My son has high functioning autism, formerly Aspergers. I did not begin my program in special education because of my son, but I did think it would help me be a better mom to him. Today I was helping him with his 6th grade math. I was trying to explain only adding like variables and I said you cannot add 2x and 2b, it's like apples and oranges. He turned and looked at me and said, "What?" It wasn't that he didn't hear me, he did not understand the idiom. Many children on the autism spectrum have difficulty with idioms. They are fun and useful to get a point across, but it could mean absolutely nothing to a student wit autism. I am guessing my son literally pictured fruit in his mind and wondered what that had to do with math. Out of curiosity I asked him what the meaning of "curiosity killed the cat" was and he said the cat went into the road and got hurt. He was literally interpreting it. If we have not used an idiom regularly in our family he is much less likely to understand it. The ones we do use, he will use himself because he has had practice hearing it. This is a reminder to me that using slang or idioms can hinder the learning process of a child with autism. Just for those who have added interest in autism. My son follows rules to a T. If there is a rule list posted he will take the time to read the whole thing. Our local McDonalds has a large board with about 15 rules posted, such as "must wear socks". He will whisper to me about a child not wearing socks as if the child might go to jail. I have to explain that it's good hygiene but no one will say anything, it's not a big deal. The large air-filled jump castles normally have a warning sticker stuck to the entrance and he will stand and read it before he gets on to make sure he knows the rules. Tonight we were at a concert for his sister and the announcer says, turn your phones to vibrate and my son turns to me and says, "did you turn your phone off?" Adults and teachers love him. He does exactly as he is told. But this does not go over well with his own peers. He takes it personally that kids swear or say mean things about teachers. These are pretty average behaviors (not necessarily good, but normal) for a 12 year old. My son might go silent and separate himself from the other boys or he has even come home crying about what students have said about their teacher. There is another issue about this I want to bring up, but I will wait until tomorrow, this post is getting long.
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AuthorSpecial Education major in a university teaching program. Substitute teacher, previous homeschool mom, wife. Archives
September 2019
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