7 year old autistic son can't manage creative writing - any advice?

[fishface1979]

Hi, our 7 year old son struggles to express himself verbally and often sits in English lessons writing nothing at all when asked to do creative writing tasks. It makes him anxious and he often just draws a picture instead. He's a very bright boy but when he gets to KS2 he will need to start writing at least a paragraph or so. I will try touchtyping. How do scribes work and are there any other options? I'm at a loss. He's not naughty but just shuts down with these open ended tasks. I wonder if I might need an EHCP for one to one support but even then it's like getting blood from a stone so I wonder if trying a technology of some kind is the best next step. He's in mainstream independent school. Thank you!

Hi, sorry you're worried about your son.

I think the first thing is to chat with the teacher, have they suggested anything? I am not very knowledgeable about SEN processes but the people I know who have secured support have worked with the school to identify what support is required.

I think someone with more relevant knowledge will be allong soon hopefully!

The thing I wondered is whether the issue is the forming of creative ideas, or the manual skill of writing, or both - this will drive what is the most appropriate support/intervention.

I have heard that independent schools can be a bit weaker in general with SEN support, but of course each school.is different.

Thanks for your kind reply - I did chat in more detail to the school today. Hopefully by working together a solution may become clearer. I think it's related to the idea generation. Apparently for Autistic people it can be overwhelming - it can be easier to 'systematise' and deal in facts. The school said they may try to make the writing task more factual when they can and will try a few other things too... trial and error perhaps.

I am glad to hear your school are helping!

Autistic children often struggle with speech and language and this certainly impacts creative writing. I recommend a good SALT assessment and an English tutor who helps him express himself without the pressures of writing it down. My autistic son was the same when he was in KS1. School was hugely unhelpful (obstructive really) and we had to soldier on with private tutors and SALT reports and a ferocious fight for Ann EHCP. He is now finishing primary school with huge improvements. English is not easy for him, but he is performing at expected standard in English. And he is doing very well indeed in Maths and the sciences. English will never be he is strength, but with a lot of hard work and dedication acceptable standards are in reach. The key is to ensure that SALT and English curriculum are treated as one (get this written into your EHCP).

This might be stupid, but anyway.

Working backwards the current English Language GCSE has one question (worth 25% of GCSE) whether they have to do creative writing. They are given a photo as a starting point. To do it you describe the scene, showing good imagery and then you can wander off the picture or go back to a memory or whatever. You don't need to be able to write stories (though there is an alternate option to do story not based on picture). The marks are for good language use but also technical accuracy (ie SPAG).

So I wonder if the teacher could give him pictures to work off as a starting point? And allow descriptions not stories?

Fishface1979, are you in the UK? Have you broached the subject of Ann EHCP? Is your getting and SALT intervention (small groups for social skills, expressive language, higher level language, etc.). If you Donn't know what these things are, then I suspect you are now where I was when my ASD son was 7.

Thanks to all who have responded - very kind of you. Yes, I'm in the UK. I think I will look seriously into getting an EHCP. I had thought we might be able to muddle through without but this may not be wise. We are very keen for our son to stay in his current school where he is settled, bar these blockages in English. I was concerned it might be a bit tricky in an independent school to get the funding, but he is likely to need quite a bit of support.

Look here for information on making a parent application for an EHC Needs Assessment. www.ipsea.org.uk/ehc-needs-assessments

You may also want to consider an independent professional view on what your son's needs are and what provision she/he would therefore recommend.

Good luck!

It is possible to get an independent school named in an EHCP. Although you will need to prove either the school(s) the LA propose cannot meet DS’s needs or it isn’t unreasonable public expenditure.

Some LAs will come to an agreement whereby parents pay the fees and they pay the SEN provision, but not all.

Have you looked at assistive technology? Some pupils find it easier if they don’t have to concentrate on the physical act of writing at the same time as trying to think what to write.

Thanks all. Assistive technology is something I am keen to explore... not sure if anyone might see this post who can recommend any. My son likes technology so he may be more enthusiastic about communicating this way. He can manage more factual writing but there's a gap between his understanding and his ability to outwardly communicate. For instance, his verbal understanding is high but he might talk in quite basic ways and often choose the shortest words. These are all really good suggestions.

You could look at Dragon software, inspiration 10 and Texthelp Read and Write. Along with a touch typing programme. It might be worth exploring a proper assessment, if you go down the EHCP route this can be included in there.

Fishface, your son sounds so very much like mine. He has had access to a computer for typing since he got an EHCP at the end of Year 3. But, to be honest, it presented more problems than it solved. First of all, he knows WAY more about the technology than his LSA or any other member of school staff. He once persuaded the head teacher to let him take the laptop home so he could sort the password problem. When he got home, he proceeded to rebuild the computer and bypass all the admin restrictions. I had to take the computer back to the head teacher, tell him he had been outsmarted and to go have the computer rebuilt properly (with appropriate restrictions) from the IT guys. Then there were dead batteries, and a variety of other mishaps. We decided to give him back the pencil and paper (pencils always work and don't require passwords) and go heavy on the handwriting intervention (every day before school). In the end his handwriting is not great, but I am assured he is able to write at the expected standard of a year 6 child. If there was a device that simply allowed him to type and produce written work that would have work. But all computers come with software that has spell checkers and a variety of other distractions. An old fashioned typewriter might have worked. There were times that we gave him supervised typing, like for extended writing in class but if it was just a sentence or two then he wrote by hand.

TheStenchofTruth There is a way of locking down the computer (don’t ask how I don’t know) so spell check is disabled and the pupil can only type their answers without being able to access other applications because they do that for those using a word processor who aren’t eligible for spell check enabled as an exam access arrangement.

For the specific creative writing issue, try a set of Rory's story cubes. They're dice you roll to get a set of pictures to inspire a story and they are well made and satisfying to handle.

Word fridge magnets and a metal pan work too especially for poetry!

Thanks so much for all the helpful tips and suggestions!