Tuesday, October 30, 2012

mad lib writer

A request came my way today,
an insistence that my son represent more of himself in school,
a desire to see who he is as a writer.

If that were all, I'd fully support it.

My son has Asperger's Syndrome. And while that doesn't define who he is; because he's so much more than that, Asperger's plays a large role in the outcome of his work.

He is being evaluated, graded, observed, and asked to preform in a neurotypical world, with neurotypical assignments, and neurotypical evaluations.  

But, his work is not neurotypical.

He writes with a literal mind.
He writes in response to the question presented to him.
He writes what's asked of him.

He's like a mad lib writer, the______(insert size) box sits on top of the ________(name of object).  It is_______(insert weight), it is________(insert texture), and it is________(insert color).

I believe he can learn more about creativity; call out the color of objects, describe the texture of things, examine the details of a piece.  I believe he can practice writing these things down.  

But the sophistication, the steps it takes to make a creative and well written literary analysis of two works of writing is very, very difficult.  And the words, the thoughts, the sentences he writes will be very, very basic.

Analysis involves thoughts and feelings, expressions and interpretations of emotion, of action, of opinion.  And what if my son doesn't think, doesn't feel, doesn't express, doesn't interpret, doesn't have an opinion on the literary pieces?  What if that concept is so foreign, so other-worldy, so neurotypically designed that he can't make the leap? Or at best, what if his thoughts, his reactions, his words, are so basic, so elementary-aged, that it doesn't measure up to the sophistication of a sixteen year-typical-thinking brain?

Will he get the A?
Will he even pass?


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