School reports

Post Reply New Topic

A question to all of you...how were you described in school reports?

Personally, my reports gave contrasting views. On the one hand, comments possibly symptomatic of AS - for instance, I was described as:

lacking self-confidence/ social confidence
struggling in 'everyday' social situations
being overwhelmed by large groups
passive in class discussions
lacking coordination in sport and crafts
very independent in class
needing to be encouraged to read with expression
having a strong sense of fairness and justice

On the other hand, perfectly normal, routine comments - I was also described as being:

friendly
well-liked
caring
considerate
warm

Finally, some characteristics mentioned regularly:

diligent
conscientious
purposeful
single-minded
quiet
unassuming

So what do you make of that?

"Your child is a wonderfully bright child with such a passion to learn, but he doesn't get along with most other students"

"anti-social"

"social score" - 1 (lowest)

"Get's along with peers" - 1 (lowest)

All my test/class scores were 4 (highest) while everything that dealt with being social was rated 1-2.

The only one I can remember critised me for 'fussing'. I still feel upset by it now, 30+ years later.

I kept myself to myslef in most of my classes, espicaliiy as I got older. I got one report from onr class that simply said 'satitfactory'. I doubt half the tecahers could have even told you who I was when I was in senior (high) school.

It's strange to see the "caring, considerate, warm" stuff in the middle of what otherwise looks like a diagnosis of AS. But I've always thought of myself as having those qualities....I'm not quite so sure now I've been diagnosed, because it doesn't fit the usual pattern, but I think I've shown signs of it when in the right kind of company.

There's no such thing in my school reports though. In those days they weren't interested in human/social qualities at all, it was all about grades, attention span, and discipline. So I got "good," "very good," or "excellent" to begin with, then later it was "he really must do better, he's messy and he's clowning about too much." But they weren't all wide awake. When I pulled out of my educational tailspin, I got the same comment on 2 (maybe 3) consecutive reports from one guy - "at last he has begun to settle down to doing some serious work" - that can't have been true more than once.

Same here. I recently chased down a copy of my elementary school records in hopes that they would help me when getting diagnosed, but all they had were grades and how I did on standardised tests. I thought that was a bit strange seeing as how I went to a counsellor twice a week for extra help, and came within a hair of failing grades 2-5. My parents said that my school would always call them about me missing my work and not participating in class, and complain that I needed to "crack down" on my studies. Try telling that to an 8 year old.

When I was in kindergarten, they described me as being very smart and a very good reader, but very quiet and withdrawn during recess and play time.

"Very friendly and her academic progress is excellent, but her playground behaviour is often inappropriate".

Just about sums it up, doesn't it!

Oh and practically every primary school report describes me as a 'popular member of the class'- blind teachers!

"Daedal is on Red Report for having pushing another child over today". I remember obsessing over the wording on that: "other child? she means Eddie? But how will my parents know it's Eddie then? They must know! It's terribly important!"

Secondary school- I usually have lovely comments about my writing and English, "is trying but still laughably uncoordinated" comments in PE, and 'must do better' comments about participation in everything else, although I have a comment about talking too much in year 7 Maths! I also have a few "she has not adjusted well to having a new teacher this year" (I was undiagnosed then). Then in Y11 it was all 'she is underachieving she has had umpteen detentions this year she will fail she will not get her bliddy A*s'. Those stupid reports caused so many fights with my parents.

All I remember is I didn't follow the rules and I had a hard time with change. Pretty much everything needed improvement. I don't remember any positives. I wasn't happy with what I read about myself because I didn't sound smart at all and I sounded mentally ret*d. I didn't know I was that bad and I thought I always followed the rules but maybe I didn't follow hidden ones or unwritten ones or I didn't understand what the rules were because other kids didn't follow them so it confused me. I remember breaking them sometimes but not often.

All of my school reports were about the same. Bright student. Bad handwriting. Needs to socialize with others.

"Off in her own little world", "daydreams" "fiddles with string constantly" ,"shreds paper and plays with it constantly" , "gets angry when routines are changed or when asked to sit in a different seat" "does not cope well with transitions", "allows herself to be teased and returns to the scene" (love that one), "talks to herself" , "hums" "repeats questions"

I was also rated by my mom and teachers for many years using child behaviour checklists (I guess they were always concerned about me). I was rated every single year by both mom and teachers as in the clinical range for "social problems/withdrawn", "odd behaviours" "inattention" and "hyperactivity" Can you believe I wasn't diagnosed until I was 13!

Last edited by daydreamer84 on 18 Mar 2011, 12:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

Me too......I can relate

The comment we saw most often was some form of "bright, but can't stop talking about unrelated topics in class". Usually, that meant Star Wars, and apparently nobody wanted to hear it. I also used to get a lot of phone calls home about having problems with authority, but those went away as I got older because sometime around 7th grade, I learned to hold my tongue. Usually, those stemmed from me correcting teachers. Just about every teacher I've ever had has commented on how I seemed extremely intelligent, but didn't do the busy work they call "homework", so my grades weren't good.

I dunno, I guess that's pretty normal stuff for school-aged kids. Nothing really out of the ordinary, I'd guess.

When I was young in grade school, I'd never get that much detail in my report card, except for "does not use time wisely". They were right, because I had no interest in the school work, and do the bare minimum that I had to do. I'd do nothing when I was done with school work, and never wanted to do the extra work given to me for when I'd get done with my work. I found school so boring, except for science class.

"She is extremely quite, and would benefit with sharing her ideas with the class, because she is exceptionally intelligent and her ideas are unique and the class could benefit from hearing her point of view"

"Her handwriting is poor and her spelling is poor also"

Those idiots should have known I was dyslexic, FOOLS!!

Anyways, that's the basic gist of how each and everyone of my reports sounded like, from kindergarten up to and including high school

Impulsive
Disruptive
Does not stay in seat
Does not get along with the other students
Sweet and caring with the handicapped
Bright
Does not work to potential
Does not meet apparent potential
Brilliant but does not work to potential
Could do much better if she applied herself
Talks excessively
Does not follow instructions
Refuses to participate in P.E.
Defient during P.E.
Does not complete homework assignmants
Does not pay attention in class
Finishes assignments early and disrupts class
Doesn't give the other students a chance to answer questions (tested and enrolled in gifted class shortly thereafter)
Does not actively participate in class discussions (after being punished at home for talking)
Getting an answer out of her is like pulling teeth
A joy to have in the class, but not meeting apparent potential
Wanders around class
Refuses to answer questions

etc etc etc