• Welcome to Autism Forums, a friendly forum to discuss Aspergers Syndrome, Autism, High Functioning Autism and related conditions.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Private Member only forums for more serious discussions that you may wish to not have guests or search engines access to.
    • Your very own blog. Write about anything you like on your own individual blog.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon! Please also check us out @ https://www.twitter.com/aspiescentral

School Challenge: How to explain writing about favorites?

F

FrazzledFam

Active Member
Our 7 year old son is an Aspie, and he has a very hard time with writing assignments. In particular, any time he's asked to identify a favorite, he can't choose something to write. We've tried explaining that it doesn't have to be his absolute favorite, and that it's OK to "just pick something." He still struggles to come up with anything, though, particularly if he's in class and we aren't able to give him a narrower set of options.

Any suggestions on how to rationalize this for an Aspie?
 
I had the same issue as a kid. Vague instructions make it really hard making a choice, and I was so slow writing in class at your son's age, I was sent home with the assignment and told to dictate to my parents. Even now, even though I've been employed as a writer/editor, I agonize over writing.
When asked to write about a favourite, I didn't know what was my favourite, but writing about anything else would be a lie. Taking the word 'favourite' out of the question would reduce the anxiety, but as the parent you can't do that. The teacher said 'favourite' so favourite it must be! I actually find some of my ESL students have the same problem.
I don't have an easy answer. It helps to realize its (generally*) just a writing exercise. It's not important that it's the truth. It's the writing, not the content being assessed.
Maybe the concept of fiction/non-fiction writing might help (as opposed to lies/truth).
Asking to write about a 'favourite' is supposed to make it easier as they will have more to write about. Maybe try redefining 'favourite' from 'like most' to 'know most about'. The question could be reworded to "Write about a _______ you know a lot about".

*the reason I say generally is it is sometimes (especially at the start of a year) also an attempt by the teacher to understand their students' lives outside of class.
 
Last edited:
These are great suggestions! I'll talk to his teacher about letting him make substitutions like this throughout the year. He does do a bit better when he can focus on his special interests (Lego, MineCraft, and sometimes Pokemon). Unfortunately, when the assignment is specific to a certain topic, such as when he's asked to describe a favorite part of a book they've just read in class, it just doesn't work. But framing it in terms of what he knows the most about, or remembers best, should help regardless of the situation. Now I see that I'd only taken it from a matter of strong preference to one of mild preference or random selection, rather than providing a more objective alternative.

Thank you so much for your help!
 
FrazzledFam said:
...such as when he's asked to describe a favorite part of a book they've just read in class, it just doesn't work.
Click to expand...
Haha. If 'favourite' means 'most liked', and he hated the book (or if he loved all of it equally) that's a question that's impossible to answer. If the question is reframed as what were you most struck by? or what was the most memorable part of the story? or who can you relate to? that may be easier.
To be honest, it's only now in my forties I'm coming to grasp that I don't have to answer the question given, but can generally mold it to suit me, and the other party is still happy.
Maybe favourite could be redefined as 'what you would most like to write about'.
 
Last edited:
My daughter has trouble with making a choice also. i made the mistake of letting her puck out which binder she wanted...we were there for 15 min...i learned i need to pick things out myself and give her the option of the gwo or three...I'm glad you posted this hopefully it will give me some insight onwith my daughter come school time in a couple weeks
 
FrazzledFam said:
Our 7 year old son is an Aspie, and he has a very hard time with writing assignments. In particular, any time he's asked to identify a favorite, he can't choose something to write. We've tried explaining that it doesn't have to be his absolute favorite, and that it's OK to "just pick something." He still struggles to come up with anything, though, particularly if he's in class and we aren't able to give him a narrower set of options.

Any suggestions on how to rationalize this for an Aspie?
Click to expand...
That's a terrible task for an Aspie kid, I'm so sorry your son needs to go through that.
Does the school know your child is diagnosed and are they in any way required to take that in consideration? If not, that needs to be addressed. If yes, what you could do is give the teacher a list of topics you know your son's interested in and would be willing to write about. The important thing is he's actually willing to write, support him in that. I've had pupils that refused to write all together after years of bad school experiences. I don't have experience with so small children, but I'll gladly share any tips I can think of.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New Threads

Top Bottom