This is an example

Kalen went off to Social Skills Camp today. Several posts ago I talked about this and I also talked about some issues with Kalen's resource teacher Miss S. (special education teacher, resource teacher is politically correct). Well, today I picked Kalen up from camp and witnessed another episode of Miss S. not 'gettin it' about ASD kids.

First I will tell you what I saw today and then explain it. Miss S. is working social skills camp this summer. She came out of the school with her group of kids to put them on the bus. It looks like she has 2nd and 3rd graders. She got all but one little girl on there appropriate buses. As I watched the little girl that she had was going into melt down mode. She did not want to get on the bus, she wanted to wait for her sister and get on the bus with her. Miss S. asked her "is your sister younger or older than you are?" There was no response from the child so Miss S. asked her again "is your sister younger or older than you are?" The little girl said "my sister is 13". Miss S. finally took the little girl back to the building to wait for her sister to come out.

ASD life is very concrete. They do not get abstract thinking. Abstract thinking is a learned behavior for them (if they can). To ask a child with ASD if their sibling is older or younger is not a concept they can understand. If you asked them if they are bigger or littler they could understand that by looking at their siblings size. Just like this little girl she could tell Miss S. what her sisters age is or she could have told her that she is bigger (if she is) but she isn't old enough to understand younger or older.

Kalen understands that Kaleb is her 'little' brother because he is littler than her. When we talk about him being taller than her someday she can't understand it. She should always be bigger because she is the 'big sister'. Kaleb's feet are about the same size as Kalen's, this has totally freaked her. She struggles to make sense of it.

This is another example of Miss S. not getting it. Kalen went to Miss S.'s room in the mornings for math with several other 5th graders, their names being Kenna, Kata, Kristine and Rhett. One day last spring Kalen came home totally puzzled. She told me that Miss S. had made the comment that next year she was going to have to change Rhett's name to Kaw Kaw, so she would have Kalen, Kenna, Kata, Kristine and Kaw Kaw. I got the 'K' thing, Kalen did not. When she pronounced Kaw Kaw she said the words seperately and I didn't get that. Kalen was just baffled by the fact that Miss S. would change Rhett's name. That's just another concept of ASD thinking. A couple days later Kalen brought this up again. Then I realized that she was saying 'kawkaw'. Kalen said to me "why would she want to call Rhett bird poop." So we sat down and had a talk about the 'k' thing. However, I could not tell her why the choice of 'kawkaw' over a reasonable 'k' name.