Well, at least "amazing" to me. Maybe "confounding," or "enlightening" (if I can figure out what it means) would be better terms.
As most of y'all know, my youngest son lives with a mild form of autism that renders him socially, emotionally, and somewhat physically retarded. He has always done well in school (relative to his handicap)...until this year in the 7th grade. He is pulling strong A's in most of his classes, but is truly struggling in English.
He will not do his work in English class, and mostly just keeps his head down on his desk...or acts like he doesn't understand the work. But, he aces all the tests. Yet, his lack of willingness to do class work, or bring assignments back the next day has landed him with a solid "F" to this point.
So, Pam and his English teacher have worked out a deal. His teacher has been e-mailing all the classwork, and homework assignments to us for Paul to do at home. This is a GOOD arrangement. We know exactly what he is supposed to be doing for homework, and his teacher has come to understand that #4 son is absorbing the info...but she doesn't want to let him off the hook of actually doing the classwork. That's a good thing in my book.
Tonight, we opened up the e-mail with the links to the work. There were PowerPoint files that he was to do verbally...and we report back to the teacher his results, whether he understands it, yada yada yada. And, there were .pdf files with questions that he answers verbally, also. He got all of those correct.
Then, there were some MS Word files that he was to complete.
I watched him whiz through those exercises in a flash. The amazing/confounding/(maybe) enlightening thing to me was how he did them. The boy had the mouse in his right hand, and scrolled down through the Word documents, while typing (flawlessly) at a vicious rate on the keyboard...WITH ONLY HIS LEFT HAND!
Seriously, he was tearing up that keyboard, really rippin' it a new one...but with ONLY HIS LEFT HAND. I mean...just his left hand. And, he was in the zone...not looking at the keys hardly at all...just focusing on the screen...and typing like crazy with ONLY HIS LEFT HAND.
He writes with his right hand, and his penmanship is barely suitable for nursery school. He kicks a ball with his left foot, throws a ball with either hand, and shoots a basketball right-handed. He is 13, and has never been able to learn to ride a bicycle (though God knows we've tried many times...he can't seem to pedal right/left, right/left, right/left), nor tie his shoes. I still have to do that for him.
There is something going on...some code I've got to crack to help this boy. I know it's all in there. Many professionals have worked with #4 son. Many. There is a key that is going to unlock his tremendous potential.
I just know it.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
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ReplyDeleteThat's awesome to read, Andy. I can't imagine what it was like to witness, especially from the viewpoint as a parent. Good luck, man! Sounds like you have a real smart one on your hands!
ReplyDeleteI have only had dealings with one Autistic child and know that their brain fires in a different pattern. This little girl I know can place together very complex stuff immediately, yet the social interaction is damned near impossible.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, usually, I type with only my left hand too because AutoCad requires mouse clicks and data entry to draw. The only thing missing for me to work really well that way is an 'enter' key on the left side because my hand returns to home position for the left hand after typing. Sometimes formal training is crippling.
Get him some cheap drawing software that requires vector input, it sounds like he could eat it alive.
It seems that many autistic people are savants and have one special gift in which they excel beyond others' level.
ReplyDeleteWonderful! Our kids never cease to be a marvel, for better or worse, for as long as we live.
ReplyDeleteHey guys! I turned in after posting that. Thanks! Thanks for the encouraging words from you all.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a fascinating thing with him all along. We've got so much more to learn, and DO to help him get ready for real life.
Much appreciation for the thoughts fellows. Much!
Vector input...hmmm. Looking into it.
Awesome, Andy!
ReplyDeleteI worked for several years, just after college, with adult "developmentally disabled" folks - some that I believe were probably autistic, not "disabled" but nobody said that, way back when. The human mind can do some incredible things.
Sounds like Asperbergers which is a syndrome that some children with autism have. They are at the top end of the intelligence scale and just don't get all the interpersonal stuff. Most of them are rules and laws and order. Our challenging student had to have controll in his life and Barb finally had him make a book of the rules. He had to write them down and follow them. I guess if you have problems reading other people, it gives you a solid footing when you have the rules of what you need to do written down. Good Luck with your remarkable son. MUD
ReplyDeleteHey man. Keep up the encouragement. The fact of the matter is that the human brain was never meant to read or write. It is a social construct forced on us (probably a good thing) in the past 200 years. Previous to that we knew a few numbers for 1-2000 years.
ReplyDeleteSorry if I sound contrarian, but screw high school English. Teach your son how to hire, interview, and use a VA and make sure he has a kick ass spell checker for when he needs to do his won writing.
Let him play to his strengths, and excel at them.
An amazing vignette, Andy. Thanks for this.
ReplyDeleteI have the greatest admiration for you and Pam's parenting skills. Good On Ya!
Thanks y'all! Staci, I'm glad there is a greater knowledge of this now.
ReplyDeleteMUD, it is Asperger's that Paul has. And, you are right. Rules. Regimen. Sameness...those are the things he responds well to.
Chris, thanks for the input...I know a whole lot of people succeed in life that didn't do so well in school.
And, Buck, we've been winging it for 29 years now...some days we eat the bear, and some days he just rips us to pieces. ;) But, thanks for the kind words.
From you all...it really means a lot.