My Son The Author

[Deleted User]

OK, my son has aspergers and dyspraxia. Has problems with fine motor control needed for hand writing but now has help from a scribe in some lessons at school.

My son is very intelligent (altho til the end of last year the school kept trying to put him in remedial classes) and now its really showing. He's being entered for Higher GSE maths (last year they said he had no mathematical ability whatsoever but having worked with him many times, I knew he had if u found the right explanation) and he's being a bit of a star of the school as far as english goes (as long as he has help with the actual writing).

So today he wrote what I included below. Excuse me for including this, but it illustrates just how good he is (he's 14 remember), how having aspergers doesn't stop u doing anything (and his unique view on the world, in spite of the difficulties it can sometimes cause also has some plus points in a way. He is obsessed by games (xbox usually) but reads a lot and lives in a very creative world.

I feel I ought to be buying him different books to expose him to different styles of writing (he reads and analyses what he reads like a uni grad lol) - I've already bought him Dante on his urgent request lol (he's 14).

So.., altho I am a bit of a book worm myself.. I don't really know what sort of books should I consider getting for him to expose him to different styles of writing? His English teacher nearly fell on the floor to see him reading Dante so not sure how much help she'd be.

Is there anything else I can do that doesn't cost heaps as on a very limited budget right now?

Anyway, here goes.., my son the author:

Conviction

He was dreaming.., the best way to describe the shapeless chaos of this mock reality. A cloudy outline fogged his awareness completely. Drums belched a savage symphony as brutal soldiers with a corpse-like appearance ran towards an army of stout bearded …dwarfs .., was only word they could be described as; it was as if someone ripped shards of Tolkien’s imagination and rammed them into his brain. The battlefield looked ancient. Statues lay on the floor crushed by time or battle, a word was rammed into his head forcefully like a blade "Darkspawn". The battle was not going well the Darkspawn screamed a brutal guttural gibberish “kahx mog xin” “doaf gam xox”.

The words were lost on him but the Dwarf's got the meaning. Pure grim knowledge blitzed their faces - they knew they were going to die. This was not a battle, this was a last stand. Finally, a massive door broke open and splinters flew in every conceivable direction as Darkspawn poured from the door like a flood of blackened, charred, chaotic rot.

A different awareness flooded his mind, filling him with memories and experiences. The first thing to come back to his ravaged grey matter was his name - John Durandal. His other experiences flooded in like a broken dam, his whole life, everything, including all the people John had killed. His surroundings tugged violently out of the back of his head.

He was in his cell, “homely” as it was, the caked rust and peeling paint really brought home the whole hell of St Goro Penal Centre. One of the wardens of the prison was utteringing a long stream of curses like a banshee’s scream to get John’s attention. When John finally turned his head the prison guard had just finished a poorly done crack about John’s mother. Which, seeing as she was dead, did not affect him much.

“Who urinated in your coffee today?” said John with total intent to pay back for all those irritating insults that John had had to suffer only a few seconds ago.

“When an ‘airy fat bloke has dropped ‘is soap and you pick it up I’ll remember what you just said. Then his voice changed tone, becoming businesslike and crisp. A vague feeling of danger whisped into John's mind.

"Anyway certain ‘igher ups have negotiated for you to be put into service for the ‘ighest bidder. You are to be brought to a secret location ”. The guard said this with a smugness usually found in stuck up snooty doctors.

John thought about it for a few seconds and looked at his cell a bit more. His bed was broken and bug-ridden, the paint that coated the metal seemed to be dissolving by the hour. In fact, the whole prison seemed to disagree with paint. John looked at the familiar walls of his cell caked in brown, creaking, and flaking rust. “Fine I’ll come but I would like to know what I’ll be doing” John tried in vain to hide the irritation in his voice as words passed his lips.

“That’s the fun part.., the guard sneered .., "I’m taking pleasure in you not knowing. Anyway let’s get going”. The guard looked even more like a pig than usual when he belched those syllables.

John got up and walked with guard into the unknown of the outside world. Not knowing there was no way back to the world he'd known and how sometimes, just sometimes, he'd long for that prison cell once again.

hieveryone

Sorry I don't have much help, but just wanted to say that is absolutely fantastic - you must be so proud!

poet123

Can I just ask what happened with your domestic abuse issue? you never returned to the thread.

[Deleted User]

Ohh yes lol. Of course I am proud of him regardless but we've all got a smile on our faces today lol.

[Deleted User]

I hope its ok.., as my son will read this, I'd rather keep that seperate.

poet123

Perhaps you could post the outcome on that thread? there were a lot of people very worried for you.

sp1987

I'm sure the scribe fell on the floor having to write that. They probably normally get ''the cat sat on the mat'' from a kid with a broken arm.

Is he musical at all? I remember seeing a story on the autistic blind piano player who has 10,000 songs in his head.

An old friend of my mother's was severely dyslexic and it is surprising how difficulties in getting thoughts across makes someone seem totally different to how they are. This man wrote appaulingly, nothing made any sense and no word was the right way around. But to speak to him, the man was an absolute genius who literally knew everything about anything. He's a millionaire but I can only assume, still can't go anywhere near paper.

libra10

Your son's writing is amazing, his talent should definitely be nurtured.

Best wishes

[Deleted User]

Yes its really wierd. He's like a box that he's suddenly found the key to, even tho he still can't write. He can get the words down on a pc better but still needs someone sitting there helping him to remember to punctuate. And yet he can string words together like this? lol.., it still amazes me lol. I was told I was good at creative writing but he's WAY ahead of me lololol. It does make me a little sad for all the kids with aspergers that don't receive the extra support they need. My son has really flowered and all it took was a few hours (5 a week) of help from a scribe. Because his confidence and self belief has increased, he now feels able to try more things and reveal more talents. Last year he kept calling himself a retard, can u believe it?

I really really hope this helps other mums with children with ASD see there is a reason to keep chugging away at getting their kids assessed, then getting schools to take any issues seriously and act on them. I've even been accused of munchaussens (however u spell it) by proxy cause I kept on at the school to recognise Jamie for what he could do and allow him to start reaching his potential. Then I was victimising him cause i kept saying he has aspergers (i.e. help him with some support in classes).

He is not good at musical things altho he loves music, has true acting/comedy acting ability, can write like this, brilliant at analysing things, very vocal lol., good at maths and reads so well they can't asses his level lol. I just don't know what other talents are hidden away as yet lol. But I am sure most parents feel like this to a degree as their children become young adults.

After fighting for him since he was 8, I just want to be sure he is able to do whatever he decides he wants to do (assuming he has the ability to do whatever he decides he wants to do). I just want to give him options, if that makes sense. And exposing him to literature will help give him the opportunity to write if he wants to. Only as long as he enjoys it tho.

rubytuesday

Wow I really enjoyed reading that! Well done to your son, what an imagination!

t_obermory

Its good, especially considering he's 14, you must be proud

I take it you're a member of your local library? If you sign up to some survey sites like Valued Opinions they pay in Amazon vouchers and Amazon's great for cheap books.

As for books to read try David Eddings - The Belgariad and The Malloreon, though any by David Eddings are good his books are high fantasy in a similar vein to Tolkien. Has he read Terry Pratchett? The Disc World series are very good. Steven King books are excellent but they can be graphic and very scary so it depends if you feel he's ready for that.

In terms of 'proper literature' Orwell's Animal Farm and 1984 are both very good and challenging, if he likes the sci-fi type genre try H.G Wells War of the Worlds and The Time Machine. Also John Wyndham Day of the Triffids. The Collected Tales of Edgar Allen Poe are all excellent, a little spooky but nothing compared to modern horror and then there's Mary Shelly's Frankenstein and Robert Louis Stevenson Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Hope that helps!