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Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified and English homework
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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 89563" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>Josie, with the non-literal interpretation, this is where we put in a lot of the hard work. We sat down and basically did the subject with him, working it out for ourselves and then putting it into concrete terms as much as possible. There will be limits as to just how much you can do with this - when difficult child 3 was studying Geography this year, almost half the subject was on "global change" - this for a kid who is still trying to work out what the main export of Nicaragua is. "Globalisation" is just too abstract. I talked him through the questions, translated them into as concrete a form as I could, used examples and analogy a lot, play-acted it with him, did everything - and he would get the paper done, with a lot of teeth-pulling. Then as I was signing off on it to post it to the school, difficult child 3 would say, "I know I just completed that but I don't understand a word of it.</p><p></p><p>A big part of the problem for difficult child 3 was that the curriculum insists that "global change" be half the material for this year. Stupid. And the biggest part of the problem was his teacher totally couldn't 'get' that difficult child 3 was incapable of doing the work as she presented it - she should have modified it for him, as other teachers do so often. When I complained to his roll teacher, I was told that difficult child 3 was one of many students with the same complaint. Eventually we were told to just refuse to do any more Geography, since it was causing so much trouble for him.</p><p></p><p>In this case, the problem was only this subject because NO attempt had been made to make the topic accessible for difficult child 3. There are always other ways to set the work, to make it possible for the student to demonstrate a sufficient understanding of the topic. Or to at least have a go.</p><p></p><p>What worked for us with difficult child 1, was the same level of simplification, plus a definition (plus examples) of the main words used to ask a question, plus assisted one-on-one practice, with the teacher co-writing the first few essays to show him how to do it.</p><p></p><p>They can't make it too abstract because too many kids can't handle it. But they often make it LOOK more abstract than it is. I have a suggestion - shoot me over a question you feel is beyond him, and I'll see if I can find a way to make it more concrete for him. I've been amazed at how much difficult child 1 managed to do. easy child 2/difficult child 2 also hated "analysing things to death" the way they had to in English at school. And yet now, they often watch the senior high school poetry class on TV with difficult child 3 (who is NOT senior high school by any means) and they sit there, nodding and saying, "yeah, I get that. Now why didn't MY teachers explain things that way?"</p><p>Part of it is, sometimes the teachers don't understand it much themselves, and as a result can't explain it to the students. And sometimes they DO over-analyse.</p><p></p><p>A lovely example - our high school students are right now doing their final exams - Higher School Certificate. A good pass is uni entrance. The first paper was English, last Friday. One of the questions was, "In 'Cosi' by Louis Nowra, explain how Lewis's inner journey develops throughout the play." Now 'inner journey' was a topic that the students worked on as the main theme for their English unit, it was used in the novel, in the play, in poetry and film. The students are encouraged to find 'supplementary material' of their own which can be used as further example of the concept of 'inner journey'. When difficult child 1 did t he exam, the concept was "physical journey". Another topic for difficult child 1 was "the institution" which was also linked to "what is reality?" and so he studied "Truman Show", "Shawshank Redemption" and "Rabbit-Proof Fence".</p><p>But in this year's paper with that question on "Cosi", our local radio station had an interesting demonstration - they got the playwright Louis Nowra in the studio to answer the exam question based on his own play - and he couldn't do it. They had students ringing in to tell him the answer and discuss it on air with him. And of course, the answer is that Lewis learns more about himself and his own prejudices, slowly overcoming them, because of his interactions with the inmates of the asylum with whom he has been hired to work. It's a good play, made into a movie with Toni Collette, Barry Otto and David Wenham (playing a fabulously insane firebug).</p><p></p><p>So if the playwright himself doesn't 'get' it, then don't feel too bad for your son. What he probably needs is for it to be made as concrete as possible and as clear as possible. Generally the answers are much simpler than the teachers like to admit.</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 89563, member: 1991"] Josie, with the non-literal interpretation, this is where we put in a lot of the hard work. We sat down and basically did the subject with him, working it out for ourselves and then putting it into concrete terms as much as possible. There will be limits as to just how much you can do with this - when difficult child 3 was studying Geography this year, almost half the subject was on "global change" - this for a kid who is still trying to work out what the main export of Nicaragua is. "Globalisation" is just too abstract. I talked him through the questions, translated them into as concrete a form as I could, used examples and analogy a lot, play-acted it with him, did everything - and he would get the paper done, with a lot of teeth-pulling. Then as I was signing off on it to post it to the school, difficult child 3 would say, "I know I just completed that but I don't understand a word of it. A big part of the problem for difficult child 3 was that the curriculum insists that "global change" be half the material for this year. Stupid. And the biggest part of the problem was his teacher totally couldn't 'get' that difficult child 3 was incapable of doing the work as she presented it - she should have modified it for him, as other teachers do so often. When I complained to his roll teacher, I was told that difficult child 3 was one of many students with the same complaint. Eventually we were told to just refuse to do any more Geography, since it was causing so much trouble for him. In this case, the problem was only this subject because NO attempt had been made to make the topic accessible for difficult child 3. There are always other ways to set the work, to make it possible for the student to demonstrate a sufficient understanding of the topic. Or to at least have a go. What worked for us with difficult child 1, was the same level of simplification, plus a definition (plus examples) of the main words used to ask a question, plus assisted one-on-one practice, with the teacher co-writing the first few essays to show him how to do it. They can't make it too abstract because too many kids can't handle it. But they often make it LOOK more abstract than it is. I have a suggestion - shoot me over a question you feel is beyond him, and I'll see if I can find a way to make it more concrete for him. I've been amazed at how much difficult child 1 managed to do. easy child 2/difficult child 2 also hated "analysing things to death" the way they had to in English at school. And yet now, they often watch the senior high school poetry class on TV with difficult child 3 (who is NOT senior high school by any means) and they sit there, nodding and saying, "yeah, I get that. Now why didn't MY teachers explain things that way?" Part of it is, sometimes the teachers don't understand it much themselves, and as a result can't explain it to the students. And sometimes they DO over-analyse. A lovely example - our high school students are right now doing their final exams - Higher School Certificate. A good pass is uni entrance. The first paper was English, last Friday. One of the questions was, "In 'Cosi' by Louis Nowra, explain how Lewis's inner journey develops throughout the play." Now 'inner journey' was a topic that the students worked on as the main theme for their English unit, it was used in the novel, in the play, in poetry and film. The students are encouraged to find 'supplementary material' of their own which can be used as further example of the concept of 'inner journey'. When difficult child 1 did t he exam, the concept was "physical journey". Another topic for difficult child 1 was "the institution" which was also linked to "what is reality?" and so he studied "Truman Show", "Shawshank Redemption" and "Rabbit-Proof Fence". But in this year's paper with that question on "Cosi", our local radio station had an interesting demonstration - they got the playwright Louis Nowra in the studio to answer the exam question based on his own play - and he couldn't do it. They had students ringing in to tell him the answer and discuss it on air with him. And of course, the answer is that Lewis learns more about himself and his own prejudices, slowly overcoming them, because of his interactions with the inmates of the asylum with whom he has been hired to work. It's a good play, made into a movie with Toni Collette, Barry Otto and David Wenham (playing a fabulously insane firebug). So if the playwright himself doesn't 'get' it, then don't feel too bad for your son. What he probably needs is for it to be made as concrete as possible and as clear as possible. Generally the answers are much simpler than the teachers like to admit. Marg [/QUOTE]
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