As a mother, I will never give up on my child. As a mother of a child who has autism, I will never give up hope.
I look into his eyes and I see all the potential that he has to offer to this beautiful world and I just know that one day the world can see what I see.

Follow my blog as I share my life and my experiences as a person who loves someone with autism.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

‘G’ is for Good

We got Bryce’s first report card from his new school today. Very excited to share it with you all. It’s a heavy read but it’ll give you an idea what Bryce’s education and progress in a public school is like.

Bryce doesn’t get letter grades. He will never get the standard ‘A’ or ‘B’ grade to identify his performance. In the past, his report cards would be notes just reflecting and referring to his Individual Education Plan (IEP), which was a great way to see what progress Bryce made and what we needed to work on.

This report describes Bryce’s learning progress based on prescribed learning outcomes for each grade level. It is intended to inform about learning successes and to guide improvement efforts when needed.

Bryce got G’s for Language Arts (Reading, Writing, and Oral Language), Mathematics, Science, Physical Education, Fine Arts, Music, Health and Career Education. ‘G’ is for Good, which is the ‘highest’ Individual Effort letter grade.

Here’s a breakdown of what ‘G’ represents:

Responsibility: All assignments turned in on time; student is ready to work and learn.
Cooperation: Works well with other students and teacher(s)
Independence: Self-directed learner, takes appropriate initiative

Bryce got MR (Meeting Requirements) in Daily Physical Activity.

Since ‘G’ is the highest grade he can get, so I guess you could say it’s just like getting an ‘A’. I am personally not a fan of letter grades in any form that summarize a students progress because it is too generalized and non-specific. I really enjoy getting Bryce’s report cards though because like I said, it is a heavy read, and gives me a way better understanding on how Bryce is doing in school. His report card continues:

Structured Written Comments on Behaviour, including information on attitudes, work habits, effort, and social responsibility:

Bryce has made a great start in grade six. His sunny personality makes him very popular with his classmates who jump at the opportunity to work with him. He is able to stay focused on his tasks for extended periods of time, and he enthusiastically participates in group activities. He is especially excited when it is his turn to lead the class in fitness routine.

The comments below reflect the progress Bryce is making in relation to the goals set out in his IEP. What Bryce is able to do:

  • identify of lower and upper case letters
  • match upper to lower case letters
  • identify letter sounds (receptive & expressive)
  • sequence a 4-step picture set ~ puts them in order and tell the story using ‘First, then, next and last’
  • identify numbers 1-5 and match these to a number line, count forwards, backwards, and correctly sequence the numbers without the number line
  • identify numbers 6-10 and match these to a number line, count forwards, backwards, and correctly sequence the numbers without the number line
  • sort cutlery (big spoon, little spoon, fork and knife) and identify each piece by name (expressive and receptive)
  • call by name 90% of his classmates
  • sort non-identical objects into categories
  • follow a stepped sequence for bathroom and hand washing routines

The areas requiring further attention or development and goals we are working on:

  • being more independent on brushing his teeth
  • sight words eg. A, and, away, big and blue and once mastered we will move onto the rest. We are doing 5 words at a time, if too much we will take it down to 3 words.
  • topical conversation (find a topic and write 3 most important things and share them with classmates)
  • finding out about someone (ask whomever what they like to drink, eat, play, etc) and getting him to ask them in full sentences
  • numbers and number sequencing #1-10, matching, counting forward and backwards and expressive labels
  • we are still working on sequencing cards. He has to put them in order then tell the story.
  • 1 to 1 correspondence (give me number) and Bryce has to give teacher the correct number asked for
  • safety signs

Ways to support learning at home and at school. Parents can help with at home:

  • have Bryce to put the cutlery away at home and as he’s doing that get him to say what each piece is to keep up with his daily life skills
  • review letters and letter sounds
  • practice sorting games on iPad
  • encourage him to use full sentences

We are so proud of Bryce! Everyday he just amazes us!

Thanks for reading,
Tanaya

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Everything’s changing

I was walking next to Bryce in the hallway, and couldn’t help but notice how tall he is right now.

When did this happen?! He’s up to my shoulders!

Thanks for reading,
Tanaya