sentence writing - how to help my son

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Hi everyone,

I am after some tips/strategies to help my son with writing. This is a bit like another person's post, but my son is 6 and is just starting out.

At school they have a subject called 'writing' and the children are required to first draw a picture of something that they did on the weekend, and then write a sentence about it, like, 'I went to the park'.

My son is a slow writer and I know he finds it hard to organise his thoughts, then write and then remember what it is that he's writing. He tends to lose concentration in the middle of words and has to be prompted and encouraged a lot.

Does anyone have any suggestions that could be implemented in class to help him?

Thanks for any ideas!!
Temma

Would it be acceptable if he told an aide his sentence, she wrote it down somewhere, and then he copies it on his drawing?

A lot of people on the autistic spectrum get upset about doing things that don't have concrete answers. It used to cause my son to have meltdowns at school. Too many possibilities and which one is the best choice? It's a quick way to make school completelly miserable.

If you got his sightwords and cut them up (and laminated them) he could probably make his own sentence out of them by simply rearranging them.

If he had time after that, he could start copying that sentence down.

this isn't going to be what the teacher probably wants, nor possibly you, but can he describe it in the third person?

"Mike with red shirt" or "Mike plays games", or something along that line. Maybe finish it with "I am Mike".

I like the idea of an Aide writing it down and then him copying it.
It's first grade... I wouldn't push too hard just yet for him to be where any other kid is.
I saw kids.. especially boys.. who were behind with this sort of stuff into the second grade or so, then they caught up with the other kids (mostly girls).

Hope someone comes up with something that inspires you to figure out something yourself or something that you can use straight from here.

I hate seeing kids frustrated in school... seems those are the kids who get more pressure put on them to get the work done instead of trying to figure out how to help them get through the struggles.

Thanks very much for your replies!

I think getting his aide to write the sentence so he can copy it and also using the word cards (not simultaneously!) would work. They are great ideas!

You've all made some really good points and I agree with them. I hate seeing my son get frustrated over something like this. Wsmac, most of the other kids in my son's grade are roughly at the same standard - they could all do with some more structured help with the breaking down of tasks. I can see why some kids get left behind in the ed system, (I'm talking in general here, not just ASD kids).

OregonBecky, that's so true and I'll have to keep that in mind. I really liked the other post you made, (to someone else about their 12 year old son not writing), about encouraging your son to do his best. That was very inspiring.

Thanks again,
Temma

When my son was in public school, he had to dictate sentences to a teacher or aide. My son has dysgraphia and therefore, writes very slowly and when he was younger...he wrote his letters way too big.

If he had stayed in public school, they were going to give him a keyboard and give up on him writing at all. (they will suggest that around 2nd or 3rd grade if your child has an IEP)

We tried the "copy the aides copy, and it worked well for a time"

It may also be useful to put a laminated copy of the letters(font) that he is to use at his desk, so he can look at it
when he needs to decide how to form a letter.

For my son and I, there is a disconnect that occurs between the creation of the concept of what to write, and the physical process of writing. Literally the act of deciding how to make the first letter, causes the word to vanish from our minds.

Your son may be the same way.
Put the thought that it may be true for your son
and look for ways to accomodate it.

have him write about things he likes or is interested in at home for practice.

it slowly but surely carried over to school for our son. He wasn't writing anything in class with the 'how was your weekend' type questions but really developed his writing about trains, whales etc. with us.

He's still not writing volumes with the in class assignments but it's a lot more than it was. We get a 30 page 'book' on sea creatures and rain forests at home though. Chock full of facts.

baby steps.

hope this helps

Over the past few years, I have noticed that many children on the spectrum have a really hard time with writing. Not so much with spelling, grammar or other "rule-based" domains...more with producing a quality piece of writing, writing about a non-preferred topic, and just getting "stuck." I know there is also a fine-motor issue that also seems to interfere. I found some recent research that supports the use of a child's "special interest area" to increase the motivation to write. In fact, when one allows a child to write about his/her special interests, he/she is able to move beyond their fine motor issues! I plan to get the word out in my school

I was going to give a big long reply to this but figured it was worth a generic blog entry instead.


Leveraging the Special Interest to Improve Education (Life with Aspergers Blog)

"From Tarantulas to Toilet Brushes: Understanding the Special Interest Areas of Children and Youth with Asperger's Syndrome" by Winter-Messiers

Yes, motivation is a big factor. My son's OT said the other day that he powered through a writing task as the reward was really good, (he got to make and eat a biscuit).

When I ask my son what he'd like to write about in class, he answers things such as if bears are friendly in North America or how would you escape from Jaguars in the Amazon. (A current but waning interest). Certainly not what we did on the weekend!

Trying to get my son to write at home is pretty hard, even if it is a special interest topic, but I can see how that would help.

EvilTeach, I think you're right. J is so busy concentrating on the writing, that he might forget what comes next. I'm going to ask the teacher to always make sure he has a word and alphabet list next to him. Good idea!

What my son does is that he writes a letter, then sits back in his chair and looks around or waves his pecil about, then goes onto the next letter. This makes the task extra slow. Tortuga, yes my son has an IEP and I've made it clear that if he continues to have problems with writing as he gets older, then he can switch to a computer.

Thanks to everyone for your great suggestions! Much appreciated.

Temma

I had/have a writing disability all through school, too. I'm in college now and I'm still a slow writer, but with time and a half on exams I can usually do ok...

My first inclination is that there are maybe too many steps and components to these writing assignments. Like the drawing/writing example - it may be harder to draw out a concept then translate it into words then to just write out what he means, for example. I would find it interesting to see if he has less trouble just writing a sentence about what he did over the weekend, or if the teacher insists drawing is involved, to write the sentence first then do the drawing.

Also, if he has aspergers, it may be significantly more difficult to write about what he, personally, did over the weekend ( I certainly had much difficulty writing about myself!) so it may be worth trying something different, like describing what a character in a favorite movie/TV show/book did instead.

The key idea here is to narrow down the precise difficulties. Even though he may, say, have only minor difficulties talking about what he did over the weekend, and only minor difficulties writing but combined, it becomes a major problem.

Also, it may be he's just a slow writer, like I am. As long as I'm given sufficient time, slowness has never been a major impediment at any stage of education, even in college. If this is the case, working on not letting him lose focus is probably more important that writing speed. Again, narrowing the writing task so that it's as targeted and simple may help "build" up his concentration so that later he can do more complex assignments.

Thanks for your input everyone!

This is what I have ended up doing, I made a 'writing folder' for ds to use at school.

I got a manilla folder and cut it so it opens up. In the first bit of the folder, I wrote 'Sentence 1' and divided it into three section. He has to choose a word from each section and copy them into his book, and then he has to make up the rest of the sentence choosing his own words.

In the next fold of the folder, I wrote 'Sentence 2' and have given a list of sentences he can choose from. These are all very short sentences so it's not too daunting and will help his confidence in practising to write two sentences (hopefully).

Then in another bit of the folder I wrote 'Sentence 3' and it's based on Sentence 1, but expands on what the topic is. (In my son's IEP there is a goal for him to write two sentences).

I'm waiting for feeback from the teacher but she seemed to like the idea, as it was user-friendly, and unlike sentence cards which would just end up on the floor or scattered around the table , everything is contained and hopefully it will encourage independence with writing...

If anyone can think of any other ideas, I'd love to hear them.

Cheers,
Temma

I also stuck in some words lists for him to use.

I think it is important to remember that writing is actually a multi-function process, which is why it is especially difficult for Aspies. You are basically trying to multi-task whenever you write, and that isn't appropriate for the way many Aspies think. As someone noted above, the act of trying to form a letter takes the mind off of the idea that was going to be communicated.

This is something my son works on a lot in resource (his pull out sessions), with various tracking exercises and other things that are supposed to help him integrate the concepts. In the meantime, he gets accomodations in the classroom, usually being allowed to dictate to an aide. He composes amazing stories and reports when he is allowed to share them verbally. I have no idea how he can organize so many ideas and so much information inside his head, and then produce it perfectly, verbally. It blows his teachers away, as well. But trying to put that same organized story onto a piece of paper? It's hell for him. The other skills required get in the way.

Just FYI, my son cannot copy, although he can trace. For some reason he cannot track from the source to his own paper. He has problems with information on the front board as well.

I guess I don't have a lot of constructive ideas, since we have been fortunate to have a school that agrees this area is often difficult for Aspies, and has been providing accomodations ever since my son was diagnosed. It was actually issues with the writing assignments that prompted the evaluation for Aspergers. Interesting, isn't it?

And, yet, despite all that, when my son is adequately inspired he can write his own books. What makes the difference, we only wish we knew.

PS - I saw you new post right after I finished, and I think breaking it all down and making all visually easier will help. Very solid ideas!