Californiablonde
Well-Known Member
I just received an email from difficult child 2's teacher today saying that he is really struggling with participating in group activities. Right now his class is working on a group history project and he is refusing to participate. When it is time to go outside to work with the group, difficult child stays in his seat and does not follow the kids outside. When the teacher questioned him, he told her that he couldn't move his legs. difficult child finally admitted he just does not want to participate.
The activity involved standing up as a group and speaking in front of people. The teacher knows how much he struggles in social environments, so she talked to the principal about it and he agreed to excuse difficult child from the assignment all together. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. I am trying really hard to work with him on his social skills but it seems like there are just certain things that difficult child 2 doesn't get. Relating to others is one of them.
The class is also working on another assignment that requires him to work in a small group of three. There is no public speaking involved. He is refusing to sit with the group and instead sits off by himself. When the teacher tells him to join the group he ignores her. I can sort of understand his not wanting to speak in public in front of a large group, but I don't get why he is unwilling to participate in a small group of a few kids that he has known all year.
He has friends there. It's not like he doesn't talk to anybody, it's just with certain people in certain situtations. On the rare occasions when he does speak he doesn't know the right thing to say, and sometimes even upsets people and he doesn't know why. I guess it just goes along with the Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) but I'm really having a hard time understanding it all.
I hate to see him struggle. I am really worried about how he is going to function out there in the real world when he is expected to hold down a job and communicate with others. He is very smart. His last IQ test put him in the 95th percentile. It's just his social skills that are very poor. Hopefully he qualifies for this IEP and can get some services put in place. I just hate to sit back and see him struggle and I feel like there's nothing I can do.
The activity involved standing up as a group and speaking in front of people. The teacher knows how much he struggles in social environments, so she talked to the principal about it and he agreed to excuse difficult child from the assignment all together. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. I am trying really hard to work with him on his social skills but it seems like there are just certain things that difficult child 2 doesn't get. Relating to others is one of them.
The class is also working on another assignment that requires him to work in a small group of three. There is no public speaking involved. He is refusing to sit with the group and instead sits off by himself. When the teacher tells him to join the group he ignores her. I can sort of understand his not wanting to speak in public in front of a large group, but I don't get why he is unwilling to participate in a small group of a few kids that he has known all year.
He has friends there. It's not like he doesn't talk to anybody, it's just with certain people in certain situtations. On the rare occasions when he does speak he doesn't know the right thing to say, and sometimes even upsets people and he doesn't know why. I guess it just goes along with the Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) but I'm really having a hard time understanding it all.
I hate to see him struggle. I am really worried about how he is going to function out there in the real world when he is expected to hold down a job and communicate with others. He is very smart. His last IQ test put him in the 95th percentile. It's just his social skills that are very poor. Hopefully he qualifies for this IEP and can get some services put in place. I just hate to sit back and see him struggle and I feel like there's nothing I can do.