Friday June 29, 2007
Zach’s class is going well. I feel bad for the students though because the pace is just crazy. I took it as a regular 16 week class, and although I got an ‘A’, it was probably one of the toughest classes I have taken, right up there with A&P. The summer classes are already nuts, but trying to take an 8 week course in 5 weeks is just incredible. Zach seems to be posting either lecture notes, a quiz, a video to explain something, an assignment, or answers to questions every few hours, even through the weekend (at least until they are caught up). They aren’t completely caught up yet, but they should be soon. He seems to have about the same balance of people doing really well, barely hanging on, and totally lost as one would expect in an entry level programming class, so that is good. A few of the ‘really lost’ are getting hung up on things that wouldn’t be a problem if they had a little better reading comprehension, but that is pretty par for the course. (it is sort of hard to get used to the literal-ness and specificity of language in computer jargon when you are used to using language in a more social way…it is subtle, but very hard to get when you are new to it or your brain just doesn’t function that way) I am impressed with the students who are staying with the pace and doing really well, which speaks well of both their efforts and Zach’s ability to get across information in that format. The fact he is not just a ‘theory’ guy, but also a power user helps a lot because he is able to create demonstrations and little programs that can be used to help teach the class more effectively than just lecture notes. Some things really have to be shown to be understood, and he is able to do that. I am really proud of him.
Zach took Zane to the friendship group this morning. During the session they asked Zane to ‘Get an orange and put it in the basket’. He didn’t see the fruit, so he picked up an orange letter and put it in the basketball hoop instead of getting the orange and putting it into the fruit basket, causing confusion for a bit until they realized that he did follow directions, just made the wrong assumptions. Zach laughed because he realized that is something he remembered having a lot of problems with that kind of thing as a kid. He made the wrong assumptions and would get into trouble for it. He told the clinical educator that because he had that problem, he swung completely the other direction, which is the basis for one of his pet peeves….he hates it when people give vague directions because his mind automatically pulls up whole lists of ways to interpret the directions. He handles that by asking a bunch of questions, but it is also why computer programming has such an appeal to him. Things are described in much more specific ways, once you know the language/jargon used. Computers seem to be one of those things developed by people on the spectrum and for people on the spectrum.
Knowing that about Zach, I have to tell you that filling out the piles of paperwork and, especially, ‘parent observation’ type questionnaires are a nightmare in this house. The forms are written by people who are most definitely NOT on the spectrum and there are a lot of questions along the lines of “does he respond appropriately to _____” that require some leaps in assumptions and understanding what is ‘between the lines’, so to speak. Zach and I spend an inordinate amount of time discussing the meaning of “appropriately”. Zach argues that the question isn’t specific enough…what is ‘appropriate’, in what circumstance, who is the audience, who is to say what the exact ‘appropriate’ response actually is, and, that is usually followed by, ‘do they mean he *always* responds that way?’, or *sometimes* does? and what constitutes “sometimes” vs. “seldom”, what is the standard? It can take us two hours of debating every. single. question. to fill out a 15 question sheet. If I just fill out the sheet, he will see it and argue that I am not answering them correctly because he often doesn’t think there is anything atypical (or at least not severely atypical) about how he responds to things. Every time I fill one of those things out, I am assured that autism is, indeed, genetic. lol.
On a funny note, one of the questions on the latest questionnaire was “Does he respond appropriately to losing a game”. This prompted a very long discussion, finally agreeing to write in “He doesn’t get angry, he just changes the rules”. It is one of those traits that just makes you have to sort of chuckle under your breath. He doesn’t get mad, he just pulls some of your cards/pieces back into play as if you didn’t make your last move, or dig a card out of the deck that will beat yours, or will reset the computer game so that he is playing on an easy level and change the settings for you so you have to try to beat him playing on an expert level. (like in a racing game he will take your controller and make it so the controller doesn’t respond well and insist on playing another round where it almost impossible for you to win). We are working with him to learn how to lose gracefully, and if he is in a decent mood, he does better now, but it is a process
Now, a few pictures.
Remember me mentioning that I had laundry piling up because I was out of laundry detergent? (until yesterday, of course) Zach moved all the laundry into a pile, instead of spread out on the ground so that Zora could drive her truck through the space without getting so frustrated. Zora saw the pile of clothes a little differently. She saw a ladder.
she was on a mission to shake every bottle
and explore the rest of the counter
and then suddenly realized she had an audience
And a few of Zane, all snuggled into bed with his Mickey Mouse, listening to Daddy read stories at bedtime.
Good night my sweet boy. Happy Dreams!
It is all sad and ridiculous at the same time. I must admit that in the world of Autism..nothing shocks me anymore. But most things sure do anger me.
So interesting that Zach sees so much of himself in Zane. Questions/directions that leave too much open to interpretation drive me nuts as well. My ds did the same thing with games that Zane does. We called it “playing by D’s rules”. Meaning he changed the rules of the game to suit him as we played, much like Calvinball. We tolerated it until he was 5, then told him we would play the game “D’s rules” once, then he’d have to play by the real rules. By the time he was 7 we’d phased out D’s rules altogether. Now Boo is doing it, too.
Cute pics! Zora knows she got busted, though you gotta give props for looking at a pile of clothes and seeing an opportunity. That last pic of Zane is so sweet!