2nd Quater Report Cards

Today Matthew received his 2nd Quarter Report Card. Basically his teacher and therapists go over his IEP goals and determine if he is proficient (P), in process (I), or not yet (N) meeting a goal. There are several sections they evaluate. They are Personal and Social Development, Language and Literacy, Mathematical Thinking, Scientific Thinking, Social Studies, The Arts, and Physical Development/Health. Some of these seem so silly or odd when talking about a 3/4 yr old child, don’t they? I mean really, Literacy? Mathematical thinking, Scientific thinking? Well, they do break them down into very simple categories which fit a child of his age. As an example, shows an interest in counting and numbers is under Mathematical thinking. Oddly, my little hyperlexic child is Proficient in that task! Strange isn’t it?! (For those of you that don’t know, having hyperlexia means that you have an abnormal obsession with numbers and letter, so it is pretty unlikely that Matthew wouldn’t be proficient in this subcategory. Right now the kid can count well over 100 and can visually identify those same numbers.)

I was really pleased to see that he had no N’s and that many of his I’s from 1st quarter have progressed to P’s in the second quarter. Six of them to be exact. He still seems to lag behind in some critical areas such as “Gains meaning by listening”, “Comprehends and responds to stories read aloud”, “Uses scribbles and unconventional shapes to write”, “Begins to use simple tools and equipment to investigate”, “Describes some jobs that people do”, “Participate in group music experiences”, and “Responds to artistic creations or events”. As I’m sure you can tell, many of these are quite critical for him to master. He will need to be able to gain meaning by listening as he gets older and progresses through school. He’ll have to understand stories that are read aloud to the class so he can participate in class discussions. He will need to be able to associate different people with the types of jobs they can do and what they are responsible for. And the others are important to enjoying the world around you, being able to express feelings and understand why others are touched or moved by art and music.

Autism is so far reaching. Many people think it only has something to do with kids that bang their heads or flap their arms, but they don’t see that autism reaches into every single aspect of a child’s life. And the life of their family. Matthew has additional goals that the school is trying to meet and they include him being able to walk up and down stairs independently and to use a good running pattern. Boom, another aspect of Matthew’s life effected. “Matthew will use eye-hand coordination and strength to perform simple tasks.” Read that again. To perform simple tasks. Did that sink in the first time you read it? He needs to practice simple eye-hand coordination and build normal, NORMAL, muscle strength to do simple everyday tasks. Boom, it strikes again. “Matthew will approach play with purpose and inventiveness…” Who’s child needs to be taught how to play with purpose and inventiveness? They watch you and they play, they take their life experiences and they make new, fun experiences with their toys. They don’t need to be taught to do that. But Matthew does. And autism strikes again. “Matthew will be able to demonstrate age-appropriate speaking and listening skills during structured language tasks and spontaneous communication.” It is frightening how much of Matthew is Autism. Where does it stop and he begin? Who is our son? It effects every single aspect of Matthew’s life and every aspect of his being. How do we discern which is Matthew the boy and which is Matthew the autism? By working through these issues he has are we changing our son or are we opening him up? I don’t really know. I’m very confused, but I’m really glad he is doing better every single day.