Letter to Teacher
 

One of our moderators (Linda or Mom4Max as she is known on the boards) created a letter which she would give her son's teachers each year at the beginning of the school year. It is a great resource to help the teacher understand your child and to know how to help them through the year. Not only does it give you an opportunity to introduce your child and Asperger's it also gives you a great opportunity to introduce yourself and let the teacher know you want to be an active participant in your child's success. Linda often receives requests for a copy of what she used. She has graciously offered to allow us to post a generic version of her letter here. Please feel free to copy and paste this into your favorite word processor and modify it to fit your own needs.

Thanks again to Linda for providing this information to other members!

~Click here to download a copy in Microsoft Word Format~
(You may need to right click with your mouse and select "Save As")
 

Text of Letter

Dear Staff Member:

We are the parents of Max Whatever. Our child has been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, a neurological disorder that is related to autism. While AS affects many aspects of behavior, it shares with autism the “core” deficits in social understanding and language. Simply put, our child sees and experiences the world differently than people who do not have AS. He may seem to “overreact at nothing” or become very emotional “for no reason”. We have learned that in most instances, there is a reason for why our child responds the way he does. And it is a reason that “makes sense” once you understand AS. You may also think he is being difficult or purposely obtuse when in fact the problem is these children take everything very literally and while he feels he is following your instructions perfectly you may feel he “really knew what you meant” and is being defiant or a wise guy. We have learned that there are things we can do to help him and make the school experience better for everyone concerned. The first and most important is accepting that many of his behaviors are not under his control.

If you have not heard of AS, it is because it is a fairly new diagnosis here in the United States, although it has been recognized elsewhere in the world since the 1940’s. People with AS often have a unique and at times unusual mixture of abilities and deficits. They may appear to be more capable than they actually are. AS is a pervasive developmental disorder and it can affect every facet of a child’s academic, social and emotional life, sometimes in ways that may be unfamiliar to you. There is no “cure” for AS, but research on the disorder and new interventions and therapies are moving ahead quickly. We will be happy to share with you whatever information we find that may be helpful to you in helping Max have a positive, productive experience in school. Please feel free to call us anytime at 925-000-0000(Dad) or 925-000-0000(Mom).

Every child with AS is unique. No two have the same pattern of behaviors, skills or deficits. A technique or approach that works for one child may not work for the next. What worked last month for a child may not work today. In the years since our child was diagnosed he has received private counseling and counseling through the school last year. This year he is seeing the speech therapist and we have him in a class to help with his organization skills.

Our child’s main strengths are a quick mind, good memory, good imagination and good sense of humor. The praise he values most is being told he is bright, wise, fun to be around, interesting and that he did the right thing. The most effective rewards for Max are treating him with respect and patience and letting him know when he does something right. The strongest disincentive for him is being overly critical or sarcastic and making him feel stupid when he does not understand what is expected.

AS affects numerous areas. Below is a list of the difficulties Max faces and what we and his other teachers and therapists have discovered works and does not work.

GENERAL PERSONALITY AND BEHAVIOR
Max is funny, bright, articulate and has a great sense of humor. The areas in which he is most seriously challenged are: fitting into social situations (reading and interpreting social cues) he is very sensitive to noise and easily distracted and overwhelmed by chaos. He also is a little lazy and not highly motivated. He needs very clear and precise instructions. We believe that these can be most effectively addressed by written instructions, giving instructions one step at a time and allowing him to feel comfortable asking questions if he does not clearly understand what is expected from him. Some other approaches such as giving him multiple instructions at once and expecting him to understand inferences do not work for our child and tend to make him feel overwhelmed and confused. He may feel embarrassed to ask for help when he needs it. We believe, again, that these can be most effectively addressed by breaking all oral directions down into short, simple steps and gently encouraging him to do those things you know he can do.

SOCIAL SKILLS WITH PEERS
Max is interested in other children and anxious to make friends but does not want to show it for fear of rejection. He has always felt he was different and tries to fit in but often is not successful.

The areas in which he is most seriously challenged are: his inability to join in appropriately, participate in conversations and understand how to reciprocate. He also, at times seems to lack empathy but we feel it is more that he does not know how to communicate his concerns clearly. We have worked on these issues with him constantly but he needs that reinforced with the other adults he deals with on a daily basis.

EXPRESSIVE AND RECEPTIVE LEARNING
Max has a large and varied vocabulary and tells interesting stories but his writing and stories can be very dark. He seems to enjoy being considered dark and kind of plays it up.

AUDITORY PROCESSING
Max can completely recall songs or poems that he has only heard once or twice but can’t remember what he was asked to do five minutes ago. 

SENSORY ISSUES
Max is very sensitive to noises, smells and textures. What may seem to some as a fairly quiet environment can at times be unbearably loud to Max. This is worse if he is anxious.

ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS
Max is seriously challenged in this area and needs support and reminders. It does help him when work is posted on schoolnotes.com because he can recheck that he has all the assignments correct and that makes him less nervous and less likely to just give up.

TRANSITIONS
Max has some trouble transitioning from one task or subject to another and we find it works best if he is given warnings or upcoming changes in routines or schedules.

We understand that you have many students in your classes to contend with and that Max is not your only student. These are just some guidelines that we thought you might find useful.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for helping Max achieve all that is possible for him this school year.


Sincerely,