Do AS kids reach a level and then... stop?

[DanceOfThePeachyPlumFairy]

sam has always seemed particularly bright, walking and talking early, conversations with him were like those with an educated adult. however, these last few months he doesn't seem to have moved forwards at all, and DS2 (13.5 months his junior) is overtaking him. for example, he is getting nowhere with reading and has been on flash cards for 2 years (usually 4 months!) despite trying hard. His eating is still at a stage where I feel I have to give him plastic crockery (the breakages got unaffordable) and truth be told, I would give DS2 much more complex jobs / activities if I were not sared about Sam's self esteem, as he is very concerned about being 'big brother'.

Is this the way it will be? Do I have to let DS2 pass him developmentally, or is Sam having a blip that will restart?

How old is he? Yes its common for autistic kids to develop in big jumps rather than in a fluid way. For example my ds refused to draw anything other than circles and lines and one day sat down and did a bus with people inside. It was as if he had to know how to do it properly before he could even make a start. I think with many autistic children its as if they need all the pieces of the puzzle before then can start rather than just do a bit by bit way of learning which the NT person does. Hope this makes sense.

I totally agree Eulalia my ds takes leaps but gives no clue that he's taking things in. Then one day it just pops out.

Even with a child with severe ASD he develops in a "two steps forward, one step back" kind of way, a sort of jagged forward path. We've had times of real regression which are terrifying but each time he seems to come out a little better than before. Its less distinct as he's got older and his learning/development has become very slow compared to when he was much younger and had SO MUCH to learn iyswim.

Agree with Davros. DS1 goes in spurts then plateaus (spelling?)/ regresses.

Ds1 seems to stay at the same level for a while and then just suddenly seems to 'get' it. Progress is in sudden spurts rather than a gradual but continuous improvement.

Ds2 makes sudden progress, regresses a bit and then leaps ahead again. I still can't relax during the periods of regression but so far (touchwood!) ds2 is making good progress.

Does he have Aspergers? How old is he? How is he learning to read? Have you tried Jolly Phonics? Ds has dyspraxia and the Aspergers-type social deficits associated with it are becoming quite noticeable now
But he loved JP and used it very briefly and it totally unlocked reading for him.

he's 6 (just) and has Aspergers, yes. They use phonics at school but not jolly phonics- lots of flash cards too, which are no help due to his poor eyesight.

He does regress sometimes, he has lately been wetting himself on occasion after being dry for 3 years. Seems he was asked not to yell 'I need a wee' once, now refuses to ask. >

The thing about not doing anything until he is able rings a bell. His AS is generally becoming more obvious as he drops behind his peers in pretty much all ways. I guess I knew that would happen, but I was hoping not too much.

it's little things : like, he now gets that words are made up of letters but doesn't seem to realise that these need to be in a particular order to be readable.

Ds1 is a visual learner but I think even he would be bored senseless by learning from flashcards. If the flashcard method isn't working then why on earth don't they try something that's more suited to his needs??? I suspect the answer to that is bl**dy funding again.

When I read the part of your post about being told not to shout out for the toilet etc I felt an overwhelming urge to bang my head against the nearest wall and shout NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Some people will just never understand AS.

Glad this one has come up, as I've been having concerns on this subject for quite a while.

J (aged 7) has always been miles ahead of his peers academically yet in the last few months he seems to have slowed down considerably. So much so that in maths (his best subject) he's no longer top of his group. I don't know if his intellectual development has actually slowed, or if he's putting in so much mental effort to maintaining his behaviour in class that he hasnt enough left over for the task itself, so isn't performing as he should. Really concerned that he's being judged on output rather than ability, and that his needs aren't being catered to, but not sure how to prove it one way or another.

He too wets and soils himself on occasion, but I think that might be a sensory thing where he can't tell he needs to go right away and leaves it too late.

I hope that I'm not saying anything inapropriate. I also realise that ASD children have significant probelms etc. However most of the NT kids I teach do plateau for periods of time. Obviously, you would be concerned if this continued for a longer period, but all kids have fairly 'erratic' learning curves ime. And they also suffer if they get into a rut IYSWIM (realise this may be very different with children with ASD)

Not inappropriate at all MB. Thank you.

When I worked with the famillies of kids with SN (support rather than technical unfortunately- could have done with the knowledge now)I always said that it was hard with SN kids to distinguish between problems caused by SN and problems that ALL parents have... for example in some cases (although all obviously) bedtime routines, toilet training, disobedience. IYSWIM anyway.

I guess the concern with Sam is that at his Nursery school, his Teacher suggested that we get him ready for the scholarship scheme that the local prep ran from 8 years up as he was so bright. Maths and languages mainly. Now though (2 years later, less than that I guess) he is bottom of his year and closer to Reception level.

We did get an amazing letter from his Teacher about how hard he is trying and we were ever so proud of him, but he's not actually achieving. At this stage of year 2, in a high achieving school that sends homework from Reception Week 2, he still only knows 6 or 7 letters by sound (though he can draw / write far more, he just doesn't know what they represent.

I have a school action review meeting with his class teacher and the school Senco in the next week or so, the class Teacher is obv. against any further drains on her time (she should try a school where she gets a class of 30 kids from mainly difficult homes like last school Sam went to, this ne has 23 all priveledged and one single parent family only. 4 SN kids in school year, none statemented). SENCO however has this big thing about getting Sam achieving to his potential by end year 2.

My ds (NT)but has major issues with reading. He is effectivly on SA (private school so it isn't called that IYSWIM) and he has an extra hour of literacy activities each week with the SENCO. He is begining to make progress but it is SLOOOOOOW and he is NT. He is a real 'works in fits and starts' kind of a kid. he makes some progress and then marks time for ages. Overall I'm just happy that he has started to make some progress, he made none at all in reception regarding reading.

Sam's problems had an obvious origin: terrible sink school that did no reading ('they're not ready to be exposed to books- wtf?) for first year, then transfer to this school.

Ahh, yes, that would do it.

Thankfully the school that ds goes to is good and meets his needs very well. He is in a very small class (10) with a teachers and a full time classroom assistant. And he also gets the extra help. Without that he would have been in big trouble....his behaviour was rather odd inreception but they had the time and patience to deal with it....otherwise I could have seen it spiraling out of control.

Do you think too much emphasis is being made on him achieving academically? I realise that's what they're interested in at this school but they must take some notice of his other needs. I don't know the answer though I'm afraid, maybe his academic performance has suffered because of the other issues he is trying to manage?

Seriously, I'd get yourself a set of the JP books and work with your son on them. My ds can be really uncooperative if he doesn't want to do something, but he enjoyed these and we hardly looked at them before they clicked and he is only four (last Sept) and is reading almost any word you throw at him, and reading whole Dr Suess books. I can't believe the school use flashcards. That's a crap and useless way of teaching reading - as your son's progress is revealing!
Perhaps your son's lack of progress might be less to do with his AS than it is to do with how he is taught and understood?

I have also found that getting books that ds can reed and I read with him.....The Apple Tree Farm books from Usborns for example have helped him. He reads some of the big words at the top and I read the more extended text at the bottom....this way he feels he is 'reading' the whole story and has a sense of sucess, which he otherwise struggles to get with reading.

Another thing that can help (told to me by our SENCO) is reading with him, ie you both read the words at the same time. And that has also helped ds.

Hi, my son doesnt have asd but i noticed this on a website before and thought it may be useful

'National Autistic Society Parent Seminar Asperger Syndrome'

This will take place in Hexham, Northumberland on Saturday 11th Febraury 2006 and will two seminars. The cost is £5 to parents, £7.50 to parent couples and free for people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders.

For further details contact the North Regional Development Team on 0191 2263614 or email [email protected]

you can get jolly phonics on dvds from ELC and puppets and other stuff my youngest is a visual learner and he sort of has to have it all correct in his head before he will show that he knows it, eg, the alaphbet we thought he didn't know it then he just did the whole lot in one go.
so it might be that he is busy processing all the bits

Thanks, will get the JP books (when student grant comes Monday ) and give it a go.

The reason I am concerned about his academic achievement is that Sam IS bright and I know that if ended up in a cnon-challenging job he wouldn't last a second. I went down that route and was miserable for a decade before getting it together to go to Uni, don't want that for him. he's very technical (should be, DH designs theatrical and Dj lights systems) but DH's lack of langauge ability ahs held him back, and I don't want the same for Sam.

Sam is also very good at tohr things- particularly physical stuff (BIBIC assessed him 2 years above his age then stopped assessing) but he can't be bothered, not enough of a challenge for him.

I would agree with others that progress can be very unpredictable and uneven. Our ds1 has Aspergers and is now 8 - I worried terribly about his literacy when he was 6 or so - he seemed WAY behind his older sister who is only 13 months older, and like your ds ours just didn't seem to 'get' it. But something suddenly clicked about 3 months ago and he is now reading all kinds of stuff. The day he wanted to read his book on the way to school was very special for me - dh and I both very bookish, and hated the thought that he might never discover the joy of reading. I would say if anything ds1 is now ahead of dd1 with his reading, because his vocabulary has always been so good.
So, I suppose I'm saying don't worry, and let it happen. If your ds is anything like ours he WON'T respond well to pressure.
FWIW the books that tripped the switch for ds1 were the Spiderwick Chronicles, which he got for his 8th birthday.

You can get Jolly Phonics on ebay, not sure how good a deal as I don't know the prices in the shops but it is likely to be cheaper.

I bought this book when ds1 was younger but didn't use it in the end as is learning to read very easily. But I was very impressed with what I read and may well use it for Ds2.

My DS1 (six, HFA) is six and a half and has been reading fluently for quite some time. We put it all down to the use of synthetic phonics at his school - they use a system called Ruth Miskin Literacy. DS1 liked it because it is completely rules-based - and being on the spectrum, he adores knowing "the rules".