Dear My Younger Mum and Dad,
I am writing to you to help you understand more about the difficulties Young Stephen is facing, especially regarding his education.
He will be diagnosed with a condition which causes one to view the world differently. The condition in question also results in the way one may relate to, interact and communicate with other people and the wider world in general. It can cause difficulties for the sufferer to understand different forms of body language, including facial expressions and others’ emotions. They can also fail to appreciate that others can have different points of view about things.
Problems with processing language and information using somewhat different mechanisms to what is expected can be evident too. This can create issues with understanding new concepts, and what it is one may be being asked to do. Difficulties applying new knowledge can be experienced too. More complicated forms of language, like idioms and inferences, can be particularly problematic, as literal views of language can be taken.
Young Stephen is at a good school who will be sensitive and flexible in their approach, and do a good job in accommodating his educational needs. He will make adequate progress, do good pieces of work, achieve marks which you will be pleased with, even though he may never be top of the class. The Professor who’ll diagnose him will liken his case to being in the Pacific Ocean, but close enough to the safety of the seashore, rather than being way out in the Challenger Deep. So overall, he won’t be seen as a hopeless case.
You’ll think up good ideas to support him in his learning and other school projects, particularly in relation to his interests. One of his teachers will be very creative in their teaching methods too. His language and understanding in general will improve in time. He’ll get good at maths(especially mental arithmetic), science and French too. It’s just going to take him a bit longer to get there, with some testing times along the way. But don’t worry. He’ll have the ability to do it. Look out in the church entrance for a message which states, ‘With great love, there are miracles’.
Music will be another interest of his. He’ll learn how to play the piano well, which will give him opportunities to contribute to school life.
And to top it off, despite his difficulty, he will be well liked by the other children at his new primary school, all of whom he’ll generally mix with very well. He won’t be seen as nasty, a troublemaker, disruptive, or anything like that.
Bye for now.
Older Stephen
Idioms are everywhere in daily conversations, enriching our language with vivid imagery. Yet, for individuals who struggle with figurative language, such as those on the autism spectrum, idioms can often be perplexing. In this episode of my podcast, I explore the origins and meanings of common idioms and share strategies for understanding them. I begin […]
In this episode of my podcast, I take you through my heartfelt journey back into the world of running. The episode, titled "Rediscovering the Joy of Running: A Journey Back to Passion and Resilience," is a deep dive into how reconnecting with an old passion can add some purpose to one's life. From the simple […]
Learning to drive successfully can be testing for all of us, even at the best of times. However, for those of us with an autistic spectrum disorder, it can be more difficult. There will be the issues of reading and understanding the language involved in the rules of the road and applying them to certain […]
