A SPELLING TEST? PART 1

So it's Friday.  Hooray!  We made it through another week and my wife and I can officially take a breath.  This week has been very hectic for us and Jacob.  If you've read our previous posts, then you know exactly what we're talking about.  The past week has been everything you'd expect from a child with Asperger's as it was like a roller coaster ride.

Since the last posting on Wednesday, Jacob's time at school has still been up and down.  He received a sticker for Thursday morning, but not one in the afternoon.  He had math and science that had to be completed for home work.  Yesterday however, I had to work in the afternoon, so Shannon had to supervise Jacob while he did his home work.  Normally, Jacob is much more resistant to do his work when mom is helping.  But yesterday was different because Jacob completed his work in about the same amount of time it would've taken had I been supervising.  So we contemplated giving Jacob a special sticker, but when we thought about his performance in class, we decided not to reward him.  We felt that rewarding him with a sticker, even though he had a rough day would send him mixed messages, which to a child with Asperger's is an absolute no-no.

On Friday mornings Jacob has his spelling test.  I don't know about other ASD children when it comes to spelling/ vocabulary, but Jacob is very advanced and routinely gets all his spelling words correct.  This morning was different though .  Jacob was ready for his test this week as usual (normally the test is 12 words, but this one was only 6), he went to school smiling and happy, as usual, but once the test came around, Jacob flatly refused to do the test.  Jacob's morning EA is new to her role with Jacob, but she knows that if Jacob says "I'm not doing the test!" then the test won't be done.  Jacob, like other ASD kids, has real tenacity when it comes to refusing something.  He'd sooner get sick in class, then do his test.  His EA told me that they tried 3 or 4 different techniques to get Jacob to complete his test.  But nothing worked.  When I asked Jacob why he didn't want to do his test he told me "I didn't do my test at school because I want to do it for home work."  Jacob seems to have a hard time separating school work and home work and it almost seems as though Jacob thinks the 2 are interchangeable.   when I asked how he was going to do his test at home?  He didn't reply.  I love leaving him speechless.

Hopefully Jacob has a good afternoon with little homework to complete this weekend.   When I asked how he was going to do his test at home?  He didn't reply.  I love leaving him speechless.  As of lunch time today, he only has his spelling test, so he might not have that much to complete.  Hopefully his old EA can coax him into doing his test in class.  Be sure to check back this afternoon for an update.