Writing is one of the major woes for people with Aspergers.
It is difficult to describe the depth of despair most Aspies suffer when trying to put pen to paper. And it starts very, very early on. There appear (to me) to be at least three different ‘subsystems’ in the brain that are conspiring to make writing next to impossible for young Aspies.
The first one to be encountered is the ‘mechanics of writing’. Many Aspies have less ‘sidedness‘ differentiation, so their ‘writing hand’ is less ‘dominant’ – and thus has less fine motor control – than most peoples. This is often encountered early on in childhood – as a result, the kids may not enjoy drawing, or they may draw with both hands. Regardless of drawing, however, Aspie kids usually display severe difficulties when learning the mechanics of writing. This is more pronounced in cursive writing, where forming letters needs to be combined with smoothly moving the hand along the page, so many Aspies end up printing instead.
I suspect this is a motor issue, and could be overcome by ‘overdoing’ the practice. This has, to a degree, been my case: where I went to school, we started out learning cursive, and we were marked on our handwriting. I totally sucked at it, for the longest time. Then, I saw what handwritings the teachers marked as the best, and shamelessly immitated them. And yes, I spent endless hours practicing, because I was going to be *%$#*^# if those air-headed girls with ‘pretty’ handwriting got better marks than I did. The result? I am told I have extremely beautiful, though almost completely illegible, handwrititng!
Another problem which Aspies encounter when writing is – and this is based on my observations, not an expert assertion – a problem with short term memory. At least six different kids with Aspergers have described it as ‘the ideas going by so fast, by the time I’m done the first letter, I don’t know what word I am writing’. Now, this is very interesting, but worthy of a post of its own (soon, I hope).
The third major problem I have observed is a little more complicated. I do not know how frequent it is, but again, I have observed it in very many Aspie kids. It has to do with language, its use and the very words that make it up. Also, many Aspies perceive there to be a big difference between what is spoken and written. Perhaps a little explanation is needed…
Asperger Syndrome is often described as ‘verbally expressive form of Autism‘. Now, it is important to make a distiction here: just because Aspergers falls under the same spectrum of disorders as Autism does, or that the spectrum itself may have the word ‘Autism’ in it, does not mean that it is nearly as crippling as Autism can be. Comparing Aspergers to Autism (as the Ontario Government recently did, in order to deny Autistic children proper treatment) is about as accurate as comparing a sinus infection to pneumonia – both are respiratory system infections, but they are not the same in severety or affect. It would be an inappropriate comparison.
While Aspies are usually able to speak extensively on a topic, most have a difficult time writing on a topic. This is very curious and puzzling to many parents and educators: it can appear as defiance! So, what is it that makes it OK to say things, but not to write them down? Perhaps an unusual form of perfectionism could be at play here.
It is my observation that Aspeis, especially children, consider anything that is written down to be much, much more serious, important and permanent than what is spoken. Even when practicing forming letters, some of these kids will be extremely anxious about not being able to get the shape just perfect. Not Aspies are this extreme, but I certainly was, and so was one of my sons. He was so terrified to commit an imperfect letter onto paper, we ended up getting him to practice writing onto clear plastic sheets (of the type you can put through the printer, to use for overhead presentations) with easy-wipe-off markers. And even thought he could wipe off any letter he did not like, before anyone else could see it (and at first, he wiped off all of them), it was still hard for him.
It is my suspicion that in a similar way, it is difficult for Aspies to write ideas down because they are not sure if their idea is good enough to be commited to paper. And even if they get over that, and judge the idea worthy – and this is the key here – it is next to impossible to express their idea accurately, using everyday language.
I have often wondered – and would appreciate feedback from those who have observed this – if something similar could be at play with Autism… Many (not tall) autistic children are said to begin learning language relatively normally, but then at some point, they revert and begin to use language less and less. Could it be possible that as they learned language, words attained ‘colouring’ – secondary, or implied meanings – unrelated to their ‘object or action definition’…. and that these words became perceived as no longer accuratley describing its original meaning, and therefore discarded? I don’t know, but I would be curious what others think about this.
It is often asserted that Aspies use language somewhat rigidly, or sound very pedantic. Could it be that a similar perfectionism in expressing an idea, a similar subconscious frustration with the inaccuracy of language, is at play when Aspies try to put ideas onto paper?
I love debating, and do it online. And, people have noted, that whenever I get into a serious debate, I spend most of my time defining the specific and narrow meanings of every word I intend to use (plus a few others, that I exressly will not use). Many people find it redundant, annoying and boring. Some think it is a ploy to manipulate the debate. But I do not intend it as any of these: before I can express what I mean, I need to ensure that there is no ambiguity in the language I use to express my point. General language simply cannot do the job!
There is no simple answer to overcoming this.
Each Aspie may require a completely different approach, what works for one may not work for another. It will take years. And it will always take much more time and effort for an Aspie to write something than it would take most people. (It usually takes me 2-6 hours to write any single post – and some, I have spent 14+ hours composing.)
Yet, Aspies can learn to write. And when they do, the documents they produce are usually very well researched and accurately expressed!
May 1, 2008 at 12:02
Interesting analysis–as a generalization. If nothing else, it gives me more insight on why it’s so hard for parents and teachers to know what’s really going on and figure out how to deal with it. I’ve never had problems with handwriting, or using language, and for the most part, I express myself better in writing. Short term memory is less of a problem than it used to be because I’ve learned to write things down as soon as I think of them–notebooks all over the place. I also find that using a good mind mapping program helps me keep track of the complexities. I don’t use graphics, but the ability to show relationships and move ideas around easily is a tremendous help.
I don’t have quite your problem with defining terms in a discussion. I only dig my feet in when a word or term is critical to understanding, but even that limited insistence on accuracy tends to arouse antagonism. Solutions to communicating with NTs? There probably aren’t any.
May 8, 2008 at 18:05
[...] Aspergers and writing [...]
March 24, 2009 at 21:48
I am a licensed social worker and program administrator at a small high school. We serve students who have Aspergers. Some of my findings are remarkably similar…..
Can some email me a contact number?
July 9, 2009 at 13:35
My son, who is 10 years old and has a hard time writing, seems to to have the organization inside his head to express the ideas. He has language delays unlike some of his other Aspie friends. So his writing lacks topic sentence and complete thoughts. Is there a place out there to help him with this?
July 9, 2009 at 19:46
Elisabeth,
this is a BIG problem for so many Aspies!!!
I think I have tried to address it in a few of my other posts on writing (Aspie-focused). This one particularly talks about how I taught my Aspie kids the proper sentence structure: Aspergers and writing – sentences (dang, I can’t seem to get the link thing to work…. if you go to the top left corner of my site, there is a page called ‘Aspergers: a guide to my posts’: click on it and scroll down to ‘Writing’, the ‘writing – sentences’ is there!)
Aspies need rules to learn. Grammar is the ‘rule-book’ of languages: but our schools have chosen to teach ‘whole language’ – an approach which does not teach Grammar! Therefore, many people – Aspies in particular – have an incredibly difficult time with this.
Depending on how mature your son is, you may consider the ‘Latin’ approach (in Latin, the words ‘flex’, depending on the role they play in the sentence….the first 3 lessons from a Latin textbook were enough to teach my son English Grammar…we looked the words up – but by the ‘flex’ he learned the ‘role’ they play…then we could transpose the rules to English) or the ‘coloured words’ approach (where you print words on different coloured paper – by type…so nouns are 1 colour, verbs another, and so on….and he is to build a sentence – which MUST include a red, blue etc. words.).
If you find that none of the posts I have written on this is helpful, let me know. Perhaps you can tell me more details and I could try to help…
December 22, 2009 at 12:35
I have an Aspie student, and when asked to produce 2 sentences about a topic in class, will just sit and think the entire period producing nothing…(I do believe that he is thinking about the topic).The topic has been given to student prior to class. Is this an unreasonable task? This is an 7th grade gifted autistic student. I understand the perfectionism issue and that they may be unsure that it is good enough to put on paper, but in an educational setting I would like some suggestions to assist the regular Language Arts teacher. This is a graded assignment to be done in class. Thanks in advance for any ideas you may have.
Deb Herr
Special Education Teacher
December 22, 2009 at 13:18
Deb, I totally ‘get it’!
And, I ‘get’ both your side, and the students’…
My older son was, a ‘few’ years back, an Aspie in a gifted grade 7 class….and he had the identical problem.
The difficulty for the Aspie comes from the fact that the assignment was ‘produce 2 sentences about a topic’: that is such a vague thing to say, it makes it virtually impossible for the Aspie to understand what you are asking for. Let me explain…
By grade 7, the student will know about ‘expectations’: that they exist, that they are specific, and that simply satisfying the ‘letter’ of the instructions will NOT meet the ‘expectations’.
For example, if the topic were ‘Harry Potter’, and he was to write the following 2 sentences: “Harry Potter is a book. It has 800 pages.”, he WILL have written 2 sentences on the topic, but not satisfied the ‘expectations’.
In other words, saying ‘write 2 sentences on the topic of ‘Harry Potter’ ‘ is an assignment that is almost impossible to complete, because (at that age), most Aspies will have no clue as to what the assignment is actually asking them to do.
They understand, by this point, that you are NOT asking for ANY 2 sentences on the topic: but unless you indicate WHAT those sentences are to describe ABOUT the topic, the 7th grade level Aspie will have NO CLUE as to what they are supposed to say in those 2 sentences.
The way to fix this is to be more specific: write 2 sentences which describe the plot of ‘Harry Potter’. Or something like that….
I must rush off – but will write more later~
April 28, 2010 at 06:37
Xanthippa, I have just found your blog. It is very interesting and seems like it could be helpful to me. You see, I am a substitute teacher at a school, and have unfortunately been given the responsibility of teaching a boy with Aspergers English (as a foreign language) despite having no credentials in education, let alone special pedagogics. This is not an ideal situation, but he needs someone to guide him. But then again, I recognize that his previous method of learning English was not working, and I have tried to implement new ways. For instance, I focus mainly on grammar, and the very basic stuff at that.
I was wondering if you had any thoughts on teaching English as a second language. He speaks fairly well, but his writing is terrible. Words like ‘was’ and ‘you’ pose problems.
May 3, 2010 at 04:41
Thanks for your swift reply
As it is, the original language is Norwegian, which is deemed to be among the easiest languages for a native English speaker to learn. The boy I am tutoring, is like most Norwegians in the respect that his spoken English is fairly decent. His problem is that he spells words like they sound.
The boy is 13 and I thought that I should start from the fundaments and teach him basic grammar. So I started with the a/an distinction. After taking (quite a long) time to explain this rule, and after he had completed a page in a workbook, he flipped the page to start an exercise where he was supposed to use the rule in sentences. And he had already forgotten! In conception, teaching him grammar seemed smart, but in practice it is very difficult and time-costly.
I tried a few different approaches with him, like having him close his eyes and write the words I teach him. He responds well to that, but I can’t have him write out the whole dictionary. He likes to learn words that are difficult and useful to his interests (history), but he can’t even spell the basics like ‘was’ and ‘you’ (like I mentioned above). Since he tends to write words like they sound, I think I will teach him some of the rules for pronounciation (as far as they exist in English). And perhaps assign him some history-reading in English.
Xanthippa says:
That sounds like a good plan.
What I would recommend is to get him reading about the history OF the English language!
It is actually really quite fascinating, so it should hold interest for a history buff.
If you can tie whatever it is you are trying to teach an Aspie to something they are obsessively-compulsively interested in, you will find they retain the knowledge better.
What may also be helpful in this specific case is to not only go into the history of English as a whole, but also the history of each word: where it came from, how it was formed, what influences changed it and how, and so on. It is fascinating and, when I was teaching my own kids to spell (yes, I was not satisfied with the way they taught it at school – it did not work for us), I used this method and found it highly effective.
Aspies learn by ‘figuring out’. So, when one has the opportunity to ‘figure out’ a word, that Aspie will KNOW the word for ever!
There is something else you might try: this is what ‘works for me’ when it comes to English. I learned each and every English word twice….one as it is spoken, and once as it is written. As in, in my mind, they are completely separate. Different categories. Do not mix. No the ‘same word’.
When I write and type, I recall the word as I would phonetically pronounce it in the way I first learned to pronounce the alphabet. And, I ‘recite’ it in THAT phonetic way (quietly, in my mind) as I write the word down. Letter by letter. (As an exercise for my brain, I sometimes write with both hands simultaneously, different word with each hand, so that I force myself to think two words at the same time…..sometimes I’ll make the words in different languages…but that is not the point here.)
What would probably be really fun for your student would be to get a really really good dictionary which does not only define the words but also describes their history – he can read that. Yes, I do read dictionaries for fun…I like finding an old dictionary and comparing how the definitions of words have changed over time (my oldest dictionary is from the 1890s…). Hours of fun! And I am not the only Aspie I know who enjoys this…
To do this ‘on the cheap’ – get him to google for the history and meaning of various words (or specific grammatical rules)….if your school system permits this level of internet access.
However, what you are doing with grammar is very important and very good.
Norwegian is a Germanic language, as English is, where the position of a word in the sentence determines its function (by no means a universal system). So, you have a ‘head start’. Explaining the rules of grammar is fascinating and English, with its fun – really fun – weird past tenses ought to be a delight for any Aspie….but especially a history buff one!
Have fun with him converting some ‘historical event’ he likes into weird tenses – as if the observer doing the describing had a malfunctioning time-machine and had to keep adjusting what ‘will have been happening’….
And, please, let me know what will have worked!
June 25, 2010 at 12:25
I’m creating an annotated bibliography for a graduate course on the subject of teaching writing to students with aspergers and found your blog most helpful. Thank you.
Xanthippa says:
Thanks!
If I can be of any more help at all, please, me know.
June 26, 2010 at 13:45
Your comments about perfectionism and the difficulty Aspies have in putting words to paper make me wonder if this is why it’s so difficult for Aspies to revise what they’ve written: that once they get something down on paper they have committed their ideas to writing and there is no other way to put it. As a writing teacher, I often run into a wall when I ask my Aspie students to revise and I wonder if you think this explanation is accurate.
Xanthippa says:
I think that you are on the right track. I would like to nuance it slightly, if I may.
There are several things going on.
It is not that the Aspie may not be able to think of different words to put things into: it may be true at some times, byt certainly not at others. For example, many Aspies are very verbal – and they can say things out loud in many, many different ways. As a matter of fact, you may have a hard time shutting them up – they’ll describe the same things in so many ways.
The problem comes whith ‘investing’ into writing the words down. They have been ‘selected’ and ‘sweated over’ – why do you want to change them?
This constant ‘revision’ most writing teachers insist is part of ‘proper writing’ reduces me to white-hot fury! It it’s worth writing down, it’s worth doing it RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!
Once an Aspie HAS written something down and you are asking them to ‘revise’ it – you are asking them to take something that is ‘right’ and change it….obviously, if you take something that is ‘right’ and change it, you make it ‘wrong’! Then, when they hand in the version you forced them to change from ‘right’ to ‘wrong’, you give them a bad mark…
No wonder we don’t want to ‘revise’!
OK – that was the ‘emotional’ response.
Now, for more ‘reasoning’….
There is a problem – an actual physical problem in the neural connections – in the brain which makes it difficult for MOST (not all – we are all individuals), especially male, Aspies to write. Physically write.
Forcing us to ‘write’ and endlessly re-write the same sentences over and over is mental torture to us. It rubs our noses in our failure. So, we avoid it like the plague. If it’s a computer file, we’ll be less freaked out by it. But asking us to hand-copy out the same bits over because other bits had changed is unreasonable.
I actually can tell – byt the style of writning – if something I ‘produced’ was first spoken and then trans-scribed/typed into the computer, or if I wrote it on a piece of paper in longhand and then typed it into the computer, or if I directly typed it into the computer. Honestly, my sentence structure and syntax are significantly different in each one of these styles of ‘writing’. Perhaps you could experiment with your students on this theme….
But!
This is the way I helped my kids ‘get over’ the whole ‘revision aversion’ (I could not very well undermine the teacher, right?).
I explain that the teacher is trying to teach them how to build a piece of writing ‘from the ground up’. It is a particular methodology to teach, and marks are awarded at each stage: sort of like when you learn to swim, they first teach you to put your face in the water and only later want to see you perform the full butterfly stroke…
So – first ‘version’ is NOT supposed to be ‘a written story’ or ‘a written essay’.
Instead, organize your thoughts and put 1-2 words for each paragraph: enough to ‘record’ the ‘main idea’ or ‘main thrust’ of what this will say. This will be handed in as ‘brainstorming’ – teacher needs to get it to keep a record of it, so they can prove what they gave you the marks for if someone audits their work.
On the next ‘version’, you go to each one of the paragraphs and put in 1-2 words for each sentence you will write in the finished piece. Check that each paragraph still has the same ‘focus’ as the ‘brainstorming’. This will be first draft – again, marks, teacher keeps for records…
In between each step, take the teacher’s feedback and incorporate it in – again, this needs to show up. It’s the teacher’s job to give you feedback, so it’s important for the records they keep to reflect it. If you don’t, they’ll think they are not teaching you right, be sad, not like your work….pick your sentiment.
On the next ‘version’, you write BARE sentences for the 1-2 word things. Make sure all ideas are there, but not really all the descriptions, and not nicely or fancily. You’re hitting the highlights. That is the next draft.
Finally, you take your draft and connect up things, dress up the sentences, and so on.
It’s a method of constructing something. Teachers must document they taught it to you.
This way, you’ll show how you built the written piece. It’s not so much ‘revision’ or ‘revising’ it – that is a very poor label for this. But, that is the label we are stuck with.
Does this help explain the thought process?
June 26, 2010 at 16:20
[...] And, it affects males and females a little differently, too. Perhaps that is why my post ‘Aspergers and writing’ continues to get so many [...]
June 26, 2010 at 20:53
That’s awesome, thank you again. I see there’s a huge difference between “revising” and “building.” I’ll give it a try next year!
Xanthippa says: Anytime!
I have an excellent ‘form’ worked out for essay writing, with the ‘rigid formula’ built in. I’ve been meaning to post it up: but I can’t find a way to do it on the blog: no other way, that is, than taking a photo of it and putting it on as a graphic….which is useless if people want to download it, perhaps customize it and use it.
As soon as I get a website to accompany the blog (I warn you – I am slow), I’ll put it there!
June 28, 2010 at 04:33
I’m an adult with Aspergers and what you have written rings very, very true.
As a child I had enormous problems with handwriting and had to undertake remedial handwriting classes. I never learnt how to form cursive handwriting that is legible. I even have problems signing my name that matches what I have signed on the back of my credit card as I can’t always form the letters properly. However, my printed handwriting, when I concentrate and take my time, is extremely neat.
When it comes to writing, I find there is a disconnect between my brain and the page. I know exactly what I want to say but I just can’t write it down. I blog to improve my writing abilities, but many of my posts sound fantastic in my head but come out completely different & inferior on the page.
I wish I could remove the mental block.
Xanthippa says:
I SO KNOW what you mean. I have found the same thing with my posts…
Though, I have found that if I write it – but not really finish, then I can’t get back into writing from where I stopped. Especially if I have had the chance to bounce the ideas off of someone else – to actually verbally ‘speak’ what it is I am trying to get across in the post.
Then, I find it easier to just start from the beginning again: complete different angle, and so on. The act of trying to write it, then saying it out loud (sometimes getting feedback – my poor family!), and then tackling it from a different angle seems to help me get more of my point across.
I also find it much easier to answer comments: then, it’s more like talking to a person, and it seems easier for me to type the words ‘naturally’ than if I am trying to compose a post. Perhaps that is connected to the fact we, Aspies, tend to be more verbally skilled than and less skilled at writing.
Have you tried recording yourself as you ‘speak’ your post – then transcribing it? I’ve been toying with the idea of, perhaps, doing a few of my blog posts by speaking them, instead of writing them down, just to see. Perhaps.
September 30, 2010 at 14:13
I just found your blog. Wow, wish I had seen this a long time ago. It should be required reading for all special ed teachers. My son was not diagnosed until the end of 10th grade (after failing English when previously a straight A student), and we have endured an often contentious relationship with the school’s special ed coordinator and the school psychologist during that time and since. At the end of his 11th grade year we had the IEP meeting, during which the first one asked him, “can’t you just write something to get it done?”, and the latter called him a snob. And this is a year down the road!!! It’s clear that too many of the people that are supposed to be caring for our children in the public school environment are woefully undereducated, and some also lack the empathy that the unfamiliar accuse the Aspies of not having. We finally found a teacher in the school who undertstands Aspies (and who admitted privately that she cringed at those statements during the meeting), and she is wonderful. My question is why didn’t they allow us access to her last year, when my son had to be assisted by a special education “clerk,” who had no conception of his difficulties or abilites, who badgered him with “do you want to fail?” comments, and who evidently never bothered to pick up a book and learn about it during that time. I guarantee you, from my now huge Aspie book library, I know more about the condition than either of the people in that school that were allowed to make decisions about my son’s education, or the person that was directly working with him. If they had read your post, which would take about 5 minutes, they would have understood. I think you have explained exactly the problem from the Aspie side–I think this is what my son has been trying to explain to them for 2 years. So, anyone else with problems with the school: number one, don’t take it as long as I did, and don’t assume the people in charge will advocate for your child; number two, print some information from this blog and give it to every teacher, the special ed department, and the principal. You want to know a funny thing? My son was one of about 15 kids in the county that was nominated for a National Merit Award due to his test scores on the PSAT (no writing portion, of course). To apply for the award, the student must write an essay!!!! He decided to write it about not being able to write essays due to the Asperger’s, and about his difficulties at school due to this. Somehow I doubt he’ll win, but good for him. Thanks for explaining something so difficult so well, and I appreciate the time it takes you, trust me!!!!
September 30, 2010 at 23:28
[...] I got a most gratifying comment on a post I had written a while back about Aspergers and Writing. I know, it is a serious self indulgence to wallow in praise, but, if refreshing the post with a [...]
February 26, 2011 at 14:29
Would anyone know if there is any research out there that shows that adults with Aspergers Syndrome do better on oral examinations than on written examinations especially, if they know the topic well?
Xanthippa says:
I do not know of any formal research, but, I would consider such research rather redundant…
We know that Aspergers causes a disconnect between a person’s ability to write down their thoughts and ideas, even when they are able to articulate them well verbally, and we know that this gulf is more pronounced in male Aspies than female ones.
This is part of the diagnostic criteria for Aspergers!
It stands to reason that if Aspies are able to express themselves verbally, but not in writing, they would achieve significantly higher scores on verbal tests/examinations than written ones.
In Europe, traditionally, 50% of any student’s mark is based on written tests/exams and the other 50% on verbal (oral) tests/exams. I suspect that here, in North America where almost 100% of all tests/exams are written, Aspies are much less likely to succeed in school and will display a higher rate of depression which is triggered by the difference between their true achievement and their ability to demonstrate their achievements through a written medium….
Sorry, I am rambling.
The short version is: I doubt any studies would have been made as this disparity is one of the diagnostic criteria which defines Aspergers.
June 10, 2011 at 08:26
Xanthippa,
I just wanted to thank you, your blog has been a real help to me.
My son is 9 years old and was diagnosed with Asperger’s in January this year. He coped well with his first three years of school, but has suffered badly since going up to the next stage. His teachers and I have been trying desperately to understand how such a bright boy can sit there hour after hour in his maths and literacy lessons and not write a single thing – very often not even the date or title. Your blog has given me a valuable insight into his internal struggles, as well as some strategies to try to support him.
He is highly resistant to writing anything by hand, for the reasons you state – he is l/r dominant, cannot do cursive writing and due to hypotonia and poor core strength finds sitting to write physical painful. Fortunately he is now allowed to use an electronic typing machine called an alphasmart for longer pieces of writing and that has helped to some small extent. There is however much more to his lack of work production. He explains it as ‘not being able to get my imagination to work’ and not being able to understand what order things go in, particularly for literacy questions that have several steps or aspects.
So much of what you write has me jumping up and down saying ‘yes that’s exactly it, that’s what X is like’. The ‘revision’ thing is a BIG problem for him and I really like the idea of turning it around and presenting it as a building process rather than a reworking of the original.
I actually happened across your blog when researching mind-mapping techniques, as I was considering trying this method of helping him get something down on paper in the first instance. It has the advantage of being able to be both computer and/or paper based, so if necessary we can bypass the handwriting issue completely. I noticed when his class were doing some project work last year and producing posters about endangered species, that his posters resembled mind maps, in that they contained very little text and lots of ‘bubbles’ with interconnecting lines and this is what gave me the idea to try mind-mapping with him. I am particularly hoping it will help him first to commit thought to paper and second to start to recognise and pull out the necessary structure to form his thoughts into a more formal piece of work.
Do you have any experience of of using mind-maps, or can you see any potential pitfalls. I would really appreciate your perspective on this, as I am desperate to help him, but his self-esteem is already at an all time low and I am loathe to introduce him to something else that he would struggle with, for reasons I have failed to grasp.
Many thanks
September 7, 2011 at 14:13
The awesome thing is that technology is making a lot of the weaknesses of Asperger’s go away; we have GPS systems to keep us from getting lost, we have computer printouts to save us the embarassment of ridiculously bad handwriting and we have Smartphones we can set to remind us of all the little things we forget during the day.
September 9, 2011 at 10:57
Can someone please share with me their experience with trying their gifted aspergers boys in regular private schools such as UCC etc. Are these schools receptive with full disclosures? Also where can you find teachers who are interested and know how to tutor these kids. My son has been doing mental math since 2, can write prolifically/obsessively and with perfect diction about some alien story but does poorly in structured language classes – so I am most interested in building/channeling his language skills. The public school system seems to have taken his IEP as an excuse not to consider his strengths but rather his weaknesses.
Thanks
Ann
October 8, 2011 at 01:12
I simply love this blog post! I can NOT thank you enough! I home school my Aspie, and writing and spelling is so hard for him! He struggles with getting ideas on paper.Thank you for explaining this, I know it is going to help him so much!
November 16, 2011 at 17:14
This is very helpful. So many kids with Aspergerts in schools struggle with being forced to do lots of hand writing. In today’s society I think that word processing should be made more readily available as a feasible option in schools.
December 4, 2011 at 02:22
I was taught in Catholic schools (and I have the knuckles to prove it!). I have extremely beautiful and legible handwriting as a result. But it comes at the expense of speed; I am excruciatingly slow. I had to develop my own shorthand to be able to take lecture notes in school. The notes were of the main ideas, and seldom verbatim. I frequently begin writing one word and continue with another. And I agonize over every word and am often offended or amazed when my readers do not get my nuances and misunderstand me. (They never simply fail to understand, they must misunderstand.) This, it seems to me, is why it is so hard to write things; when it is done, it is after much thought and effort. It is rare when I want to change anything I have written.
December 4, 2011 at 02:36
But I will often wish I had added something.
The problem with coming up with a topic was extremely difficult for me; evedry time I came up with one and began writing, a better one would come to mind or I would find something unsatisfactory about it. But whenever given a specific topic, I would do well.
Xanthippa says: I share your angst!!!
What I find particularly curious is that it is much easier for me to urge my sons to a topic – even with me defining parameters I would never be comfortable with defining for myself – because it iseasier for me to relate to the goal I just get THEM to tha one I must get myself to….
Weird, but true!
December 4, 2011 at 10:38
So pleased I found this site. I think a coworker has Aspergers; of course, our team is not privy to a dx.
The issue: our work on the same projects requires typed comments; my coworker will write 2 paragraphs with intensive detail including what might happen when 4 words will convey the real comment.
I have to search those paragraphs to decipher what the real comment is; but I have to respond to the entire comment per protocol.
My coworker’s refusal to change their comment style comes across as rude and arrogant.
Assuming this person has Aspergers (there are many more indicators), is it best for me to just work with this style because the person cannot change?
I am very sincere in reaching a resolution.
Thank you
Xanthippa says:
Chances are – you are correct and your coworker simply cannot change the way his/her style of writing: their perception would be that writing anything less would be an oversimplification to the point of error… I wish I could be of more help…