di: di Digest, Vol 87, Issue 8

[Christopher Duss]

Thank you for the responses I have received about my ESL student with
(possible) Asperger’s. I am now giving daily updates to the parents,
including progress and any hinderances. They acknowledge that the
student "has a difficult personality, is very hard on himself for
small mistakes, and suddenly becomes frustrated and can't continue."
No indication of further investigation or diagnosis.

To make up for lost time, we have been doing two one-hour lesson
periods per day. The first one in the morning has gone smoothly except
for a couple times where he needed to rest before continuing. The
afternoon session almost always ended in problems, so I think we were
trying to pack too much in. From today we will return to a single hour
long session every day. As summer holidays are ending, though, we
won't have the luxury to break for 20 minutes and return when
necessary. We have to achieve what is possible within the hour block.
He enjoys playing against me in Connect 4 (on my phone), so I plan to
build that in as often as needed to maintain his active participation
in the main lesson activities.

For lesson materials, he has been flying through the first part of
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, doing an average of 2-3
lessons per day. He has been rejecting Language For Learning and
shutting down when I try to do it, but has been enthusiastic about the
reading, so I have been feeding his interest there. Yesterday I
received Funnix, which a few people mentioned as a good/better
alternative to Teach. I did the first lesson with him yesterday and he
seemed to enjoy it, though it was the afternoon session so he was a
bit worn out and close to frustration at points. I am concerned, given
that we have probably 20 sessions remaining until the interview that
we are a bit late in beginning this program, especially if he is
taking so well (so far) to Teach. On the other hand, Funnix has more
of a verbal component, which may make up for not being able to get him
to do Language For Learning.

I have a sense that reading/writing is where he really needs to make
up ground for his interview, as opposed to speaking. With that in mind
what do think is the appropriate path - 1) continue with Teach and
push LFL when possible or 2) do Funnix and let that account for
speaking/reading/writing needs?

Thank you!
Chris


> On Aug 27, 2019, at 04:00, di-request at lists.uoregon.edu wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
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>   1. Re:  Math word problems for 7th grader with dyslexia
>      (Heather Penney)
>   2. Re:  di Digest, Vol 87, Issue 6 (Christopher Duss)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2019 23:21:19 +0100
> From: Heather Penney <h.penney at btinternet.com>
> To: Leah Cooper <leahs_tutoring at yahoo.com>
> Cc: di at lists.uoregon.edu
> Subject: Re: di: Math word problems for 7th grader with dyslexia
> Message-ID: <5A268D87-44D2-415D-8705-9BA91D7FEEA7 at btinternet.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Leah,
>
> Look at Talk Aloud Problem Solving (TAPS) http://www.morningsideacademy.org/learn-to-reason-with-taps/
>
> Heather :-)
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On 21 Aug 2019, at 4:39 am, Leah Cooper <leahs_tutoring at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>> A friend?s daughter is extremely talented with math calculation.  The word problems are a huge struggle for her because of her language processing issues/dyslexia.  Do any of you know of any good program/curriculum that can teach her how to break down a word problem into parts that she can comprehend and translate into math functions?
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
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> ------------------------------
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> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2019 10:06:15 +0900
> From: Christopher Duss <duss.christopher at gmail.com>
> To: DI List List <di at lists.uoregon.edu>
> Subject: Re: di: di Digest, Vol 87, Issue 6
> Message-ID:
>    <CANL-zTO=SSV+m7Y8hqjhanHqXx1vR0EZLQeDMNhQGuWusE8HMA at mail.gmail.com>
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>
> Dear List,
>
> Regarding my student in the intensive ESL interview preparation program, I
> have been having trouble. Again, he is 7 years old and possibly High
> Functioning Autism (Asperger's), though I haven't heard there was a formal
> diagnosis. He has been breaking down at the slightest hint of error. When
> we had lessons in a more relaxed setting I had to be careful about repeated
> errors, but now he is agitated even with familiar material. He also says he
> is sleepy and lies down for a half hour (which he is doing now) before
> continuing. To avoid him getting in a funk that carries through the whole
> lesson period, I have been accommodating with any breaks he needs, though
> my short reading on the subject says that if it is Asperger's breaks may
> only allow him to stew on what is bothering him. I think he is feeling the
> pressure of this interview but am also considering that he understands he
> can reduce his lesson time by behaving in this way. Do you have ideas on
> how to approach this program in light of these behavioral difficulties?
> Should I find out any formal diagnosis there has been to better guide my
> approach? It is a touchy subject to bring up with parents, and parents of
> former students who had learning impediments were more forthcoming with
> specific details than these have been.
>
> Thanks for any insight you can offer,
> Chris
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> End of di Digest, Vol 87, Issue 8
> *********************************