Last night I sat down with one of the boys I watch every week... we'll call him... Bob. Bob has Autism. Bob is 10. BOB IS A LOT OF WORK. I sat down with Bob and we pulled out his homework to get started and here's what happened.
*Disclaimer: I love this child, just so everyone knows*
Me: Okay, Bob, how many problems do you have tonight?
Bob: GOSH DOES IT MATTER?
Me: Sorry... Okay, Bob, so let's look at problem 1.
Bob: I DON'T HAVE TO DO THEM IN ORDER! *goes for problem 5*
Me: Great! *reads problem over his shoulder*
Bob: You're breathing on me.
Me: Sorry! *sits back and stares at the wall*
Bob: WELL ARE YA GONNA HELP ME OR NOT?
Me: Okay, Bob, so Lucy has 8 boards, and 25 nails, if she puts 3 nails in each board how many--
Bob: I CAN READ YOU KNOW.
Me: Okayy.. sorry Bob.
Bob: *stares at page for solid minute* Fine. You can read it if you're gonna sulk about it.
Me: !?!?!
Bob: *shoves paper into my face* READ IT PLEASE
Me: *reads it*
Bob: K where's your phone. I need your calculator.
Me: Noooooooooooo, we can write it out right here in this grid! Look! your teacher gave you this nice little gri--
Bob: YOU NEVER BELIEVE ME ABOUT ANYTHING!!! YOU JUST DON'T EVEN THINK I'M EVER RIGHT, DO YOU?!
Me: Bob. Please. I'm just saying, using a calculator is lazy when you have as smart of a brain as...
Bob: *stares at me*
Me: ...you..
Bob: *eyes well with tears*
Me: ...do..
Bob: YOU HURT MY FEELINGS!!!!! HOW! DARE! YOU! LAZY?!!!? LAAAZZZYY?!
Me: ohmygoshBOB! CALM DOWN!
Bob: *tears streaming onto math problems*
three minutes later
Bob: I JUST HATE COMMON CORE!
Me: BUT YOU CAN DO IT! It sucks but you can do it!
Bob: K where's your phone
Me: WE WILL WRITE OUT OUR WORKINGS ON THE GRID
Bob: Hey wanna hear a joke
Me: Is it you doing your homework?
Bob: *eyes well with tears* YOUAREMEANIMGONNATELLMYMOMTHATWASNOTFUNNY
ten minutes later
Me: WOW! We finished problem 5! You did such a good job, I'm so proud of you! Okay, pick the next problem.
Bob: You pick it.
Me: *flattered* ohhh okay, how about 9! 9 looks fun!
Bob: NINE IS DIVISION! YOU KNOW I HATE DIVISION!
Me: But I'll help y--
Bob: YOU CAN'T HELP ME BECAUSE YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ME!
And then we both cried.
THE END.
But seriously, I thought I was "good" with Autistic kids until very recently. I've been watching Bob for years, and it was always sooooo easy to use pictures, candy bribes, and just patience to get him through his homework. The last few weeks, however, things have been an emotional wreck! I'm not gonna lie, I've shed tears while dealing with this child!
But, I think it's good for us both to have to put up with each other. While I make a bigger effort to understand him and his differences, he gets a heck of a lot of hershey's candy every time he finishes a problem set.
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