View Full Version : How aware is your child of their condition/issues?
and how aware are they of their classmates- both special needs and mainstream classmates- being different from themselves?
Also how aware are their mainstream classmates of their special needs and do you find their reaction has changed with age?
Maia knows what her issues are...and she's really only bothered by the physical ones. She wants to do some of the things her friends do, especially gymnastics, but at this point, it's not going to work for her.
As for her friends and classmates? I think something her best friend said put it beautifully. "Maia's weird, we know she's weird...but she's kind, and everyone's different...so nobody is worried about it."
That sounds like a fabulous friend there Kate. Jude seems to be loved and adored by the majority of his class (he got christmas cards from kids 4 grades above him- how i don't know LOL)
Jude doesn't really know he has official issues- he is nearing 5 and he realises he is different in some skills etc than the majority of his friends. His one condition he does know about is his colour blindness (colour vision deficiency- there's an official pc term for it but my dad has been "colour blind" ever since i can remember and as Jude has the same it seems weird retitling the issue) and he is going through a stage of absolutely fascination that his brain sees colours different to what other people do even though they are the same colour, it's hard to explain to a 5 year old.
He does realise his little group he is in for special activities at school are the kids who all have things who make them different from the main body of the class, he realises they're different but the work that is done with them all for a wide variety of special & behavioural needs is largely play based so they just think they get to do cool stuff along with their classwork. He also realises the kids in his "group" get alot of praise for achieving things that are individual to them (he knows his one friend everyone has to encourage her when she uses any verbal communication, he knows they all name things as they hand them to her etc, he knows another of his friends has a "behaviour bob" and has to work on earning bob pieces for holding his temper) I don't think he sees the main body of the class as the "normal" ones though- just that the class does seperate into smaller groups for different activities.
Right now the majority of his class are really pleasant and accept Jude as bouncy Jude who crashes into alot of stuff and is very emotional, a few of the kids (3 boys in particular) have began calling him names like "loser kid" but to be honest they're the kids you can tell are going to spend a lifetime, adulthood included, never knowing better and always looking for someone to take the mickey out of.
Chaimom
01-08-2008, 12:35 AM
Maia knows what her issues are...and she's really only bothered by the physical ones. She wants to do some of the things her friends do, especially gymnastics, but at this point, it's not going to work for her.
As for her friends and classmates? I think something her best friend said put it beautifully. "Maia's weird, we know she's weird...but she's kind, and everyone's different...so nobody is worried about it."
Kids are so honest, I love it.
Jejune
01-08-2008, 12:58 AM
You know, I'm honestly not 100% sure what Liam's aware of. I haven't sat him down and talked about his autism, largely because of the way in which he is bright. I am pretty sure that if he has a specific name to put on his condition that he will figure out a way to use it. We talk about how to deal with issues as they arise, but I've never directly told him that he's different from other kids or what it's called, or that it's to do with his brain. It also has to do with how Liam is as a person. Part of his autism means that he just doesn't approach discussion or understand it the way other people do, and he rarely wants to talk about himself (although he'll go on and on about his interests) or about feelings. I have talked to him about how he perceives his classmates. Basically, he sees them as coworkers, but not really potential friends.
At the same time, he must be aware of a lot, because even when you talk to him and he responds with non sequitor, it usually turns out that he's aware of what's being said, oftentimes things said in the same room that aren't directed at him. I spent ages working on phonics with him and got zero response. His tendency to memorization made me think that he wasn't capable of understanding phonics, and even though I kept at it, for something like two years I got no response until the day he sat down (at age four) and wrote a bunch of phonetically spelled words. He'd never written a word in his life, and his first attempt was to write original words in his own spelling, multiple words. He's very mysterious to me in some ways.
His classmates have to be aware that he's different. The most obvious thing, apart from his behavior, is that he has a full time aide. He attends school at different hours from any of the other children. He's a year too young for his grade. And of course, he behaves very strangely, and has different rules than the other kids. I've had some of the children ask me why he does certain things, and other kids who have commented that Liam's a really good reader, which he is. No one has been cruel about his differences, though. I was very anxious when he picked out his Hello Kitty backpack at the beginning of the year. There are already so many ways in which he is different. But no one has teased him for it, and he still adores that thing. I think kids are mostly pretty accepting of differences until they begin to worry about standing out themselves.
gr8mommy
01-09-2008, 08:43 AM
I think kids are mostly pretty accepting of differences until they begin to worry about standing out themselves.
That is one of the wisest things I've ever read.
My kids all know they have NF, but they don't really understand what it is, since they have few or no symptoms. They just know we have to go to doctors every year for checkups. Aidan is aware of his learning disabilites though I too haven't given him a name for them for fear he'll use it as an excuse for things. He still goes to PT and OT for motor issues, but it doesn't seem to impact him friend-wise--most of his friends get PT and OT as well. The only time I remember him commenting on it was when he said he can't run fast like the other kids.
Meredith has no learning disabilities, though we're trying to get some PT for her. Fiona has no symptoms at all yet.