Teaching English to ASD student

FranticFrummie

Sun, Feb 17 2019, 10:47 am

I'm tutoring several Israeli kids in English. One of my students is a 10 year old boy who is extremely bright, but has "flat effect". His mother has said nothing to me to indicate that he's on the spectrum, but to me it's really obvious. (I won't say a word to her, she wouldn't hear of it, or she already knows and doesn't wish to tell me.)

My teaching style is patient, engaging, and fun. I try to find out what each child's interests are, and work that into the lesson. I call it "stealth teaching".

I am not reaching this boy at all. He never smiles, he never answers my questions, he repeats words from memory, but has very little reading comprehension. Eye contact is fleeting and vacant, like he's looking 100 miles past my head.

Today he cut the class short. I could tell he was getting a bit overwhelmed with the new words, but he wouldn't tell me what was wrong. I brought him some books that I know boys his age are really into, and all he could say was "Don't like."

He also has a lot of trouble with "r" and "th" sounds, and I think it frustrates him when I try to work on it with him. He's very rigid about pronouncing things "his way".

His mother thinks he's an absolute genius, and he may very well be. I can't shake the feeling that there's something missing in the way I am trying to teach him. Does anyone have any tips on how to be more effective? I feel bad when he seems so miserable and bored. Reading should be a joy, not a chore.

amother

Wheat

Sun, Feb 17 2019, 10:56 am

1. Find out from his mother what topics are interesting to him. Keep all lessons within his range of interests.

2. Try to gauge his level of attention. Think about games he might enjoy so it isn't all the same style of lesson and alternate between different activities that all meet your goals.

3. You aren't a speech therapist, social skills therapist or psychologist. Focus on your role which is English language. If you can teach him English well within his abilities, you will have succeeded.

amother

Fuchsia

Sun, Feb 17 2019, 11:04 am

I know nothing about teaching reading, but a decent amount about working with kids like this. Can you find out from his mom what his interests are? Tell her you find this info useful for all your students. Then plug the lessons into a framework built on that. You also might think about an immediate concrete motivational system, like a ticket for every response and two for a correct one, with the tickets leading toward something motivating.

Also, decide on one goal at a time. Maybe pronunciation can wait, if you can tell he know what sound he should be saying. If you are going to correct them, my speech therapist's rule is never more than three times per session, preferably twice. Any more is counterproductive. But if you can leave it aside, he can feel more positive about other gains he might make and more focused on only one thing at a time.

Can you have him earn five minutes at the end of the session where he does his own preference with you? Maybe tells you about something he likes, or shows you how to do something. He could even help you with your Hebrew pronunciation! Something to give him a mastery feeling to look forward to.

FranticFrummie

Sun, Feb 17 2019, 11:24 am

The mom pays me, so she sets the rules. At first I tried to break up the hour by doing some spelling, writing, easy grammar, and reading.

Today she told me that she doesn't care about all that stuff, she just wants me to make him fluent in reading, which I find rather hard to do without all the other parts.

The only thing he seems to be interested in is basketball, and even then he's not so enthusiastic.

I am very careful to keep corrections/praise to a 1/20 ratio, more or less. Corrections usually look like "That's really close, try is again", or some other way of mixing a small compliment into it. Praise is kept to a mild "good job" or "you got it", because anything more than that seems to make him really uncomfortable. I'll say things like "don't feel bad because you missed this. It's a tricky word, and I don't know why this is the rule. You'll just have to practice."

Generally, instead of correcting at all, I make a mental note of where he's getting stuck, and them come up with some worksheets so he can get mastery. For example, today he got stuck on "kn" and "wr" combinations, because silent letters don't make sense. If they are there, you should be saying them, right? That's an example of rigid thinking, and then I have to come up with a way of explaining the rule.

His mom does not believe in reward systems. She says kids should learn because that's their job. Period.

aricelli

Sun, Feb 17 2019, 11:25 am

There must be something that will speak to him! I’ve had therapists let my son try writing in shaving cream (he’s a sensory craver) and since he loves being inverted she’d let him stand on his head while she’d teach (when applicable) sounds crazy but it worked for them!

FranticFrummie

Sun, Feb 17 2019, 11:39 am

aricelli wrote:

I'm dealing with an extremely serious, mature, and intelligent 10 year old boy. He would absolutely shut down if he thought I was treating him like a baby.

That's probably one of the reasons why rewards don't seem to work for him. Besides, he already has a set amount of computer and TV time, so that's not up for bargaining.

aricelli

Sun, Feb 17 2019, 11:44 am

Ha! My son is an intelligent mature kiddo as well- just with lots of sensory craving issues.
Thats why I was saying-find something that speaks to him.
Not something that spoke to my guy.
This was just an example of what ours found that worked.
Now you need to find what works for him.
(Just a side note: my daughter: serious, top of the class, 12 grade valedictorian would shmush theraputty to help her concentrate. We all have our differences: doesnt make us less intelligent)
Edited because I celebrate my childrens uniqueness

Last edited by aricelli on Sun, Feb 17 2019, 12:00 pm; edited 1 time in total

FranticFrummie

Sun, Feb 17 2019, 12:37 pm

amother wrote:

Is it possible theres something more going on rather than autism? Can he be depressed? That would explain a flat affect? Social anxiety a lack of eye contact?

It's certainly possible. I'm absolutely not qualified to diagnose. I know that when I go into a depressive episode, I get the personality of wet cardboard. Confused

amother

Fuchsia

Sun, Feb 17 2019, 12:39 pm

Can you have him read instructions to make something, and follow them? An older level thing, vs younger, like maybe robotics or woodworking. The reward is then inherent, a natural consequence; he gets to see something he did work. Plus, while reading is a joy to you, for him it is likely functional, so you tap into that.