1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Richard is a 12 year old boy who was diagnosed with Aspergers at age 6. His family has been proactive in finding services in their community for him over the years. Since his diagnosis, Richard has worked with a Behaviour Interventionist afterschool to develop his communication and social skills. He has a full time Educational Assistant with him at school and participates in a lunch-time social skills club at school twice per week with three other students who also have Autism. Even with these interventions, Richard doesn't quite fit in with his peers. Richard has been a history buff with an avid interest in World War II since he was young and has accumulated a large collection of war-related memorabilia. He uses a rich vocabulary when talking about anything related to WWII. He can name hundreds of WWII facts, describe the weapons, uniforms, and vehicles, all with significant detail. Richard loves to share his knowledge about WWII with anyone who will listen- and continues on the topic for longer than most people are interested. Although he tries hard to follow the rules, Richard often gets in trouble at school. He blurts out irrelevant comments while his teacher is in the middle of teaching a lesson. During classwide instruction, he often calls out "Wait, wait," when he is unable to write down all the information the teacher is saying. Because his hand writing is very slow and messy, he completes majority of his written assignments on his computer. Richard often misunderstands assignments and needs clarification and guidance from his EA on how to approach and complete tasks. Richard's teacher describes some of his behaviour as "rude". When she tries to get his attention by calling his name, he doesn't respond. And sometimes when she tries to give him directions for a task, he turns away as though he isn't paying unt D bard es OS 1 D 2 3 ar 4 5 6 7 sometimes when she tries to give him directions for a task, he turns away as though he isn't paying attention. One time when she indicated "time's up" on a quiz and asked for his paper, Richard protested, saying "I'm going to get my Mom to fire you!". Richard's love of WWII can cause trouble during recess. Instead of participating in typical recess activities, he tries to direct his peers to play his "army" game. He tries to assign each peer a specific role and "throws a tantrum" when they suggest a change to his rules or want a turn being the General (Richard's role). On a number of occasions, Richard has found himself in the office after recess for "starting fights" on the playground. The fights usually revolve around some misunderstanding about the rules of Richard's "army" game. Richard cannot understand why his peers don't want to play his game the way it is meant to be played, and his peers cannot understand why Richard always gets to make up the rules! At school, his peers make an effort to include him, but he rarely gets invited to activities or parties on the weekends or during the summer. When the classroom is busy or crowded, he tries to avoid being touched by moving around the room, withdrawing from people, or seeking out hidden locations. When the classroom is noisy, he'll cover his head with his hooded sweatshirt or shout at others to "Pleebase be quiet!" Gym class can be a real challenge for Richard; he is somewhat uncoordinated and over-reacts when others bump him. He also finds the noise overwhelming at times. His EA has learned to read his signals (e.g., pacing around the room, covering his ears) and gets Richard to "take a water break" when she sees him acting this way. 10 PRS Mod A PAK Account Dashboard Courses 1 + 1 33 Groups 2 3 Calendar E 4 Inbox 5 6 History 7 Help K At school, the students eat lunch in their classroom. Richard is a picky eater and can't stand "smelly" food, or "slimy" textures. He will often announce to the class that a peer is eating something really gross and let them all know that he would never eat something that smelled like that. Richard's mom and teacher both describe him as someone who takes a long time to "get started" on activities. At home, he does not get started on chores until his mom has "nagged him" at least three or four times. At school, he "just sits there" without starting seatwork until his EA verbally prompts him to begin. However, once he starts a task (at home or school) he tends to complete it successfully. At home, Richard's room is a mess. He is often late getting out the door in the morning because he can't find the specific clothes he wants to wear. At school, his desk is equally messy. He often doesn't bring home the materials he needs to complete his homework (e.g., math book). And sometimes, when he has brought the correct materials home, and has completed his homework, he forgets to bring it back to school the next day to get credit for doing the work!! Richard is one of those kids who gets frustrated easily. He screams and throws stuff when tasks become difficult for him or even when things are different than expected. On a recent class trip to the museum, Richard was asked to leave the building because he had a "temper tantrum" when the class couldn't see the War Vehicles exhibit acer F6 $ 3 4 % 50 6 W F R T Y A 8 YA UA 8 h Account ashboard Courses 1 23 Groups 2 3 alendar 1 4 nbox 5 6 istory 7 Help because it was closed for repairs. Recently, Richard's teacher introduced the topic of WWII to the class. She knew Richard had a keen interest in the topic and hoped this could be an opportunity for him to excel amongst his peers. As the lessons progressed, his teacher noticed that he knew a lot of facts and was able to list many details (e.g., names of people, their rank, dates of each battle, names of equipment), but he had difficulty with understanding what the key events of the war were and why they may have been important. The school district's School Psychologist recently conducted a psycho-educational assessment with Richard. She indicated that, overall, his IQ is in the average range, but noted that he has both strengths and weaknesses in his cognitive profile. Richard scored in the average range on the reasoning, crystallized-knowledge, short-term memory, visual processing, and long-term memory tasks. He scored in the below average range for auditory processing and processing speed. The report also noted that Richard experiences significant Executive Functioning difficulties, especially in the areas of initiation, organization, and emotional regulation. ace F7 18 2 A % ^ ? & F10 F11 Passe Numik PrS/Impro Brear ter 9 VA