going to school intro letter to teachers

[Guest guest]

by Roni

>

>

>

> Dear ____________,

>

> Hello, we are ________'s parents. Our child has been diagnosed

with

> Asperger's Syndrome (AS), which is a neurobiological disorder on

the

> Autistic spectrum. It is impossible for me to define in detail AS

in

> one letter, but I would like to give you all the support that I

can.

> Working together as a team with open and frequent communication is

> the key to helping ______ manage himself and find his place.

>

> While there is no cure for AS, we should help _____ develop self

> help and coping techniques so that he can manage the over-

> stimulating and confusing world around him. There is a range of

> severity of symptoms within the syndrome, the very mildly affected

> child may appear odd or eccentric. The clinical features of AS

> include:

>

> Social interaction impairments.

> Speech and communication characteristics.

> Cognitive and academic characteristics.

> Sensory impairments.

> Restricted patterns of behavior, interests and activities.

>

> Additionally, there are other less popular criteria which can

> surpass or coexist with the above symptoms. Many of which can be

> identified or defined as:

>

> Egocentric

>

> Emotionally fragile

>

> Easily stressed

>

> Low tolerance for frustration

>

>

> Each symptom plays it's own part in every aspect of _____'s life.

> Each comes about in different ways in different situations. Even

> under the best of circumstances, an unexpected change or

stimulation

> can set in motion unseen stress that can result in a rage or

> meltdown hours later coupled with other external factors. Many

> children, _____ included, do not reveal stress through voice tone,

> body posture, etc. Understanding that it is not always the direct,

> visual, obvious factors, but the unseen and unrelated ones as well.

> Almost all of these features are not the result of willful

> misbehavior or malice, but the inability to connect or understand

> the world around them.

>

> Behavioral problems are almost always connected to feelings of

> stress, fatigue, loss of control, inability to predict or manage

> outcomes. At times our child simply does not innately know how to

> respond. Aggressive behavioral responses are a defensive panic

> reaction related to the " flight/fight/fright " response. To

> understand and manage classroom behavior, it is necessary to know

> what _____ (and many AS children) innately need. An environment

that

> is highly structured, organized, calm, predictable and controlled.

> It is under these conditions that _____ can do his best work, and

by

> extension, act his best. _____ depends on external " order " to

> maintain his own internal " order. "

>

> Children with AS have many " splinter skills, " in this _____ is no

> different. It is often these abilities that act against the child

in

> masking underlying problems. Very often these splinter skills are

> misleading, just because a child can parrot or memorize given

> information doesn't mean that the material is understood in a

larger

> scope for which the material is intended or needed for more complex

> hierarchical subjects. It is in these academic areas that _____ has

> been able to excel, when in fact it underscores his uneven personal

> development as a child who " exceeds the work of other children " and

> yet displays " emotional immaturity. "

>

> Splinter skills in children who have AS are seen as:

> Above average intelligence

> Exceptional rote memory

> Strong command of language

> Primarily visual learners

> Strong interest in math, science and nonfiction material

>

> Children with AS pass easily through the curriculums of the early

> grades based primarily on the methodology of the instruction that

> matches their splinter skills. In order to educate a child who has

> AS or high-functioning autism you must try to understand the way

> that information is filtered, processed, stored and recalled. All

> the while factoring in the personality and the way that _____ works

> with classmates and keeping in mind the splinter skills and

> distractions that may interfere with the way that information is

> filtered.

>

> While research in this area of how children retain and process

> information is still being investigated, we know the following to

be

> true of children who have AS:

>

> Concrete and literal thinkers

> Inability in discerning relevant from irrelevant information

(i.e.:

> all info. vs. highlights)

> Inability to generalize information (i.e.: " if you know this, then

> you know that " )

> Poor problem solving mechanics (i.e.: using one strategy in all

> problems)

> Fine motor control and strength (i.e.: handwriting, shoes,

> scissors=frustration)

>

> Additionally, there are many factors that can inhibit the way that

> _____ filters and recalls information. Information is filed in

> thousands of individual small files, neither of which has anything

> to do with all the other thousands of " mental files. " Material is

> learned in one dimension and for that fact alone. WE must teach or

> determine a way for _____ to connect all these files together. A

way

> for all the information to be linked together and generalized. We

> must ask ourselves " How do we teach generalization?, " the answer to

> actually, visually take the information and physically show all the

> ways that it can and can't be used.

>

> These characteristics can affect academic performance.

>

> Distraction/Inattention (i.e.: hum of lights, trying to focus on

> all details)

> Tunnel vision: (i.e.: adherence /monitoring class rules, personal

> interests)

> Rote memory: (VERY DANGEROUS, memorizing all the facts and then

> parroting the information in an " asked & answered " format without

> bridging that information for use in other material or personal

> experience)

> Visual verses auditory processing: (visual stronger than auditory)

> Structure: (classroom rules are for this classroom only, not music

> room, assembly)

> Problem-solving: (+, plus, addition= same strategy)

> Motivation : (strong lack of motivation, he sees no relevance to

> material and necessity to his scheme, personal experience, out

> come)

> General behaviors: Preference to work alone, isolate oneself. -

Love

> praise, winning, being first and pleasing adults. -Find losing,

> imperfection and criticism difficult to take. -Need to finish tasks

> they have started. -Work well one to one rather then in a group.

> Social Interaction -Poor use of nonverbal gestures and

> understanding of same. -Insists on all classmates following rules. -

> More self-centered then selfish. -Prefer younger children or adults

> for conversation. -Blatantly honest to a fault, can be labeled "

> tattle tale " -No interest in competitive sports or team games,

> preferring solitary activities/sports

> Communication/Speech: -Monotone voice -Overly formal speech -

> Metaphors and similes need to be explained. -Appear to speak " at "

> you rather than with you. -Pragmatic language difficulties. -Lack

of

> eye contact. -Literal interpretation of directions " We will go

> tomorrow " -Vocalizations help to organize deluxe ideas or provide

> comfort. -Stress/anxiety will inhibit speech patterns and confuse

> _____.

> Narrow interests/preoccupations: -One of the hallmarks of AS is

the

> preoccupation with certain topics. These preoccupations, usually in

> intellectual areas change over time or evolve, but do not lessen in

> intensity and may be pursued to the excursion of other activities.

> It has been surmised that these special interests are scratch used

> to facilitate communication, indicate intelligence, provide order

> and consistency.

> Routines/Inflexibility: -Children often impose rigid routine on

> themselves and those around them, from how they want things done,

to

> what they will eat. Routines will change from time to time. This

> inflexibility shows itself and other ways to, giving rise to

> difficulties with imaginative and creative thinking. The child

tends

> to like the same old thing done in the same old way over and over

> again. There appears to be a developmental sequence in the nature

of

> the interests, and the next phase is a fascination with the topic

> rather than an object. For _____ it began as reading letters when

he

> was 2, then writing them, spelling words, etc. Routine appears to

be

> imposed to make life predictable and to impose order, thus the

> establishment of routine ensures that there is no opportunity for

> change. As the person matures the insistence tends to diminish, but

> changes never easily tolerated.

> Motor skills: -Within this framework _____ is affected in the area

> of fine motor skills. He cannot write for long periods of time. He

> tends to rush handwriting to get it over with quickly, I believe to

> some extent that this is responsible for _____'s short independent

> writings and stories.

> Theory of Mind: -This final obstacle describes the way children

> with AS perceive other people's thoughts. They believe that their

> thoughts are the thoughts of everyone else. They do not appreciate

> that each person has their own independent thoughts. This would

> explain why they easily frustrate when other people don't know or

> understand what they are talking about. They also believe that

> everyone wants to follow the order and control of the environment

> just as they do, which justifies their " controlling " personality.

> As I said, there is no easy way to describe this. I have done my

> best to layout all the obstacles that we have come across. The good

> news is from here on I will give you several strategies and tips

for

> working with _____ in both behavioral and academic ways. I have

> reviewed the material that addresses educational strategies to the

> best of my abilities, and taking into consideration the learning

> style that works best with _____ I can offer you the following

> suggestions:

> Visual Cues: *Charts, Outlines, Graphics. Visual will always work

> better than auditory.

> Structural Changes: *As often as possible, give advanced warnings

> to the changes taking place. *Pair _____ with a classmate that has

> an easy going personality or who might be slightly younger. Keeping

> in mind that he has to learn social skills from role-playing and

> peer directed activities.

> Assignment Notebooks are very useful. _____ almost never relays

> information to me about his day and would never remember verbal

> instructions to be told later. Additionally, he never remembers his

> belongings and then later would " meltdown " over forgetting

> something. It would be best to keep a visual schedule for him

before

> he leaves the classroom for the day. * Timelines work very well for

> us. Giving _____ a five minute warning to a change in the activity

> has been very useful in helping him transition.

> Instructional Sequence: *A rationale is needed when teaching

_____.

> He very often sees no relevance in the learned material to his own

> life or to other class work down the road. It is often necessary to

> explain WHY the material is necessary, how the student can use it,

> and why is works with something that they already have learned.

> Verification of the material is helpful during the instruction to

> verify that _____ is on task and focused. It also lets you confirm

> that _____ is coping with the external stimuli by filtering it out

> and staying on task.

> Motivation: *Notoriously known for not being motivated to complete

> tasks or to share in interests outside of their own interests are

> hallmark to the criteria of AS. The only ways to combat these are

to

> challenge _____ with relating the work to their personal interests

> (Pokemon, Nintendo, WB) or letting _____ partake in an activity

that

> he enjoys after the work is down. Nothing like old fashioned

> bribery.

>

> There are two other areas which you should be aware of that happen

> outside of the classroom but relate to the goings on inside the

> classroom. HIDDEN CURRICULUM In every school there is

an " education "

> that happens outside of the classroom. Students may know which

> teacher lets you go to the bathroom during a test or three at a

time

> instead of two. How you can run down the hall without being caught,

> which teacher lets you slide on an assignment once a week, or what

> the cool kids are wearing. Everyone knows that except for _____. To

> me school is more that a place to learn, it's the social life of a

> child. Friendships must be helped along and tolerance and

> understanding must be fostered. It is not enough that _____ " get

> through " his school day, but grow from it, it ways that the class

> work doesn't address. The skills that I teach him to use on the

> playground don't carry over by _____ to use in the classroom. It

may

> seem out of place, but it's needed nonetheless. Home Base: Students

> with AS often spend a significant amount of their school day coping

> with and managing their personal stress. They very often do not

> reveal that they are under stress, either through physical signs or

> voice tone. In the event that stress is evident it may be useful to

> provide a " home base " for _____ to retreat to. A home base provides

> an opportunity to " zone out " and collect themselves. _____ can take

> class assignments or tests to this area and work on them in a less

> stressful environment for a period of time. _____ needs to

> decompress when he comes home, and usually retreats to his room for

> about an hour. Managing and coping during the day take their toll

> and it is often very difficult to work with him in the evenings.

Any

> communication from the teacher should be in written form as it is

> difficult to get messages from _____. It is evident that several

> steps and modifications are necessary to help _____ manage his

> personal and academic environment. However, despite the steps,

> nothing is more important than the personality of the teacher. A

> teacher that is nurturing, personable and loving is the best match

> for _____.

>

> Once _____ has " let you into " his world he will display affection

> and try to be the junior teacher of the class. He views teachers

and

> adults as the ones who control and organize the world around them,

> since this is his ultimate goal he will do his best to model them.

> The teacher that is combative, authoritative and domineering will

> not make any gains with _____.

>

> More than anything we want you to know that we will support you and

> help you in any way that we can. I know that you have been

presented

> with a challenging task, and there will be more bad days than good

> days in the beginning. When things are going good for a period of

> time, it doesn't mean that _____ is cured or never had a problem.

It

> means that you have a close relationship with _____, understand his

> needs and provide him with an environment in which he feels safe.

> Together you and _____ will work hard, second grade is a very

> critical and challenging time. The work becomes less rote and more

> abstract, critical thinking skills are established and the

> foundation for the next years are laid out.

>

> Please keep us informed of any changes, I am available to meet with

> you any time. I welcome any input or suggestions that you may have,

> please don't think that I am too busy or overwhelmed. I will come

to

> meet with you always, nothing means more to me than the wisdom of a

> teacher when enriching the life of my special little boy.

>