{"id":1656,"date":"2013-02-17T19:28:46","date_gmt":"2013-02-18T02:28:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/autism-tips.com\/?p=1656"},"modified":"2013-02-17T19:33:09","modified_gmt":"2013-02-18T02:33:09","slug":"pretending-a-skill-that-can-be-aquired","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/?p=1656","title":{"rendered":"“Pretending” A Skill That Can Be Aquired"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anecdote<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A problem on a Math worksheet asks students to draw a rectangle with dimensions larger than the regular paper dimensions. The directions give the length and the width of 2 sides (20 inches by 15 inches). Studnets were asked to find the length of the other 2 sides. Which are understandablely the same as the given ones. A high-functioning student with autism asked for a ruler. I told her that it was not needed to use a ruler. I simply asked her to draw any rectangle and put the length and width of the missing sides.<\/p>\n

The student insisted on drawing the rectangle with real dimensions. The result was that there was not enough room on the paper. She got so frustrated. I told her: “Let me help you.” I drew a small rectangle that fits next to the question, and wrote the two given dimensions. Then I asked her to write the dimensions of the other two\u00a0sides.<\/p>\n

Her response was immediate. She took my red pen and wrote: “Not True” inside the rectange that I’ve just drawn. She told me: “Measure it, your rectangle is wrong.” The student knew the answer to the question, but couldn’t accept the concept of drawing a hypothetical rectangle. She didn’t have the skill to pretend, or imagine a rectangle drawn to scale. The purpose of the question was to teach students that rectangles have the opposing sides of the same dimensions.<\/p>\n

I insisted on drawing several rectangles with gigantic dimensions in miles and kilometer and asked her to write the dimensions and the lables\/units (miles, kilometers). She ended up doing it. It is not a problem anymore.<\/p>\n

It takes a lot of practice. Playing is an amazing fun way to teach pretending. Use toys, stuffed animals, real objects… and have your child\/student play with siblings\/classmates. That would teach the child that not all we do or say is real, but it is rather like a movie.<\/p>\n

Patience, practice, and perspective taking are the key to solve so many problems. Never give up. Keep going.<\/p>\n

Children with autism are teachable and trainable.<\/p>\n

nadia shanab<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anecdote A problem on a Math worksheet asks students to draw a rectangle with dimensions larger than the regular paper dimensions. The directions give the length and the width of 2 sides (20 inches by 15 inches). Studnets were asked to find the length of the other 2 sides. Which are understandablely the same as … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[381,10,78,20,30,383,382],"class_list":["post-1656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-autism","tag-communication","tag-consistency","tag-discipline","tag-flexibility","tag-parenting","tag-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1656"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1659,"href":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1656\/revisions\/1659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}