Aspergers: Julie Avery's Experiences home educating Aaron
04 August 06
My name is Julie. I am a single mum of two boys, Aaron (14) and Christopher (13). Aaron is home-educated and Christopher is still attending school. We decided to home-educate Aaron at the end of year 7. He had been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome when he was seven, and had problems with school throughout his time there. Asperger’s Syndrome is an Autistic Spectrum Disorder and affects people’s ability to make sense of and communicate with the world around them. When Aaron was young the problems were hidden by the fact he did not talk to anyone but me. It meant that he would be compliant in school, albeit silently, but the moment he saw me he would be in tears and ask questions about situations that had happened in the day which he had not understood.
As he grew, his tears did not subside and he remained quite confused about school life. The change was with his peers; they began to develop socially and became aware that Aaron was different. This is when problems of bullying started. Aaron still does not understand why people can’t and don’t say exactly what they mean. The final straw was at Easter, in year 7, when Aaron was teased to such an extent that he reacted violently. Teachers were unable to calm him and I was called to the school. The school was good, they got to the bottom of the problem and the other boys were punished. However, the damage was done, Aaron was so unhappy, and the prospect of moving to Secondary school was too scary to contemplate.
The day I suggested to Aaron that home education was an option his first thought was that I would go to prison. But when I explained that if we did it properly there would not be a problem, he was all for it. He began to smile, and the violence, which he had also been exhibiting at home in the mornings, all but stopped. We discussed it with Aaron’s doctor and with family; they all agreed that it would be the best thing for him. I also gave the option of being home educated to Christopher, but he was, and still is, having too much fun at school and opted to remain in mainstream education.
For the first six months I concentrated on calming Aaron down and getting him used to the idea of learning at home. We set aside a corner of our lounge as a study, and also have a separate bookcase and table for him to use. We established a routine whereby he had to study academic subjects at least 2 hours a day. This left plenty of time for lessons in communication and social skills, as well as Art, Craft, Technology and Practical Science. Aaron and I spend a lot of time talking about and learning how to cope with everyday situations. For children with Asperger’s Syndrome, everything has to be taught, (everything from personal hygiene, making a phone call, going to the shop, buying a bus ticket; I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea) they do not learn anything just because they see someone else acting a particular way.
As part of his socialising, I joined Education Otherwise. They have been great and we get a regular magazine which keeps us up to date with any issue involving home education, as well as giving us contact with other families. We attended a weekly group where Home Ed families could get together, the children could play and the parents could have coffee and chat. There were times when Art and Craft activities were put on for the children, and these were good fun. However, being older and Autistic, Aaron began not to enjoy the noise and running around of the younger children. He asked if we could stop going, so we have now agreed to meet the friends he made there outside the group, at each other’s homes or out in the local countryside, which suits us more.
The one big issue that I had with bringing Aaron out of school concerned GCSEs; would he be able to take them? Would it matter if he did not? What options were open to him without any formal qualifications? I telephoned the college Aaron wanted to go to and asked about the courses. The one Aaron thought suited him has the option that if the student does not have GCSEs they can do an extra year. However, if they have 4 GCSEs grade D or above they can go straight into year 2. Knowing this took the pressure off, as I knew he would have a chance of a future as long I could keep his academic work in line with his age. So we carried on with our own schedule and borrowing books from the library.
Then, about a year ago, I received a leaflet in the Education Otherwise magazine that advertised Oxford Open Learning. They sent me information for all their courses and payment options. Money was a big issue, being a single parent with a very small income I would not be able to pay for the exams all in one go. After some deliberation, Aaron decided that the four exams he would like to take would be Geography, Biology, Maths and English. I felt that because he has so many other things to think about, and also the time, that it would be better to do two exams one year, and two next. Aaron asked to do Geography and Biology first, as these are his favourite subjects. I felt that this being so, he would be more willing and enthusiastic with his learning, and we settled on them. A further telephone call to Oxford Open Learning confirmed his place and that we could pay for the exams in monthly instalments, which was a huge relief. That was it; everything went so smoothly, all we had to do was wait for the postman.
When the box arrived it was very exciting. Aaron received two folders of work, one for each subject, as well as details of his tutors. Aaron had been asked to complete a small form detailing his personal details, and also wrote a personal letter to each of his teachers introducing himself. Within a few days I had received telephone calls from both teachers. The first contact was made between myself and the teachers, because Aaron has very limited telephone skills and becomes confused during conversations. Both teachers were very understanding of Aaron’s particular problems and agreed to allow me to act as interpreter. With both courses having a number of TMAs (Tutor Marked Assignments) and coursework to do, we sent off a schedule of work for the year. All of these have to be finished by the spring for Aaron to take his exams next June.
16.08.06
So now it was down to work, with Geography first up. Until this week it has been the easier of the two subjects for Aaron to grasp. Each one is split into modules and until now the Geography modules have been those which we could study on a practical level as well as out of the book. Map-reading and Interpretation of Data was a great start. As I alluded to earlier, Aaron loves being outside, and therefore we were able to spend a lot of time in the countryside, finding our way using Ordnance Survey maps. He also goes on walks with my dad, though when I say walks I mean overnight, sleep-under-the-stars, wash-in-a horse-trough walks. Indeed, this week they have just got back from walking around Dartmoor. Aaron gets a great practical reference for his learning from this; the map-reading has helped to highlight that Aaron may also have a problem with dyslexia (When he did his first TMA, most of the points were lost because he reversed numbers). I have been able to get in touch with the Local Education Authority to ask for some assistance with the problem, and they have agreed to help.
The second module was on Settlement and Population, and although this meant global population I was again able to do some practical work with Aaron. We are lucky enough to live in a part of the country where we can get to some very small villages as well as large towns. We were able to talk about the different facilities needed for both, and to look at some reasons why towns grew up where they did. Being able to walk around a town centre and look at buildings makes more sense to Aaron than seeing words on a page. One day we even walked out from our own town centre until there were no more buildings, observing what we passed on the way.
o we were two modules down and three TMAs with very good scores. But now came Agriculture and Industry. For some reason, Aaron did not seem to understand this. Some of the language became more technical, and rather than talking about animals (which is what Aaron was expecting) the course talks of farming being a business akin with industry. I don’t think Aaron was able to equate this with his idea of Geography, and because of his Asperger’s once there is a barrier he is unable just to forget it and move on.
Having difficulties like these often means a lot of stress for Aaron. He needs to understand everything and is not happy with an answer of, “It’s that way just because it is.” Aaron became quite upset at not being able to grasp this module and felt like he was failing. However, with the flexibility of the course it meant that Aaron could go away on his walking holiday around Dartmoor and forget his work for a little while. I took the opportunity of his absence to have a frank and open conversation with Helen (his tutor for Geography), who was great. She understood fully and was very reassuring. Helen pointed out that as long as Aaron understood either Agriculture or Industry, he would be fine in the exam. She explained the format of the exam and that there would be a choice of questions. I have not told Aaron this yet but it is a help for me to know that if there is a subject he does not understand it is not a great problem. Helen also suggested a different textbook, the format of which should suit Aaron’s learning better.
That telephone call meant a lot to me and spurred me on to help Aaron through this bad patch. He came back from his walk refreshed and eager to do better. Rather than going over the work again, we worked through chapters of a GCSE revision book. Aaron then attempted the TMA. We had the result back just today and he got 80%, how fantastic! Big cheers all round. It is nice to have a final result on each chapter and be able to move on. Aaron is not dwelling on things that he felt he failed on. He knows exactly he needs to learn.
20 August 2006
We have had a fun week. Whilst my other son, Christopher, is off school, I have taken the opportunity for him to help Aaron do practical work from the course. It has been easier than trying to keep him quiet whilst Aaron is studying! The textbook that we were advised to buy has a lot of practical experiments in it and although not all can be done at home, there are enough that can be. Christopher himself has quite enjoyed doing some of the experiments and it brings a whole new dimension to Aaron’s learning.
The biggest difficulty was finding some of the equipment needed, such as a thermometer that counts from 0°C to 100°C, but I eventually found one in a tiny little independent hardware store. Also, some of the chemicals have taken a bit of tracking down. I am quite used to funny looks when I go into chemists now.
I have found it really refreshing that practical work is included in the course. I thought that Biology would be all out of the book, but Aaron has had great fun causing chemical reactions and digging up my garden to look at the roots of different plants. All this enhances his learning experience.
At the beginning of the course Aaron had to submit a schedule of work, and this has been a great help in keeping him on task. Despite this, however, it has now become a problem. Aaron has fallen very slightly behind and, because he needs to follow such set rules strictly (a symptom of Asperger’s Syndrome), he is worried about this. In turn, it has meant that, rather than concentrating on studying hard, he is wondering how much to do. I have therefore advised Aaron to telephone his tutors today and ask their advice. I am sure that they will be fully supportive as they have always been in the past. The act of telephoning and talking to a person who Aaron perceives as being in authority will allow him to get over the problem of running late and once more concentrate on his study.
The reason he has fallen behind with his work schedule (or “study plan”) is that…
TBC?
