Need some help ideas on what to do...

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Hi, I'm new here, my ds is 12 and has autism spectrum disorder (ASD), he's in 7th grade and been having a hard time with transitions, when there's a lots of changes going on he acts out. This week he refuses to attend his elective subject, it changed for the quarter, he used to have art, now the school tried to put him on creative cooking, because that's the only one besides art that they think he'll fit in or go back to art class and do the same thing he did the past qtr, which he refuses to do also. luckily this is his last subject for the day and he can spend time in his special ed teachers room-which he doesn't want to do because they have a class going-on that period and it's too noisy for him, so he stays in the reception office which thet delegated as one of his safe spot, for the duration of the elective period. We're at a loss on what to do for his elective, we e-mailed his special ed teacher asking for some idea, maybe he could just do a project at home or something to earn the grades.
Does ayone have any experience dealing with a similar situation, we could really use the help and any ideas that you can share.

Thanks in advance,
clarizel

Has your son been part of any of the conversation about what to do? It is possible that part of the problem is that your son feels like this is all being "done to" him. If that is a significant part of the problem, it doesn't matter what is offered, it won't work.

If your son really wants to be in art, but not to re-do the same stuff he was doing, maybe he can be offered the opportunity to work on different, independent art projects?

Maybe your son is irritated because he wants an opportunity to take one of the electives that the school has decided he wouldn't "fit" in. If that is the problem, the school may need to figure out how to accommodate him in the desired elective despite the school's reluctance - unless there is a good and valid reason not to do so. If there is, there needs to be a reasonable discussion with your son about why the class he wants is not currently a good option, and some brainstorming, with him, about what might be a better current fit for him. If the class he wants (if there is one) is one that he could work towards, he should be given steps to work on, and the school should work with him to do what he needs to do to be able to reach his goal.

jat,
Yes, my ds was involved in the process, we talked to him what to expect and what is expected of him. Our school district is a small one, and there's not enough elective subject for him to choose from, they have team sports, boxing, drama, apprenticeship, publishing, shop, band,creative cooking & art.
they didn't offer computers which is his first choice, so he had Art ---(in which he is very good at)last quarter.
Being an aspie, he won't do well on any sports related activities, drama is no better, he needs to be able to portray emotions which is hard to do , he would probably do well in shop, but with his current emotional state----he can't focus when he's upset, we don't want to for him or anyone to get hurt being around some power tools. As in Publishing the teacher who was in charge told me that the instructor don't really pay attention and don't know what's going-on most of the time, so it will be a chaotic environment for him, it will be nice if he get a specific thing to do all the time, in Publishing, in the band the noise will be unbearable.Yesterday he went in his creative cooking class, his sp.ed teacher even went with him, he stayed for 20 mins, then had to excused himself the rest of the period because the lingering smell is too overwhelming for him. he's really sensitive to smells.
Thanks for the idea on individual art project, we'll bring this up to his sp. ed teacher, his Art teacher loves having him around because he has the skills.next qtr. he'll be teaching new things so he'll take art for sure.
clarizel

Two thoughts: 1) if band would be of interest other than the noise, ear plugs or head phones might be options (if he can stand them from a sensory perspective). Musicians often use something to protect their ears, because the noise is damaging if they don't. There is nothing bizarre or quirky about using ear protectors when playing music in a group or when the music is amplified. 2) if he's interested in drama, he should give it a try - if he can't try it at this age, when can he? Lots of people with Asperger's are actually quite good at acting, because the acting is scripted, so there aren't a lot of surprises. It also gives them an opportunity to learn a lot about how emotion is portrayed, which translates into learning how to read how emotion is conveyed. It can be very useful, from a social skills perspective. Also, the kids who get into acting are often quite open to others who are different, so it could be a good social environment for him - or it might not. It depends a great deal on how the class is run and by whom. You might already know enough to have made a good decision, but if your decision was made on the basis of "he'll never be able to portray emotions - he can't even do that when they're his own, real emotions," you might want to re-evaluate.

My son with Asperger's was always very good at acting, even at improvisation! It was always a bit of a surprise, since his understanding of a wide range of emotions was very limited.

An Update:

Ds will do Art, his special ed teacher talked to his Art teacher, so he'll be teaching and will be giving him an individual project, just like your idea, it's as if they know we will be bringing it up.
This is also what we have in mind, but something that he can do at home, but doing it at school in class is much better anyway.

Drama maybe one thing that we can consider later on, we're hoping they'll offer Learning through models later-on so he'll have another option.

clarizel

Yay!

It's a really good sign that your school is thinking ahead, and "outside the box" (much as I'm starting to hate that term, sometimes it does fit!)

We haven't had much problems with the school so far , they've been very accomodating with ds, and we always communicate with them right-away. I'm very appreciative of what they're doing and what they've done with ds, and I usually show it x'mas time and end of the year. They kept telling us that we're doing a really great job with ds blah,blah,blah, it's a team effort between the school and us , I say.
I'm so happy this has been taken care of, as I'm starting to stress about it more.
Thanks again for your valuable input.

clarizel