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My ds, 9, was recently tested and found to have a "slow processing speed". I don't know whether that's auditory or not - I just know that sometimes it can take him a little longer than normal to get information that I know he knows from his head to his mouth (e.g., math facts). I'm assuming that's what that means. The psychologist told us that one way he struggles, therefore, is with transitions during the day - i.e., switching from subject to subject creates stress. I counted and we can cover anywhere from 8-11 subjects/day in Bigger (if you count each activity or box as one "subject".) NO wonder this year with him has been horrible, and the word he most frequently uses to describe how he feels is "overwhelmed."!!

I have already made many adjustments to the curriculum to make it more bearable for him (and me). I have cut out or down some of the writing, give him books on the easier end of things, do a little extra reading out loud to him, and just generally cut out anything I think is unnecessary, or that I can see really makes his stress level go up. However, I have a couple questions.

First, is anyone out there familiar with this? If so, how have you handled it? Esp. with a curriculum like HOD, where we cover many different things every day and are "switching" a lot, does anyone have any suggestions on how I can do this in a way that might not seem so overwhelming to him and would lower his stress level? We have about 15 weeks of Bigger left, so will do 7 more this school year, then pick up in the fall, then move on to Preparing. Honestly, I'm wondering if HOD is really right for him, or if he needs something with less "boxes", that has the feel of less subjects covered/day. HOD has been wonderful for my 2 girls - they handle it without a blink. But HOD just feels like a lot for and with him, and we've had a really hard year together. Anyone with any experience/wisdom in this area would be appreciated! Thanks!

Hi Tracey

I don't really have experience with "slow processing", but have an idea. (I don't know if it's a good one, but it's an idea anyway! ) We will be doing Preparing next year and I have been trying to make up a schedule. In doing so, I have found that really we will be working in 4 "blocks" of time:
9:00 Work with Mom: Math, History Reading, Storytime
10:00 Semi-Independent work: Rotating Box, History Project (start with Mom, continue on your own)
11:00 Independent work: Science, History and Music
12:00 Work with Mom again: Bible Study, Poetry, Language Arts
The times I listed are just approximate, because I don't know yet how long each block of subjects will really take. I do know that during the semi-Independent work and Independent work, I will (hopefully) be able to do LHFHG with my other 2.

I was thinking you could have 4 baskets (or tubs or shelves) with all the materials needed for each "block" in them...in the order he is to do them. This may visually seem less overwhelming for him. Also, working things in the same order each day may help lessen the stress.

Praying for peace in your schoolday!!

Hi My son aged just 8 has been diagnosed as autistic spectrum disorder =ASC-[aspergers] .As part of that of that package he has adhd and auditory processing disorder[I think of it like this - I work at translating speech when Im listening to french .Its not that I don't understand-Its just I get overwhelmed quickly and it takes me a little longer .Now when we were in France and my son fractured his wrist-that stress meant I understood even less of what the doctors and medics were trying to tell me and my answers were reflective of that.For My son I can see its like that]
.He understands -we just need to keep it short and give breaks.If he is trying to do something else-like figure out a maths answer -me talking him through something actually hinders him alot.If he is stressed then what he is able to process is less.At this point its actually sounds harsher-but is kinder to keep to the absolute minimum-"Math book NOW " is better than "Now John you need to fetch your mathbook and turn to page ......."

Transitions.
We used to use a visual timetable [you can google these] that we made ourselves with laminated pictures and bluetac on a door.as each task was done -he removed the picture and could see what was next to be done.He has come along way since then and now he is able to chose which order-but initially I needed to set out the order.
Now we use post-it notes on the guide.Each day he can see the double page spread in the guide book.He has to get everyone of those boxes with a covered with a post-it note.As he finishes each activity I cover it with the post-it note and he can chose what to do next.
We start at the same time each day.This -again is hard but once the routine was in place -he really responded to it.

Expectations
If he is like my son -he will need absolute-black and white expectations from him and unlike all my other kids -he needs 100% consistancy.Im saying this in the greatest sympathy-....Its tough ,very tough .Its tough to go to the store and only buy bread and milk-because thats what I said we needed.or even now I will have an 8 y/o throwing a tantrum .

so decide what you want him to cover.Its okay to decide that your going half speed,or that your not expecting copywork this term ...but keep your expectations very clear .If I decide this week that he doesnt have to do copywork and next week he does -then we would have him throwing some pretty big tantrums when I went back to assigning copywork .
Again I hope this helps.Im certainly not trying to be critical -just trying to share some of my mistakes and how we worked through those issues.

First of all, hugs to you, as I know a mixture of feelings accompanies a diagnosis we hear about our dc! I remember feeling this when my ds was 8 weeks premature, when he crawled and walked and talked extremely late, when he needed years of speech therapy, reflux for all 3 sons, helmet and physical therapy for third ds, surgeries for the dc, life threatening allergies - I so understand the weight of a diagnosis. So, I am first going to just pray for the Lord to comfort you, to come alongside you and to partner with you in this, and for the peace that surpasses all understanding - the peace that we can only have through our Lord Jesus Christ - that THAT peace would envelop you.

I am glad you have this information now though, and can use it to structure your son's day with that information in mind. Spiderman'smum gave good ideas in her response already. I have a great respect for her, as I remember her working through this with her ds, and the gains she has helped her ds make are just downright amazing! Small steps forward, patience, consistency, visual reminders of routine, encouragement, stopping for a break if frustration sets in - these are all things spiderman'smum has done well and is now very much seeing the fruit.

HOD may have boxes of plans with follow-ups, but the skills covered in HOD are the skills that should be covered in all curriculums. Having a longer school day, as you would with other curriculums that are covering the skills they should but not using CM's short lesson method, would not be any better. I think I would go to half-speed Bigger Hearts for now. Establishing a routine order of doing work, with a visual chart of squares with pictures/names of the boxes ds can move as he completes them really works well for dc with "slow processing speed". Also, utilizing Tammy's idea of block organization is a great one! This will make the blocks seem like the transitions, rather than the boxes. We use teaching blocks, and it has especially helped my middle ds who had more difficulty with transitions. I'll go one further and suggest that it's helpful to have the "blocks" each be in one place. My middle ds has 2 places we work. One is at the kitchen table, and the other is on the couch. He does all of his seatwork at the kitchen table, and we do our reading and discussions on the couch. HTH, but remember that this will take time and prayer, but that slow and steady wins this race! Praying for you and ds.

In Christ,
Julie

Thanks for everybody's suggestions, and thanks, Julie, for the sympathy - I needed it! This has been our hardest school year ever. I do feel that I've already implemented some of the suggestions I've seen here - mostly through trial and error, as I've seen what makes ds's stress level go up, and what doesn't. In my heart of hearts, I don't believe I need to switch from HOD for him - I believe I can make it workable for him, as I have already. Bigger is working at full-speed for now, but I may consider doing Preparing at half speed when we get to it next year. One thing I've realized is that if he was in ps, they wouldn't come up with a whole new curriculum for him - they'd just make adjustments (maybe) to help him to handle the same curriculum that everyone else is doing. So it's not necessarily that HOD is "wrong" for him.

Again, thanks for the suggestions, the empathy, and the prayers. I'm sure there's still lots more I can do, and I intend to pursue finding those things out as I have been doing all year. Thanks again.

Hugs and prayers.Your son is very blessed to be homeschooled and have you searching for soloutions to help him