Aspie Digest - September 22, 2005
It seems like my idea got a huge, resounding "aye", so I'm going to start the Digest.
I plan on posting once or twice a week, depending on how much I have to say. A post will probably include a few links, favorite quotes, and/or entertaining/informative (I hope) stories on the subject. I'll see how much I have to share, and how many people will find it beneficial, and then go from there. If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments or via email. If you would like to correct anything I have said, please feel free to do so. Remember, I am but a lowly n00b. If you have a blog with similar content, please let me know so I can link to you. Most importantly, if you have any information that you can share, please feel free to do so.
From what I gather there is a wide spectrum of AS disorders and I will most likely be primarily concentrating on what I can relate to personally. This means, among other things, that I will primarily focus on "gifted" kids (yes, I know how many people hate the term, but for lack of a better one, I will use it). I will also try to learn more about boys, preteen/teenage kids, and introverted kids, because that is what I am dealing with. I will also concentrate more on how to help these kids adapt to a public-school setting, because that is where my son is, and I don't plan on homeschooling anytime soon, for a variety of reasons. So, I am looking for ways to make the public-school situation work for us. All this of course pertains to the information that I will be posting here, and what I will be looking for in literature and on the Internet... in no way does it mean that, if your situation is different, then I am not interested in hearing from you. I am willing to learn and hear from all perspectives!
Here we go... whew...
Links:
http://www.uniquelygifted.org/
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/aspergers.htm
http://www.faaas.org/doc.php?25,,318456,faa318456,,,Index,contactinfo.html
Currently Reading:
Different Minds, by Deirdre Lovecky
Asperger's Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Professionals, by Tony Attwood
(Tony Attwood has been recommended to me as "a biggie in this field" and I have been encouraged to read anything by/with this author).
Quote of The Day
"If the quality and quantity of work are inconsistent, the consequences are that the child and teachers often have no idea how capable the child is. The child does not learn study skills, but relies on trying to be a quick study because it does not seem that studying is effective. It becomes more difficult for these children to learn to monitor progress because they have no sense of how they are doing. What seemed like good effort does not necessarily bring a good result. Some students give up trying at all. Variability in work quality has consequences for high school when placement depends on grades and effort. Many schools are reluctant to place gifted students with variable grades in honors classes, yet these students will not do better in average classes. In fact, they may do worse. Thus, if Tom was removed from honors English and placed in the average class, he would not produce higher grades. His grades would likely be the same, and he'd be more bored."
- Deidre Lovecky, "Different Minds", p. 198
What I Want to Learn
(in my boss's voice) At the end of the day, what I'd like to take away from this seminar is... ahem...
Hehehe.
Anyway, here are the things I'd like to find out:
1. (short-term) How to help my son succeed in school.
2. (long-term) How to help my son prepare for life away from home, higher education, work etc.
3. (both) How to help my son improve his social skills and how to make him realize that he needs these skills.
4. (just wondering) I have reasons to believe that I probably had some form of AS as a child/teenager. However, I don't believe that I have it now; even if I do, it does not interfere with my life in any way. What happened? Where did it go? Did I just grow out of it? How? Is this in any way applicable to my son, i.e. is he going to grow out of his AS, too?
In my next Digest, I will write about why I decided to have my son tested in the first place.
I plan on posting once or twice a week, depending on how much I have to say. A post will probably include a few links, favorite quotes, and/or entertaining/informative (I hope) stories on the subject. I'll see how much I have to share, and how many people will find it beneficial, and then go from there. If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments or via email. If you would like to correct anything I have said, please feel free to do so. Remember, I am but a lowly n00b. If you have a blog with similar content, please let me know so I can link to you. Most importantly, if you have any information that you can share, please feel free to do so.
From what I gather there is a wide spectrum of AS disorders and I will most likely be primarily concentrating on what I can relate to personally. This means, among other things, that I will primarily focus on "gifted" kids (yes, I know how many people hate the term, but for lack of a better one, I will use it). I will also try to learn more about boys, preteen/teenage kids, and introverted kids, because that is what I am dealing with. I will also concentrate more on how to help these kids adapt to a public-school setting, because that is where my son is, and I don't plan on homeschooling anytime soon, for a variety of reasons. So, I am looking for ways to make the public-school situation work for us. All this of course pertains to the information that I will be posting here, and what I will be looking for in literature and on the Internet... in no way does it mean that, if your situation is different, then I am not interested in hearing from you. I am willing to learn and hear from all perspectives!
Here we go... whew...
Links:
http://www.uniquelygifted.org/
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/aspergers.htm
http://www.faaas.org/doc.php?25,,318456,faa318456,,,Index,contactinfo.html
Currently Reading:
Different Minds, by Deirdre Lovecky
Asperger's Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Professionals, by Tony Attwood
(Tony Attwood has been recommended to me as "a biggie in this field" and I have been encouraged to read anything by/with this author).
Quote of The Day
"If the quality and quantity of work are inconsistent, the consequences are that the child and teachers often have no idea how capable the child is. The child does not learn study skills, but relies on trying to be a quick study because it does not seem that studying is effective. It becomes more difficult for these children to learn to monitor progress because they have no sense of how they are doing. What seemed like good effort does not necessarily bring a good result. Some students give up trying at all. Variability in work quality has consequences for high school when placement depends on grades and effort. Many schools are reluctant to place gifted students with variable grades in honors classes, yet these students will not do better in average classes. In fact, they may do worse. Thus, if Tom was removed from honors English and placed in the average class, he would not produce higher grades. His grades would likely be the same, and he'd be more bored."
- Deidre Lovecky, "Different Minds", p. 198
What I Want to Learn
(in my boss's voice) At the end of the day, what I'd like to take away from this seminar is... ahem...
Hehehe.
Anyway, here are the things I'd like to find out:
1. (short-term) How to help my son succeed in school.
2. (long-term) How to help my son prepare for life away from home, higher education, work etc.
3. (both) How to help my son improve his social skills and how to make him realize that he needs these skills.
4. (just wondering) I have reasons to believe that I probably had some form of AS as a child/teenager. However, I don't believe that I have it now; even if I do, it does not interfere with my life in any way. What happened? Where did it go? Did I just grow out of it? How? Is this in any way applicable to my son, i.e. is he going to grow out of his AS, too?
In my next Digest, I will write about why I decided to have my son tested in the first place.
