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Social Thinking and its Impact on Ac . . .
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Social Thinking and its Impact on Academics
As a teacher and parent of children with Autism and Asperger Syndrome I have begun to notice a pattern in the academic development of the higher functioning children. They seem to start out well then fairly quickly fall behind as they progress through the primary grades. As I have watched this pattern of academic development I have seen that it coincides with the children's pattern of social development, a pattern with increasing deficit as the child ages. It has become apparent that the children's academic development is tied to their social development and I have found that by focusing on the development of social thinking these children can be helped to achieve far more than with a focus on academics alone.
The development pattern looks something like this:
Kindergarten
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Children in the spectrum do fairly well as the curriculum is concrete and easily understood.
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They learn to read easily and some appear to be avid readers as they read everything in sight.
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They learn to write their letters but they look a little sloppy.
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They catch onto math quickly and enjoy the patterns in numbers.
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They love science, as it is hands on and engaging.
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They participate in parallel play but do not engage other students. Other students occasionally attempt to engage them in cooperative play.
First Grade
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Children in the spectrum are generally working at grade level while the curriculum remains concrete.
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It soon becomes clear that even though they can read big words, they do not understand a lot of what they are reading.
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Writing becomes a tiresome chore as they struggle with the mechanics of properly forming their letters and giving them the correct spatial orientation on the line.
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When they are expected to begin writing short stories they tend to focus repeatedly on the same topic and write stories that make little sense to other readers.
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Their math skills remain strong but they often need help understanding the directions and are easily frustrated when they are not allowed to do the worksheet their way.
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They still like science and social studies and tend to enjoy opportunities to make drawings based on their findings. Inappropriate behaviors are starting to show up more frequently and there is a lot more resistance to complete work or comply with the teacher's requests.
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They continue to participate in parallel play without engaging other students. Other students make fewer attempts to engage them in cooperative play.
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