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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

  • I understand that some  with asd have difficulties with English as they perceive things literally.  I have a daughter aged 16 recently given an asd diagnosis and her regular secondary school has made allowances for her difficulties by allowing her to drop certain subjects such as art as she has perfectionist problems and each project would never be right. 

    She also went in to meltdown just before her GCSE's refusing to do her exams.  Thankfully one of her big sisters has helped her by saying that she failed Maths (although this isn't true) to make her feel that failure is not so bad.  The school has been very helpful providing a room for her alone with an invigilator who helps to remind her how much time is left. This is not a private school.

    She does have some difficulty with writing but has been given time out when she needs it in the exam, unfortunately no extra time however. We missed the deadline for that allowance with the exam boards,  Perhaps a  laptop is not permitted incase it has access to the internet or notes - would they allow a standalone  word processing machine - see article here - a bit old but maybe still helpful on what you could get to help him do the exam.  About getting a word processing only device https://www.cnet.com/forums/discussions/in-need-of-a-good-portable-word-processing-device-556303/  I would say give up on the English literature and concentrate on the English Language only.  My daughter is doing this.  I would suggest looking at doing a course like this one in English Language and it will take as long as it takes to pass - don't pile the pressure on - http://eddistutorial.com/igcse-first-language-english.html  Future employers want to know if you can read and write decent English.  We are hoping my daughter will be accepted for an online work from home job as she has difficulty with social interaction.  I wish you and your son the best for the future.

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  • I understand that some  with asd have difficulties with English as they perceive things literally.  I have a daughter aged 16 recently given an asd diagnosis and her regular secondary school has made allowances for her difficulties by allowing her to drop certain subjects such as art as she has perfectionist problems and each project would never be right. 

    She also went in to meltdown just before her GCSE's refusing to do her exams.  Thankfully one of her big sisters has helped her by saying that she failed Maths (although this isn't true) to make her feel that failure is not so bad.  The school has been very helpful providing a room for her alone with an invigilator who helps to remind her how much time is left. This is not a private school.

    She does have some difficulty with writing but has been given time out when she needs it in the exam, unfortunately no extra time however. We missed the deadline for that allowance with the exam boards,  Perhaps a  laptop is not permitted incase it has access to the internet or notes - would they allow a standalone  word processing machine - see article here - a bit old but maybe still helpful on what you could get to help him do the exam.  About getting a word processing only device https://www.cnet.com/forums/discussions/in-need-of-a-good-portable-word-processing-device-556303/  I would say give up on the English literature and concentrate on the English Language only.  My daughter is doing this.  I would suggest looking at doing a course like this one in English Language and it will take as long as it takes to pass - don't pile the pressure on - http://eddistutorial.com/igcse-first-language-english.html  Future employers want to know if you can read and write decent English.  We are hoping my daughter will be accepted for an online work from home job as she has difficulty with social interaction.  I wish you and your son the best for the future.

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