• Replies 2 replies
  • Subscribers 65 subscribers
  • Views 1031 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

Positive update

struggling mum

Few months ago my son and I were in a difficult situation. My son whose 11 has aspergers and although has various challenges also has my own strive for independence. My son had just started secondary and was getting taxis to and from school which was causing him great distress and frustration (long story some may remember my previous threads re the council). I finally moved house so he could be close enough to walk there which came with all its own parental worries - would he manage, be safe etc etc. 

My son has a fab teacher and between us he is successfully walking to and from school feeling independent and like the others. The house although not where I would of chosen (but kids come first) is bigger so he has a bigger bedroom and also a separate room to chill when he needs to. He still plays more technology than as a parent I would like but all in all I'm happy to say the move has finally happened and working well for him. 

We still have reluctance over homework and organising (any advice on this would be most welcome).

Finally, although we still have our challenges, his just been chosen to receive an award for his effort and hard work which makes me so proud of him and glad that the school seem to recognise the extra difficulties he has. Its also wonderful that this should give him a good confidence boost.

Secondary school has been a big transition and moving house on top he seems to of coped with this very well Smile 

Just wanted to check in and pass on that things are good now. I remember the worst year of my life when meltdowns and phonecalls from school was a daily occurance and I felt a complete failure as a parent not knowing why my son was behaving the way he was. It was only us both hitting real rock bottom that things then thankfully improved (diagnosis), educating myself, referral to a different school and thankfully what appears to be a good secondary with an understanding of autism. I hope the positives continue and wish you all well Smile

Parents

  • Hi S.Mum & Yorkshirelass,

    Great suggestions, by the way yorkshirelass.

    Great news re your son and I'm so glad things have picked up.

    If homework is about organizing his thoughts, then I have a few suggestions also.

    Down time for my son is essential. He's now in the upper years, but struggling with time management. Like the post above, he's had his academic subjects reduced to ease the stress, but uses the 'free time' to do homework at School. This separates his home life and School life to the extent that he is a lot happier. Organizational wise we have an edict, 'Do it when it's given, not when its due.' This also seems to work quite well. We have a whiteboard and pen at home for reminders, bag packing etc and another system where we lodge what he has handed in already, so we don't have meltdowns looking for books he's already submitted for marking. (This was a daily occurance at one point.)

    For some, 'Inspiration' is a great help for homework. The child brainstorms and then when he/she has finished they have all the ideas down for their piece. This tends to consolidate info into an image and therefore maakes it more memorable for recall. The principle is like 'Mind Mapping', by Tony Buzan. (I found this very helpful in my youth for exams, when I would previously have just frozen.) and can be easily done on paper, as much as a computer, but as your child moves up the academic ladder the push will be more towards using a computer. Try paper first (It's cheaper.) and look out a few of Tony's books and videos to see if it works for him, but I will post the link for the computer version also.

    www.youtube.com/watch

    The only issue is that you need good memory space on the computer. It may pay to have a dedicated computer for your son at I5 ,I7 (1TB) or above, to operate the systems, and memory without slowing the computer down. 

    http://www.inspiration.com/

    If your son is good with writing that's great, but if he struggles, but has good clear speach, Dragon Naturally speaking Pro would be ideal. It's quick to train, gets thoughts down on paper fast and ideal for the more Dyspraxic, one fingered typers, umong us. Many Directors, business people use it despite not having any difficulties, just for the pure speed of getting things down.

    www.software4students.co.uk/products

    If reading is the issue, or indeed spotting errors in written text, then Claro Read 6 Is also great. My son is severely Dyslexic and uses this program to insure his text is accurate and that he hasn't missed words. It can also be used to read long laborious text to you from items of research on the internet.

    www.clarosoftware.com/claroread

    The free trial, allows you to 'try before you buy.' The same thing re computer capacity, applies.

    Hope some of these suggestions are helpful

    Kind Regards

    Coogybear

Reply

  • Hi S.Mum & Yorkshirelass,

    Great suggestions, by the way yorkshirelass.

    Great news re your son and I'm so glad things have picked up.

    If homework is about organizing his thoughts, then I have a few suggestions also.

    Down time for my son is essential. He's now in the upper years, but struggling with time management. Like the post above, he's had his academic subjects reduced to ease the stress, but uses the 'free time' to do homework at School. This separates his home life and School life to the extent that he is a lot happier. Organizational wise we have an edict, 'Do it when it's given, not when its due.' This also seems to work quite well. We have a whiteboard and pen at home for reminders, bag packing etc and another system where we lodge what he has handed in already, so we don't have meltdowns looking for books he's already submitted for marking. (This was a daily occurance at one point.)

    For some, 'Inspiration' is a great help for homework. The child brainstorms and then when he/she has finished they have all the ideas down for their piece. This tends to consolidate info into an image and therefore maakes it more memorable for recall. The principle is like 'Mind Mapping', by Tony Buzan. (I found this very helpful in my youth for exams, when I would previously have just frozen.) and can be easily done on paper, as much as a computer, but as your child moves up the academic ladder the push will be more towards using a computer. Try paper first (It's cheaper.) and look out a few of Tony's books and videos to see if it works for him, but I will post the link for the computer version also.

    www.youtube.com/watch

    The only issue is that you need good memory space on the computer. It may pay to have a dedicated computer for your son at I5 ,I7 (1TB) or above, to operate the systems, and memory without slowing the computer down. 

    http://www.inspiration.com/

    If your son is good with writing that's great, but if he struggles, but has good clear speach, Dragon Naturally speaking Pro would be ideal. It's quick to train, gets thoughts down on paper fast and ideal for the more Dyspraxic, one fingered typers, umong us. Many Directors, business people use it despite not having any difficulties, just for the pure speed of getting things down.

    www.software4students.co.uk/products

    If reading is the issue, or indeed spotting errors in written text, then Claro Read 6 Is also great. My son is severely Dyslexic and uses this program to insure his text is accurate and that he hasn't missed words. It can also be used to read long laborious text to you from items of research on the internet.

    www.clarosoftware.com/claroread

    The free trial, allows you to 'try before you buy.' The same thing re computer capacity, applies.

    Hope some of these suggestions are helpful

    Kind Regards

    Coogybear

Children
No Data