Nick is an active, funny and talented high school freshman. He also has
Asperger’s (on the high functioning end of the Autism spectrum:
www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/asperger-syndrome).
Nick came to Pinecone in his summer before second grade. His mother wanted help with math and reading, but also his writing skills. Pinecone had not yet developed its writing program, so Ms. Hobbs decided to create a personalized program for Nick.
In assessing his initial writing skills, Ms. Hobbs found that his favorite thing to do was erase. He would write a word – erase – write another – erase. He had great focus on erasing. And, when he would erase – he would do so with such vigor that the paper inevitably tore, sometimes disintegrated. Taking the erasers away didn’t work – Nick would sit there upset with his mistake and not move on. Hmmm…..
Ms. Hobbs thought about this and decided to turn it into a game. She tore a paper into small pieces and asked Nick to write his thoughts with a separate word on each piece of paper. When he made a mistake, he was told to crumple up the paper and toss it over his shoulder. Nick loved this. The fear was that he would love it too much and the floor would be covered with “mistakes”.
However, Nick started to focus on his words more carefully. The crumpling and tossing gave him a mental break and he started to take pride in the pieces of paper with no mistakes. At the end, it was also fun for him to arrange the words into his sentence – a great high-five moment. This was the break-through Nick needed.
Ms. Hobbs continued to work with Nick, both in the Pinecone program and with private tutoring, for the next five years. Nick was able to master Algebra by sixth grade, his reading skills were high and his spelling and grammar skills were excellent. His challenge continued to be expanding his thoughts and getting them down on paper (he worked very hard to suppress the urge to erase).
Ms. Hobbs realized that Nick might always need some help with expressing details or the complexities of good writing. However, Nick just happened to be a talented illustrator as well as a real ham of a presenter. With this, Ms. Hobbs decided to help Nick write his stories – she freely shared how much she was helping Nick with both his teacher and his mother. She would pull out Nick’s thoughts, help him re-phrase, then he would write. However, the illustrations were all his. The class loved it when Nick would present his story. He had an amazing memory and had a lot of fun with this.
While Nick might always need help with his writing, he would have plenty to contribute to others with his illustrations and humorous presentations. In sixth grade, Nick made honor roll. He also created a book (with help) fully bound and illustrated.
Nick dedicated his book to Ms. Hobbs.
Nick came to Pinecone in his summer before second grade. His mother wanted help with math and reading, but also his writing skills. Pinecone had not yet developed its writing program, so Ms. Hobbs decided to create a personalized program for Nick.
In assessing his initial writing skills, Ms. Hobbs found that his favorite thing to do was erase. He would write a word – erase – write another – erase. He had great focus on erasing. And, when he would erase – he would do so with such vigor that the paper inevitably tore, sometimes disintegrated. Taking the erasers away didn’t work – Nick would sit there upset with his mistake and not move on. Hmmm…..
Ms. Hobbs thought about this and decided to turn it into a game. She tore a paper into small pieces and asked Nick to write his thoughts with a separate word on each piece of paper. When he made a mistake, he was told to crumple up the paper and toss it over his shoulder. Nick loved this. The fear was that he would love it too much and the floor would be covered with “mistakes”.
However, Nick started to focus on his words more carefully. The crumpling and tossing gave him a mental break and he started to take pride in the pieces of paper with no mistakes. At the end, it was also fun for him to arrange the words into his sentence – a great high-five moment. This was the break-through Nick needed.
Ms. Hobbs continued to work with Nick, both in the Pinecone program and with private tutoring, for the next five years. Nick was able to master Algebra by sixth grade, his reading skills were high and his spelling and grammar skills were excellent. His challenge continued to be expanding his thoughts and getting them down on paper (he worked very hard to suppress the urge to erase).
Ms. Hobbs realized that Nick might always need some help with expressing details or the complexities of good writing. However, Nick just happened to be a talented illustrator as well as a real ham of a presenter. With this, Ms. Hobbs decided to help Nick write his stories – she freely shared how much she was helping Nick with both his teacher and his mother. She would pull out Nick’s thoughts, help him re-phrase, then he would write. However, the illustrations were all his. The class loved it when Nick would present his story. He had an amazing memory and had a lot of fun with this.
While Nick might always need help with his writing, he would have plenty to contribute to others with his illustrations and humorous presentations. In sixth grade, Nick made honor roll. He also created a book (with help) fully bound and illustrated.
Nick dedicated his book to Ms. Hobbs.
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