WELCOME TO JIM'S AUTISM BLOG





Hi everyone and thanks for visiting our blog. My wife and I created this blog to chronicle our experience while raising a son with Asperger's syndrome. Since our son was diagnosed with an ASD at age 5, we've had a lot of questions. Lucky for us we have a great support network in place. And our blog gives us an opportunity to share what we've learned with our readers. We hope you find our blog informative and interesting. Thanks again for visiting.


"It seems that for success in science and art, a dash of autism is essential." Dr Hans Asperger 1906-1980



Thursday 22 November 2012

OUR FIRST PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEW

You read it right.  We just got home from our first ever parent teacher interview.  And for anyone that's wondering, Jacob is in grade 3.  Usually, we meet our son's teacher within the confines of a huge staff meeting that has every professional from the school, that Jacob comes into contact with.

So this was huge to us.  Even though I accept that Jacob has Asperger's, it still nice to go through the same steps that the regular kids have to go through.  And again like last year, Jacob's teacher is great and completely understands that Jacob can be intense, yet very bright at times.

His teacher this year is probably the most accommodating to Jacob's specific needs.  And his teacher is willing to try almost anything to help get Jacob to have a positive and productive day.  In the past, we as Jacob's parents, have had to take the lead when it came to Jacob's education.  So it's so nice to have a teacher that is willing to work along side us, and take the reigns if need be.

Of course Jacob has many positives, but he has a few things to work on as well.  His biggest issue is determining people's roles within the classroom.  Jacob absolutely hates it when his teacher, or any teacher for that matter, raises their voice towards another student.  Just mouthing the word "shush" can cause Jacob to become enraged.  We've been working on this for years, but Jacob is very sound oriented.  We think he focuses mostly on tone and pitch.

Should Shannie and I talk loudly in a positive way, Jacob mistakes it for arguing, and immediately tries to intervene.  These sound stressers are also found when Jacob is in music class.  He absolutely loves music, but not when his class mates are learning to play instruments.  He has to be able to control the sound level himself, or a melt down will be imminent.

On a positive note, Jacob has adjusted well to being in our new home, which we all love.  We were afraid that he'd need a couple months to transition.  But that hasn't been the case at all.  The best thing about the interview was that we all agreed that as long as Jacob was progressing, then we'd take it as a win.  And after all his progression is all that matters.

4 comments:

  1. That's really interesting about Jacob and noise. My son use to get upset when voices were raised even if they weren't arguing. He also rarely listened to music and got a little crazy when he was 4 and in kindermusic. I never associated it with Asperger's because it was infrequent and /or he was very little. Looking back, I can see the connection. Glad you guys are enjoying your new home.

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    1. Thanks Kristy. Noise has been an issue for Jacob since day 1. And I guess we used it as an indicator to Jacob having sensory issues. But we're glad that he adjusted quickly.

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  2. It seems to me that parents-teacher contact is the point which can extremely improve the studying process of our children. I'd like to share some thought concerning this:
    Parents-teacher contact.
    By the way, I followed you up with GFC, it'd be great if you follow me back.

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    1. It's true Alicia, parent-teacher meetings are crucial. Without them, the only info you get on their education is from your child, and their report card. And they can vary greatly.

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