Yesterday I got my oldest DS’s report and he got his first “real A”. He was so proud of himself. As a junior in HS he thought it was about time. He has gotten A’s before but they were in special ed classes. His whole report card was not too bad, he got an A in Algebra, a B in Art and Physics, a C in U.S. history, and a D+ in oral comm. Both Oral Comm and U.S. history require a lot of reading and writing his areas of greatest weakness. He has been very fortunate this year in that most of his teachers are willing to work with him and give him accomodations even though he does not have an IEP because they know his history and he is willing to try. On Tuesday he is going over to the local Community College to take their placement test so he can sign up for some classes. He is very realalistic and realizes he will place in developmental classes but is pleased with himself for knowing his weaknesses and being willing to attempt to do something about it. He is even going to pay for his own classes, he is so excited and feels so grown up. This is so exciting since from a very early age he felt like a failure. This gives me hope for my other son who is currently struggling in the 7th grade. He falls on the Autism spectrum and is in a self-contained class. He has noticed his brothers changes and is trying to model after it. He too has made some nice gains and I can hope that they continue.
Lisa
Re: First "Real A"
Yeah, no kidding!! If a child’s getting a steady stream of Ds and Fs, because he can’t read or write, it stands to reason he’s going to think he’s an overall failure.
Littlemac, you must be very proud of your son! It sounds as if he’s doing good work overall.
Yours truly,
Kathy G.
My son received his first A’s last year and it makes a very big difference to a kid. I think they can start seeing themselves as like everyone else—good at some things but not good at others. Before, I think there is a tendency to think of themselves as not good at anything, especially if they have had their share of Ds and Fs.
Beth