I am a 73 year old retired teacher and grandmother who started over, raising a grandson from age 6 weeks. He is now 12 years old. He attended preschool for two years and I have been officially homeschooling him since then (Actually, I started when he was 6 weeks old ; ) He was officially diagnosed with mild Asperger’s Syndrome at age 5 and recently shows signs of OCD. He is gifted in some areas (reading and science) and delayed in others (handwriting, math computation). He is a fairly typical right-brained learner in most ways – he loves building with Legos and anything else, is a strong visual learner (but also auditory). He loves to learn, but hates being taught.
I will share our activities and my thoughts here in hopes that they are useful and interesting to someone else. As a retired teacher, I had to start all over learning about how this very special boy learns best. It is not the approved public school curriculum, for sure. With his Aspie traits (including above average intelligence) and right-brained learning style, I knew he would not fit in well in a classroom and would be frustrated by some things and bored by others. This would interfere with his learning and most likely, lead to behavior problems since he is very strong-willed. That is a major reason that we homeschool. Actually, no matter what your child’s learning style and strengths/weaknesses are, homeschooling allows you to really personalize their education. That’s what is so great about it.
To read our story about our youngest son, Dana’s dad, that appeared in Time magazine, click here: “Schizophrenia: One Family’s Burden” He took his own life when Dana was 3 years old, and after this article was published. That is why my social vibe encourages you to help pay for suicide prevention services by viewing a video of an ad and answering a couple of questions. Your help is appreciated. All donations to the Peter Beale Suicide Prevention fund at NAMI Ohio, in Columbus, Ohio are also greatly appreciated. Thank you.
“He loves to learn, but hates being taught.” I LOVE this, and it describes my Aspie guy to a T! You are an inspiration – – taking the time to find out what works best with your grandson, and then making it happen. Awesome!
Hello Beales,
I don’t know where you live, but it must be close to us. We live in Millwood ,OH just a few minutes from Kokosing Gap Trail where you posted pictures of your walk. We have been to Malabar Farm also. So what a treat to see your photos. You are great grandparents to take on raising and educating your grandson. God bless. I love the Ohio winters too.
Andrea
Ms Velma, it is so lovely to see a name with such a lovely face.
I loved reading about your family; God love you for doing such an awesome job to raise that beautiful boy. Someday he’ll know how lucky (blessed! : ) he is.
Blessings!
Thank you, Jennifer. I only do what I must do. There is no other choice. But, are you sure you don’t need glasses?
Very sure, Ms. Velma. LOL
PS–he looks just like you. : )
I just found your blog, looking for information on MOTL. Your grandson sounds much like my son (although my son hasn’t been diagnosed with Asperger’s, but anxiety/trauma related to adoption and orphanage “care.”). Of course, doesn’t much matter to dx as the result. I’m amazed: if I had asked someone to write a description of DS, I couldn’t have done a better job ” He is gifted in some areas (reading and science) and delayed in others (handwriting, spelling, math computation). He is a fairly typical right-brained learner in most ways – he loves building with Legos and anything else, is a strong visual learner (but also auditory). He loves to learn, but hates being taught.”
I’m going to enjoy your blog.
Welcome, Holly! I will watch for your future comments. I’m sure we share many experiences. Your thoughts and ideas are welcome.
Stumbled upon your blog signature at Kris’ At Home Science Yahoo Group 🙂 I homeschool an almost 8yo science addict. Just wanted to say I am so grateful for the resources you’ve shared, Velma because I think my son will love them, especially the link to the 4H robotics resources. I would love to link to your blog on my blogroll, if I may.
I would be honored to have you link to my blog! I will be checking yours out, too. Thanks for the compliment. I’m glad my links are helpful to you. That’s why they are here. It is hard to keep up with these “sciency” boys (and girls) and keep them challenged. We have been involved with robotics for some time now. He and his robots are like the Energizer bunny. They keep going, and going and going…
Hey nice site, some really interesting points made that are really helpful! thanks, michele
Thanks, Michele. I checked out your interesting and helpful blog, too. Anxiety is one of Dana’s problems.
hi Velma ~
Wanted to catch up with you all and so am dropping on on your blog. Enjoyed the Halloween story… Misty is actually an
acquaintance. (man that was hard to spell!) Have a Kenyon student I want Dayna to meet. She loves to swim and is a first year student who has a sibling w. aspergers. Might work
best to connect after the holidays… but let me know what your plans are for the next few weeks> blessings, Erin
Thanks, Erin. (replied off-blog)
“Loves to learn but hates being taught.” This describes my boy as well. He’s recently started asking me what certain words mean, which is a huge step for him. Your grandson sounds so much like my amazing boy. Gifted in reading and science, loves robotics and Lego, figuring out how things work and so very creative. I wish we lived closer so they could meet!
Does your grandson know about the series called “The Way Things Work”? It’s a DVD collection we get from the library and we found the book on BookSwap. My boy never tires of either.
God bless and keep you. Looking forward to exploring your blog!
dory
(blessed mom to Carson)
We know the book very well. We’ll have to look for the DVDs at the library. Thanks.