The Big Disconnect
The original article for my "working hypothesis" was written around February of 2004. Since then, I have had time to think more about this idea of The Big Disconnect and I see it in many more issues than the one specific issue I initially addressed. In my household, the child who is the most symptomatic for Asperger's is also the most "disconnected", both in number and severity. For example, he thinks in pictures and this suggests that his brain wiring is suited to a Visual-Spatial learning style. But he also has multiple visual handicaps, preventing him from learning effectively using V-S teaching methods. Instead, he relies on Kinesthetic and Auditory modes to learn the most effectively. However, these then need to be translated into the pictures that his brain innately thinks in. It is a long, convoluted process which leaves lots of room for "missing" things.
He also is very strong in science and very weak in math. The last time he was tested, there was a 10+ year difference in grade level equivalent for these two areas. Since advanced sciences are very math-heavy, this was a significant problem. Fortunately for him, I have a strong math background and I explain it well. I was able to come up with a teaching method that worked for him. He is still calculator-dependent and always will be. But he is no longer unable to effectively handle money for store purchases and similar.
There are numerous other ways in which he is extremely uneven or "lopsided" in his mental development. He has learned to deal effectively with these things and healing his body has helped to smooth out the roughest edges but he will never be 'well-rounded'.
We have had to learn to accommodate him simultaneous at both extremes -- extreme strengths combined with extreme weaknesses. Finding things that work well for both weak areas and strong areas at the same time has been a challenge but the rewards are enormous.
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Asperger's Syndrome: A Working Hypothesis
- Giftedness
- Personality Type
- Sensory Issues
- Compounding (Biomedical) Factors
- Eccentric Geniuses
- The Big Disconnect
- Socially Deaf
- Time Blind
- Rapid Brain Growth and Vitamin Deficiencies
- Different Minds
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