Advice about helping a Y11 girl with ASD in exams

[nostaples]

Hello, I teach a girl with undiagnosed ASD (parents' choice) who is very able but has written less than a paragraph for each mock exam/timed question in the last year, except for on a particular text which clearly 'speaks' to her for various reasons. The quality of her couple of sentences is good so she can get a grade 2 or 3 on teh basis of a couple of sentences for each questions but there's no way she will pass. Parents and I agree that the most important thing here is the girl herself (she is struggling with life in all sorts of ways) but the bottom line is that if she doesn't pass her maths and English (she has the ability to get a 6 or 7) she will have to repeat them next year. Have tried to sit down with her to go through a paper to show her that she CAN do it but she hasn't turned up (she struggles with organisation) but I can try this again but I wonder if anyone knows of any strategies that will get her to write in the real exams? Any advice welcome, particularly from mums who have had this sort of experience with their own child.

Thank you Soursprout. I'm sure she can do it because she wrote a grade 6 essay for the one text that appeals to her. She's also incredibly perceptive in discussion when the text appeals to her. I'll try the dot on the page - could work. She does have a prompt but I'm not sure that's worked. She might well drift off but what she says is 'I just couldn't think what to write'. When I ask her questions she can answer them perfectly well. I wonder if I can break questions down for her giving her 2 or 3 paragraph headings whether that would work. Trouble is when she's on her own in the real thing I can't be sure she won't write nothing again. I have spoken to her about the possibility of having to resit which would seem very unfair and unnecessary when in many ways she's one of the brightest pupils in the class. Her mother is lovely and has made an informed choice not to pursue a diagnosis which I have to respect (even if I don't agree). Think it's time for another conversation. If she can see that it's likely the pupil will have another year of all of this unless she can write a bit more in the exam maybe that will help. The most important thing is the pupil but it's also incredibly frustrating that I will be judged on the results of this class and since she is going to perform at least 3 grades below her target on this basis, she will make an impact on the P8 score for the whole class. This is what education has become - like measuring tins of beans and not looking at the whole child

My DS -also asc- is exactly the same. He has extra time, of course.

A tip from his English teacher is that if he's only going to write 4 lines, ensure it's not 4 lines of a good intro as they get more points for beginning, middle and end being present. This might top his creative writing into a grade 4.

Otherwise we are at a loss. I think the new English language GCSE, effectively an unseen literature paper, is really really hard for anxious autistic youngsters. Like your student, given unlimited time and favourable questions, my son's writing quality is around a level 7; he got a 2 in his mock.

My DS is very similar and really struggling with GCSE prep. I’ve got him an English tutor to come to the house once a week, who he likes. The 1-1 teaching and exam coaching seems to work for them.
School have given him a revision plan, which outlines what he needs to do every day, and it has to be signed by me.
He has a hobby he is absolutely obsessed with, so I let him do that on a Wednesday evening and Sunday afternoon only if all his work is done.
He knows he needs to pass Maths and English to do the course he wants to do (vocational).
You need to find out what motivates her and make it a regular reward/sanction. If 1-1 tuition is an option, that’s good too.

This book is fantastic.

Thanks all. This is a student who would really have benefited from coursework and speaking and listening. Her spoken language assessment was excellent but counts for nothing. Will try some of your suggestions. Need to spend some time with her and see what she thinks might work too.

You have included maths in your OP where there shouldn't be an issue with writing. Is she struggling with maths too?

TBH, I think she's struggling across the board, socially as well as academically. I suspect she's writing very little in exam situations in various subjects.

She doesn't get extra time and couldn't anyway without a diagnosis. But she doesn't write anything in the time she has in any case.

It is not true that she couldn't get access arrangements or extra time without a diagnosis. She would need to be assessed by either an Ed Psych or highly qualified SENCO for processing speeds etc and could qualify but it then has to be established as her usual way of working and substantiated as her need. However I fear you have missed the deadline for such adjustments to be submitted to JCQ for this summer's exams. Maybe focus on the questions which attract the most marks, using the mark scheme to highlight appropriate techniques and language, and the easy short answers so she makes best use of the time.

mm.. new to the school Lizs and have my doubts about how effective the SENDCO has been with this particular case. This person was quite insistent that there was no possibility of access arrangements. For Eng Lit there's no short answers unfortunately: one paper has two essays each worth approx 1/4 of the whole qualfiication.

My Y11 DD (also on the spectrum) suggests the following helps her:

• create a 'template' answer and make detailed notes on each exam text (memorise these - if memorising is one of her skills). She can then 'follow the formula' with appropriate information slotted in place

pretend she is having to explain her opinion and write down what she would say (pretend she is explaining to you nostaples*)

*"get a diagnosis" - this will help her access extra time and have a quiet room to herself to do the exams in.

*do practice questions at home in a timed situation and bring her answers to you to check.

• If there are 'extract' OR 'general' questions about a text, choose the extract question because the answer is often 'suggested' better

My DD LOVES English though, which probably helps her own attitude and application.

Would rest breaks help her to refocus?

Thanks farangatang, I will talk to her about some of those things. Parents don't want a diagnosis and cannot be compelled to get one. This student also loves English and has a gift for it in many ways. That's what's so frustrating - she dries up in exams. She won't write anything timed, doesn't do homework and doesn't even write notes. There are MH issues so can't put pressure on her. Can try to spend 1:1 time with her but so far she's never turned up . I once spent 30 mins with her talking through how to tackle an essay question. She got it completely, we wrote loads of notes and then.... nothing.

Some 1-1 time with you would probably help, you say she struggles with organisation, are there any lessons that you have just before lunch or the end of the day where you could just keep her behind at the end?

Is it an anxiety issue?

I'm autistic and have always found it very difficult to understand what a question is asking of me. There always seems to be some mystery around exactly what is expected, so I would encourage you to do lots of work making explicit those implicit expectations.

Also, my concentration is affected by even the smallest amount of background noise. Does she wear ear-defenders? They make an enormous difference to me and could make the difference between being able to grasp a concept and not.

Her parents' decision will prevent her from getting the reasonable accommodations she's entitled to in many areas, not just education. Perhaps they don't understand the extent to which they are disadvantaging her with this choice. It's very sad.

Also, is she using any apps on her mobile to try to overcome her executive functioning difficulties? Perhaps school and parents could ensure that tasks are input into a mutual calendar to send alarmed notifications to her phone.

If she has MH issues a letter from her consultant could be used as evidence for extra time.

We had this with ds2 - he didn’t write anything at all in his English language mock, not a single word, and we didn’t think he was going to pass. He has a diagnosis and had special access arrangements in the exam which helped enormously so it is a real pity her parents have chosen not to go down that route. He was taken out of Spanish and geography classes as we and His LSA did lots of work with him on exam technique and to everyone’s astonishment (including his own) he ended up with a C in Lit and B in Lang so don’t despair yet

'Get a diagnosis' my DD's words (although I agree with frigginell that parents may not realise how much a diagnosis can help access proper support). If she has MH issues, perhaps her parents are trying not to overwhelm her with yet ANOTHER diagnosis? Trying to attribute a positive motivation to what seems to be an avoidance of facing reality...

My DD wears noise-reducing headphones to get around in public because she finds background noises so overwhelming - without a private room for exams, these might be a good suggestion for your student.

She is lucky to have such a caring teacher. I hope you discover some strategies to help her.

DS has ASD and I tutor a girl who has it (yr 10).
As you say, organisation is a massive issue. the only way through this is repetition and very gentle, calm environment, with no stress or judgement. So, just working through a practise paper every day until it's done, so she's ultra-familiar with the layout of it, the range of questions, the mark schemes. And try to do it in an atmosphere that as closely as possible approximates exam conditions: same desk, chair, level of silence etc. At first, work with her, slow as she likes, going through each section thoroughly so she knows exactly what's being required. then let her do it on her own, at her own pace (again, painfully slow) then start to time it and get her to move onto a new section after a given time.

While doing the slow stop-start help, intervene whenever she freezes and give her up to three strategies she can use to unfreeze.

In English, this could be:

1. Learning set phrases that lead into given question types. (E.g. The most striking contrast between the two passages is...) Help her learn plenty of these so she doesn't have to think how to phrase them.
2. Teaching her how to splurge ideas on a mind map and then number them into an orderly sequence, in order of relevance to the question.
3. Giving her some techniques to crack the text (eg - underline all the verbs or all the adjectives and then read them in isolation to see if they help identify what the author is conveying and how.

Isn't it too late to get a diagnosis for exams this year?

She is very lucky to have such a caring teacher.

Thank you. I have some useful strategies to try there. Parents understand the implications of diagnosis but have very personal (too complicated to go into) and very considered reasons for not pursuing one. I wouldn't feel the same if it were my child but I do respect their choice which is an informed one. I have had the same issue with at least one other student at A Level. She just couldn't write more than 1/2 page in any exam. She'd recently lost her mother and I know that the issues were psychological much more than subject specific.

Our senco has told us parents that the criteria for getting any extra time for ASD children has heightened and that only a few of the severe children will now get it.
Ds1 won't. He's capable. So no point in me even asking.

Thus I suggest you concentrate on the fab work you are doing on addressing the basics, rather than thinking about the lack of diagnosis.

Having a diagnosis has not benefited Ds1 at his schools.

oblomov I'm not sure that's correct? From my most recent reading of the guidance, if a student has autism diagnosed they are covered by the Equality act and entitled to reasonable adjustments. So they don't have to have evidence of writing speed below x or whatever; they do have to have statements from teachers stating the impact of anxiety or writing speed and it does have to be the usual way of working though.