Mental disengagement

[Tatimax]

Hi All! I see that my 7 years old autistic boy gets mentally disengaged during homeschooling. He engages into stimming (scripting, laughing, spacing out) way more than usual. He still follows my directions but needs lots of help to stay on a task, doesn’t check for errors, performs automatically without thinking and usually with lots of mistakes. What is it? Need for a break? Need for more engaging tasks? Boredom? Discouragement from difficult tasks like math? I don’t want to burn him out but also following of school routine might be difficult. Thanks!

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

That sounds a lot like me as a child, although I was not home schooled and not diagnosed (this was in the sixties.)

In retrospect, I believe I was seriously bored out of my mind.

 

[Outdated]

This was my biggest problem as well, boredom. When I learn something then I have learned it, repeating it over and over is not going to achieve anything except make me frustrated. Try teaching me something I don't know and all of a sudden you'll see just how much attention I can pay.

Standard teaching curriculums are just far too slow and far too repetitive.

 

[tazz]

Not sure I can be of much help. But I was a foster carer for a while and looked after an 8 year old. He couldn't read very well and I could not get him to do any reading at home. He found it very difficult and therefore extremely frustrating. However he was fascinated by history and learnt a lot about world history by studying maps that charted the rise and fall of civilizations. It seemed he could learn a lot from maps and lists. He also liked museums for similar reasons; he could look at a real thing and then there was only a short paragraph of explanation and some dates.

 

[Tatimax]

Thanks a lot! I will try to switch my style a bit. Always find great help here.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

Hi All! I see that my 7 years old autistic boy gets mentally disengaged during homeschooling. He engages into stimming (scripting, laughing, spacing out) way more than usual. He still follows my directions but needs lots of help to stay on a task, doesn’t check for errors, performs automatically without thinking and usually with lots of mistakes. What is it? Need for a break? Need for more engaging tasks? Boredom? Discouragement from difficult tasks like math? I don’t want to burn him out but also following of school routine might be difficult. Thanks!

We have a saying in our neonatal unit regarding sibling visitors. "Whatever their age in years, that's how long, in minutes, they can maintain attention, not get distracted and bored, and start to act up." At which point, the children may need to be removed from the bedside and return to the waiting room. Sage advice for parents in this situation. Seems to work out.

Even as an instructor of adults, I have to keep my lectures about 40 minutes or so, otherwise I start to loose them.

He may be a typical 7 year old with regards to his attention span, but there certainly can be some level of autism and ADHD playing into it. ADHD being a common co-morbidity with autism.

If he has some special interests, then you may be able to connect them with the subjects you are trying to teach. It may keep him more engaged.

Other than that, diet does matter, a good probiotic, anti-oxidants (resveratrol, etc), physical activity, L-theanine, etc. may help with the brain function.

Positive, goal-setting behaviors are desired. A series of small goals as part of a much larger goal. It's about those "dopamine hits". Remember, autism is one of the low dopamine neurological conditions, so goals, "points", etc will often work to give him a rise in dopamine. Ever wonder why so many can spend hours playing video games? A series of goals, the next levels, the points, etc. Just a series of dopamine hits. If you can use that technique with education, you can keep his attention.

 

[Progster]

I'm a teacher, and I know that I need to change activities often to keep them engaged. Also, a bit of humour here and there helps a lot. Just something to break the monotony. Also, not give them too much homework, just enough to get them to go over the materials at home, and then about 10 minutes practice. I don't really have advice, I think you are already doing what you can to help him. Does he have ADHD too, or just autism? Perhaps talk to the school and explain you are having this difficulty.

 

[Aspychata]

Also switch out teaching style if possible. Turn it into a game, reward with a game outside or baking cookies after a hard week. It's great you are homeschooling. Maybe if possible martial arts class once or twice a week, burn off some of that energy they just have at that age. Studying history, maybe get a model for him to put together. We did science projects, and my daughter loved it. Can he take some type of musical instrument lesson? Community centers sometimes allow you to swim with other homeschoolers.

 

[Tatimax]

Thanks to everyone for your support and suggestions! We started going to our community pool (open for the season) and he asked for a .5 mile run in the morning. It helped a lot with lessons. I also switched to a train-based math game-problems using magnet board instead of paper/pencil. He loves trains so it helps to focus him.

 

[Aspychata]

Excellent. It falls upon our shoulders to make learning fun. To create a passion for learning, this will help him become a successful adult with the end result of getting a job and taking care of himself.