Alex

Meet Alex.
Grade: 7
Identification: Asperger’s Syndrome and Gifted
Strengths: Language, at a high school level in oral and written communication. Excels in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Curiosity about how and why things work.
Academic Challenges: getting stuck on details (hyperfocus), easily frustrated – especially in Math. Interested in Art, becomes frustrated when his work does not come out as planned.
Social Challenges: shy, stubborn, interrupts others, difficulty reading social cues, difficulty making eye-contact, empathy, he is self aware and knows that there are differences between him and the other classmates, but he does not know what to do about them. Often has one-sided conversations. Doesn’t know how to manage his frustrations.
Alex’s needs (issues stemming from social interactions, calling out, arguing, etc) often get him in trouble. His teacher spends much of her time calming him down and sorting out arguments, which leaves little time for him to challenge and extend his thinking by capitalizing on his academic strengths (giftedness).
Setting: Regular classroom placement, 6/7 split in his home school. Urban setting in Toronto, ON with over 500 students, active parent community. Resource Room but Alex does not like to visit.
Separate office area in the Resource Room – Alex feels comfortable here one-on-one

Sunday, 27 March 2011

Our Dilemma

What options are there for Alex to learn much needed social skills with his peers? Is Alex too high-functioning (especially considering his giftedness) for Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) interventions? What will happen if he does not learn to read social cues? He needs to learn the skills to help him deal with current social situations and he needs ongoing support to help him handle new situations.

The dilemma is whether to create a behaviour plan for Alex or not. Alex definitely has lack of success in social interactions - either he learns how to interact (by going through a work- and time-intensive process) or he fails and remains in social isolation. He has not learned the social cues needed to successfully navigate the educational setting with his peers. He needs social skills training and ongoing support to help him with his tendencies to argue. He gets frustrated easily and these behaviours could significantly affect his educational experience and ultimately his personal outcome as an individual in society. ABA can be tailored to fit Alex’s needs and incorporate areas of strength and weakness according to each individual child. However, Ms. A worries about the possible negative effects of further isolating Alex by starting a special program for him.
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