The speech therapist emerged after about an hour, looking ever so slightly shell shocked and said 'He's very verbal isn't he?'. Oh yes, that's my boy! She'll report her findings when we have the remainder of the assessment in a few weeks time. But she did let me in on one particular gem.
He was shown a photo of a boy holding a teddy bear and the therapist asked him 'What's the boy feeling?'. Well, there's only one answer to that really, at least in Mark's world: 'The teddy'.
Here's to seeing the world from a different point of view. Happy weekend everyone.
20 comments:
I remember this bit,Johnathan wiped the floor with most of the people assessing him,he would have said the boy was feeling the teddy too.Always the literal with my boy.
But when you think of it,that's exactly the right answer as we can't realy know what the boy is feeling unless we ask the boy himself,we can only suppose.So yes he's feeling the teddy.
You get used to those answers in the end and they learn to ask what folk are feeling and when they get used to asking, folk are used to telling them.Odd but true.
In Johnathans case Aspergers has made him who and what he is and I love him all the more for his eccentric ways.
Good luck with the paediatrician !!!!!
Best wishes Kat xx
Hah, score one to Mark! As long as she realised when she asked that it was an ambiguous question?!
As soon as I started learning about sentence structure in linguistics I became really sensitive to amibuous sentences (like the one I read on the BBC News website this lunchtime: "British soldier killed in Iraq. More soon." - perhaps they meant more soldiers will be killed; perhaps they meant there will be more news!)
I just started volunteering at a group for people who've had strokes, and was looking at some of the exercises that S&L therapists suggest we do with the group, including "match the faces up to the emotion" tasks. As far as I'm aware I have no awareness or language problems and I couldn't do it. One person's confused is another person's bereft! One of my options after graduation is S&L therapy, but I'm not sure I could put people through those tasks!
Ooh, this is a bit of an essay! Hope you're all well! Sarah x
Edward had the same effect on the speech therapist he saw! I couldn't understand why she was so suprised :)
I'm glad it went well, and that both of your were happy. Edward loves the sensory room at his new school, and I have to say they are fab, soft floor, gentle music....mmm I could drift off right now :)
I'm so glad he enjoyed the asesment, well who wouldn't in such a fab sounding room ~ love Julia x
glad it went well! if you haven't read mom-nos yet, she always talks about things her son says that are 'not even wrong'. you've gotta love the perspective:
http://momnos.blogspot.com/search/label/Bud-isms
glad everything went well
Ahhhh... I love his answer! I am glad things went well and I hope all of this ends up being helpful for you all.
Amen to different perspectives.
Glad it went well and that Mark enjoyed the sensory room. A different point of view can teach us all something.
Different perspectives make the world a far more interesting, enjoyable place to be in!
Glad to hear it went well, I think Mark's response is priceless :) I shall have to pass this on to my friend who is currently studying Speech & Language Thereapy at UCL for future reference!
glad it went well. I love Mark's answer. It's true.
I'm glad it went well, it must be difficult for you starting on this journey.
I laughed when I read the back to school post because I made a cake when Jack went back just so I could see his little face light up when he got back!
We had a hot air balloon over us tonight, it was so close you could almost see the faces of the people on board!
Julia x
What makes us different, makes us interesting and worthwhile.
When I was dealing with a teacher who was sure my son had ADHD I did a lot of research about alternative learners.
Mark sounds exceptional. In the best way.
Ali I've been thinking of you and hoping that the back to school went ok. I'm glad that the surroundings take the edge off the appointments at the hospital, do you think we could hire the room for a mum-chill hour?
On a different note... If that is Didcot power station I think we saw that balloon landing in Bristol around 7.30 last night. My son spotted it on the side of the M4 landing in Ashton Court. I hope it was! Good luck with everything.
Great that it went well and good for Mark for giving the speech therapist something to think about! I've found that seeing the world from a different point of view is quite a liberating exercise. I hope the rest of the assessments go as well and that the findings can be used to better understand Mark's perspective on the world.
I have no knowledge of this ubject at all so can only offer my thoughts and support. However his answer is fantastic, intelligent and spot on. WEll done Mark
Hey Ali,
Go Mark! Can always count on that autism spectrum to keep the professionals on their toes!!
Been thinking of you guys during this assessment time and sending positive vibes across the miles to Blighty. We having fun with pregnancy #3 here - the literal questions/answers take on a whole new meaning when you start talking about where babies come from....
Loving your blog as always - kisses to you all xxx
I liked that story. It definitely shows the we adults, even the "experts," should never presume that our poorly constructed tests can ever really measure what is in a child's head. We should consider ourselves lucky to just catch glimpses now and then.
Post a Comment