Asperger's or NVLD homeschooled children, any advice?

Question

My daughter is 13 and fits both profiles. We use Math -U-See and Sequential spelling. She unschools a lot of science and history and excels at both. Do you have any strategies or advice on how to enhance writing skills and keyboarding? She has amazing, well thought out stories but can not physically get them on paper. Her grammar is excellent. Also staying on task is a challenge.

What techniques or curriculum materials do you find helpful?

Any advice or encouragement would be appreciated.

Answer 1

hi, my son also has asperger's and adhd and ocd . i use Scott foresman books. have her keep a journal, put in anything she wants. writing letters to loved ones help. keyboarding- don't have any advice there, don't know how you can help her w/ that. maybe she can keep a journal on the pc and write letters by hand?  staying on task, i only do 30 min of work w/ my son at a time. any longer, it's impossible for him to pay attention. i also try to make learning fun, in different ways. you know your daughter so you should be able to come up w/ something to make it fun. i also get him involved around the house, point out tidbits here and there, history,math English etc. as far as encouragement, you go girl!!! homeschooling a disabled child is tough, i know. just living w/ them can get real frustrating and heart wrenching. my son is 12, will be 13 in Oct. I've been homeschooling him since mid 2nd grade, when i found out all he did at school is look out the window and hide from the other kids. the special ed depts aren't the best place for kids w/ asperger's, i know. i do plan on putting him in a special school for kids w/ asperger's, when he's ready, say in 3 yrs. i know i can't keep him too sheltered, he needs to be around people. i want him to be able to work, get his own place, a family of his own. keep up the good work! and more power to you!

Answer 2

You might look at Dianne Craft's web site. She has a lot of resources for right brain learners which a lot of struggling learners are. My 11 year old son still reverses letters and has trouble forming others so we've been using Dianne's book Brain Integration Therapy Manual. It's sort of like muscle building exercises for the brain to help train both sides to work together, which is necessary for writing. As to staying on task, I've found my son responds really well to a set time limit for each subject. He sets the timer and when it goes off, he knows he's done and can move on. Otherwise he feels like the work is going to go on forever and that gets discouraging. I would start with short time periods (20 minutes?) and work up slowly.

One last thought: academic intelligence as measured by written tests is only one measure of success. Unfortunately it is the most common method of evaluating knowledge, but it doesn't have to be the only indicator of progress. If your daughter can verbally explain what she knows, that is just as valid as a written test. You might look into the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling which uses more oral discussion, called narration.

Answer 3

We have a 13 yo boy with both. We unschool everything.

For writing, we just don't force handwriting beyond what is necessary for daily life (signature, filling in bank forms, etc) Everything else is typed out. We did do some typing programs to help with speed, but a lot has just come with practice. You might fiddle around with system preferences for the keyboard to see if faster or slower key strokes will help, as well as mouse entry.

You could look at voice recognition programs, so she can speak to the computer, or also look at a digital recorder, and after she's made up a story, type it for her. We did that a lot until he was tired of waiting for me to have time to type it, and then he just would start and go slow. After a while he went faster.

Edit: My son does much better socially now after four years of homeschooling. The problem with public school was that with 30 kids in his classroom, he was SO overwhelmed that he could not even begin to understand how to socialize. The teacher was not available to help him understand social issues, and the school would not provide an aide to help him learn. By homeschooling, he is in smaller groups, his band had 12 students, his science museum class had eight, and he could work through issues better and the teachers had a better view of inappropriate bullying, and could help him socialize. Kids with aspergers do not just pick up socialization, they need help. As for free time, he has plenty of friends and they hang out at our house usually so I can help and then step back. Homeschoolers have LOTS of socialization, not only with age mates, but with the entire community while shopping, paying bills, etc, that most public schoolers never face until after graduation. THAT is infinitely more useful in social skills.

Answer 4

I have a friend who homeschools a boy with Aspergers.  She is using the A.C.E. curriculum.  She says that he loves it and is doing so well compared to other curriculum she has used in the past.  I know that if you call the company and ask for a sample they will send it to you.  

You can call them at:    1-800-925-7777

http://www.aceministries.com/homeschool/...

Answer 5

I think that homeschooling is a great option for a lot of parents.  However, kids with aspergers should NEVER be home schooled.

Aspie kids have above average IQ's (>120) and don't have academic problems.  Homeschooling them is no more difficult than throwing a book at them and telling them the test is next tuesday.  

At the same time, they are, by definition, socially retarded and REQUIRE intensive social training specially designed for aspies. This is something that simply can't be taught in a homeschool environment.  

While homeschooling an aspie is an instant cure for the bullying problem, it totally prevents the aspie from succeeding as an adult in a social world.  You can always give your aspie kid home training in addition to regular school, but homeschooling as a substitute for regular school is a really bad idea when it comes to children with aspergers.

I know that many homeschooling parents think they are doing a good thing for their aspie kids, but the facts are that their aspie kids will never be able to succeed at life because they have no social skills.

So please reconsider your decision to homeschool your aspie.

Answer 6

Have a look at IEW - its a US program that has managed to get our ASD child over the "blank page" syndrome.  It is very structured and I am very pleased with it.  Well worth the price and it was recommended by lots of other parents of AS children.

We still struggle to improve keyboarding which is odd as ours is a good pianist so I would have thought that the two might be related.  I think that they have trouble with the two things together - thinking what to say and the typing or writing action.

Voice recognition is worth pursuing if your child has distinct and reproducible voice.  Dragon dictate is the most popular.  You have to train it though.  I am going to revisit this now mine is 8 and got good diction.

Try Earobics 1 and 2 for listening skills - computer program that has been around for a long time.

Georgina