When I say homework battles I’m not talking about the typical fight with the kids to do their homework, that’s not a problem. The problem is the actual homework. It’s like these teachers have no clue how to change the curriculum for a child with autism.
My Facebook post from the other night:
This is a question from Roger’s homework: How does the protagonist view himself/herself in your story? Identify a page number and example from the text.
His response? I don’t know, I am not them. WHY can these teachers not get it through their heads that he seriously cannot put himself in someone elses shoes and tell you what they think of themselves. UGGGG! Oh and I was informed he is to write an essay on this as well, this should be fun.
It took us three hours and finally he came to: he feels good. The reason? Because another chapter in the book said so. Okay, works for me. I know I am going to get some note home that it is incomplete and not acceptable and again I will have to point out the IEP. A friend of mine said I should send a note in with the homework saying ” How does the student who is incapable of taking another perspective feel when his teacher assigns him homework requiring him to do exactly that?” Honestly how can she expect him to do something she obviously is incapable of doing herself.
I was looking at his next section of questions and they are give a specific example of how the protagonist has changed? And what have you learned from the characters?
Those should be fun. The teacher also said she will have him reread the book to make sure he understands it before he writes the essay. Wait…what? Back up a minute. The problem is not his comprehension. He understands perfectly what he is reading. You actually have him reading about 5 grades below what he can do. It’s the questions you are asking. You know he has problems putting himself in a fictional character’s shoe and telling you how they feel. Heck the kid can’t tell you how he feels a lot of the time. If you do not really understand your own feelings how can you understand and explain someone else’s?
I have sent a email to his case manager to let her know that he solution of “oh we will just punish him and make him reread the book” is not going to solve the issue. The questions need to be reworded. So we will see what happens and if they take time to listen and work with him and his needs rather than what some curriculum states.
Comments
Heather Finnegan
Keep fighting for him momma! You are doing a great job!
Michelle
What you describe is very familiar. My 5th grader has perfect scores in reading comprehension but throws a tantrum at having to even choose a celebrity to write about for a writing prompt. He doesn’t care about celebrities and writing is hard. Can’t wait for the next writing prompt to come home. :/
Lelah
I just sat in the principal’s office on a couple of days ago telling her that I understand as a General Education teacher, she has no training. That is not due to any fault of her own and I don’t hold that against her. I also said I get that she has no special-needs instincts, and that’s OK too. I didn’t either. That’s when the principal said, “Oh, but you do! You do a fantastic job.” And I continued to tell her that it is not by instinct, it is by education and THAT is where I have problems with his teacher. She won’t listen to me tell her what my little guy needs. She doesn’t pay attention to the things (articles, research) I send her that will help them both. The principal just looked at me and nodded.
Keep pushing through. Keep working. Keep fighting. Don’t be afraid to alter what is sent home for what is needed. I can’t begin to tell you how often we change or skip homework. My son is learning all the same and will wind up educated, even if it isn’t on the school’s timeline.
Dana
My son is in 4th grade and this is starting. They are going to start making him work on his own a bit more to challenge him. I’m really nervous and I hope he figures it out.
Tammy
It sounds like the teacher isn’t willing to work with you…but I have an agreement with my son’s teacher that I can modify homework as I see fit so that helps to alleviate a little bit of the battle. For example, if he has to put words into sentences, he verbally tells me and I write them. He is still meeting the objective of creating the sentence, but we have no meltdown from all the writing involved. Also, as a special education teacher, I am upset with his case manager. She should be making these modifications for him and it shouldn’t have to be up to u. Hopefully she responds to your email.