attempt, and with his BTEC got to uni. He would not have got his English if not for an excellent member of staff who finally made sure he got everything he was entitled to in order to take the exam, ie, extra time, to be able to type on a computer, to work with no interruptions in a quiet place. I think as a parent one must go on and on at the staff, which I did, but in the end this one lady made sure things were done properly and fairly, and I thank her from the bottom of my heart.

    The university and Student Finance have all sorts of support (much more than school or 6th form college) and he has the services of a mentor and a note taker, a computer with helpful software and help with accomodation. He had to have assessments galore to get these things, and it was a bit of a slog. Sometimes things are difficult for him, but he is still there, loving the course and managing independent life pretty well and socialising much more. A bonus for him is that the course doesn't have exams.

    He now has a bit more choice with future employment or self employment with skills in a vibrant and growing business sector. It just took that one person to understand and be bothered to find the right help for him, and others like him, to progress. There are so many hurdles.

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