Tourette's/OCD with math difficulties
Question:
>I’ve noticed that with my 2 TS kids, >both are uninterested in any board games.
I asked my 11 yr old son (with TS) what his favorite board games are (and were). Without hesitation, he replied "Enchanted Forest." It is a Ravensburger game that you can get from catalogs or imported toy stores. "Solar Quest," "Space Hop" and Star Hop" were others they spent many hours playing. He has always liked problem solving strategy games, like "Clue." He too plays Nintendo a lot, and also computer games. Some of his favorites are "Civilization" and "Sim-Ant." He loved "Eleventh Hour" and "Seventh Guest," but he said these two would have been too frustrating without help from his older brothers. Have fun! Judy
Response:
> SIMCITY 2000 and they can’t stay away from it. >There are also a number of downloads available on aol as well as pinball >games that really keep the action going. Good luck. Nanci
Ditto. Andy and his brothers also loved SIMCITY and pinball. Judy
Response:
> He also can’t handle having to move back a few spaces or start over >if that’s what the space tells him to do.
This was a problem too with my oldest, who doesn’t have TS, but is OC and has Asperger’s. He is impulsive, too. I remember playing Chutes and Ladders, and he used to rage when he got a chute. We stopped playing that game, and moved to others that involved less chance, so that when I played with him, I could assess his level of tolerance at any given time (and let him win sometimes if I sensed he would rage if he lost; I’d gradually help him cope with minor setbacks and sometimes let him decide what level of "cheating" was appropriate- we’ve all cheated in solitaire, haven’t we? In miniature golf, we used to say go ahead and write down a "1" for every hole, then let’s just play to have fun) Judy
Response:
heyjud…@aol.com (HeyJude49) wrote: >we’ve all cheated in solitaire, haven’t we?
The way I play solitaire is to have *all* the cards face up. You otherwise lay it out normally. While you win more often this way, there is *still* some skill involved. I play a variant that lets you win even more. You don’t have the four piles on top that start with the ace, rather, you build down all the way to the ace. You can put any color on any color. The trick is to get all four suites in order. It allows for an *enormous* amount of manipulation, and it’s this manipulation I find so relaxing/diverting. It’s part of my private time rituals. — Mark Odegard mlom…@nyc.pipeline.com
Response:
Dear John, You’re right about Nintendo (Sega whatever). I think my son likes it best because it is the most engaging and helps him concentrate instead of ticcing (it becomes an instead of behavior) . When his tourettes is at its worst he goes for the games with the most stimulation and with his last bout of difficulty it has been a godsend. Scott does like board games (monopoly etc.) but he also craves stimulation. Perhaps games (like eletronic battleship) that have a little more "excitement" built in. Or substitute computer games (like Oregon Trail) which at least have a learning component. Gail in Salem Oregon
Response:
Because I train special education teachers at the university level, I ended up being the support for my son’s math difficulties (he was in a Montessori school) and since first grade we have put a lot of energy into this area. He’s a very bright kid, but in all my years, I had never worked with a child who seemed so unable to be successful in math –beginning addition was a horror. He’s now in sixth grade and scores in the 87th percentile on standardized time tests (no extra timing) so I feel we were successful…he even likes math. We came to this point from a low in second grade when completing a row of addition facts could take hours. I’ll share our recipe with you (it’s really nothing more than good special education intervention–which can be hard to find in many schools…you have no idea how poor the quality of teaching can be out there). 1. Math facts without a calculator are important. If the level of fluency with later math problems isn’t there, your child will give up when he is trying to do long division or problems with fractions. Calculators are wonderful once you are in or past algebra, but deadly before them. My son was so slow in acquiring addition math facts that I was close to giving up, but it was worth it in the end. Addition facts took ten minutes a day for two years until they were fluent, subtraction took a year, and multiplication/division was a snap. He now beats anyone on a timed test…they are solid. Direct Instruction materials are most effective in teaching the math facts because they allow for so much repetition and present the facts in small chunks. If you don’t have access to them, decide on four math facts that you will focus on (ex. 2+2=4. 2+3=5, 2+4=6, 2+5=7) , show them visually to your child and have him say them aloud with you, cover up the answers and have him say them several times, then ask him to say them in order without looking at the problems, then mix up the problems and ask him to quickly say the answers until he can do that easily no matter what order he sees them in. Don’t move on until he has demonstrated that you show him the problems and he can say the answers at the first try for three days. When he is able to do this, move on to another set of four problems. Repeat the same sequence with these 4 problems, but after mixing them up, mix them up with these problems….now you don’t want to move on until he is firm with all 8 problems upon first sight for 3 days. You are building in success and overlearning. If by the time you get to the third set of 4 problems, he is confused about all 12 problems, start at the very beginning with the first set (we did this several times). Sooner or later his mind will organize the material. 2. If you are a teacher, it is relatively easy to do this procedure, if you are a parent, chances are your child will give all sorts of resistance (this was a surprise to me). Minimize the hassle and set up an easy incentive program for your math time. If your child cooperates with you, works without resistance or tantrums, put a star or point on a chart you have made with boxes for each day. Keep the chart on the frig so you don’t lose it around the house. Tell your child that when he has_____ points or stars that you will _______. Make the incentive special,a trip to Enchanted Castle, a new computer game, a sporting event trip….And keep your standards high for the times you give points. If your child is very young, he should be able to earn something fairly quickly so he understands the concept. 3. Do the math work daily, weekends and especially during the summer. Regular students forget a lot during the summer, despite claims to the contrary and this will be your chance to catch him up with his peers. 6th, 7th and 8th grade math books are essentially repeats because so many of the students aren’t firm on the material so if you’ve got him firm on the skills up to them, he should be on par with peers. 4. If your son’s school is using the new U of Chicago math curriculum based programs, scream for help, because no one will come out with the basic skills. 5. Once your child has acquired the addition facts, you are only at the first stage…next comes fluency(or speed) which is too often forgotten in the learning process. At this point Justin knew the answers to all his facts, but it could take him 30 minutes to sit down and answer one row of facts on a timed test. We began by playing a game in which he had to answer 5 facts in 5 minutes (without my presence in the room…just him, his pencil and the paper). This sounds like a very easy request, but if your child is super distractable, it can be very difficult. I also always like to start out with things with which the child has a good chance to be successful . If he didn’t complete it, we reset the timer… and we stuck with it until he did the task. If he was successful, he could go watch his TV show or play on the computer, which was what he was really interested in. Gradually, I increased the task demands adding one more problem to the row each night. What was great about this was that it helped develop his attention span when doing independent work of any type. FINALLY, we reached the point where he could complete the worksheet without help. Subtraction is harder than addition so expect the same difficulty with that, but by the time you hit multiplication, you should be sailing. 6. Standard textbooks never give enough examples for new concepts..for example there will be only one story problem of a certain type….so be prepared to make up other examples of the same problem type so your child gets the practice he/she needs. On the other hand, pages of arduous problems (20 long division problems) can be disastrous for our kids, because of the organizational demands and resulting stress level. It is far better to have 3 or 4 long division problems for months so the child gets continous practice but isn’t required to sit there for a half hour doing the same repetitive frustrating task. My son’s teacher would reduce those arduously long practice lessons for him. The Saxon math program is great for having this type of strand set up…you work each day on 6 or 7 concepts in short chunks, get lots of review, and lots of practical story problems. Districts using their curriculum are getting great results in terms of increased test scores. They have individual books you can purchase because so many home schoolers use the program….I’m going to use one of the middle school books with my son for this summer’s math practice. 7. Expect some difficulty and a longer time spent on longer multiplication problems and long division. Your child is organizing the information and if he has poor organization skills this will take longer….again short periods of practice with the skills broken down into small segments ( ex. don’t move off of problems like 35/6 until that skill is firm…then make the problems harder). 8. For all of us the most improtant rule for our learning is what I call the 80% COMMANDMENT. If we don’t have 80% success with what we are doing or hearing we will tune out or act out. You and I would tend to tune out if we suddenly were in a physics lecture…our kids tend to act out if they are sitting in a classroom where they can’t be at least 80% successful with the material being taught. Whatever the child is working on in math should be at the level where there is challenge material, but that 80% success rate is possible….It’s just good teaching. Hope this long winded description is of help to someone….good luck!
Response:
Judy, You know, now that you mention it, I’ve noticed that with my 2 TS kids, both are uninterested in any board games. If allowed, they’ll play nintendo until exhaustion but no board games. We have another child (youngest, no TS [yet]) who loves board games (I do too!). Can any parents suggest board games that TS kid’s (age 8 & 10) might be interested in? Has anyone else noticed this or are my kid’s dislike of board games a non TS thing?
Response:
There’s not enough action in a board game to keep their fast little minds interested. Look into some interactive computer games to keep their interest. We just got SIMCITY 2000 and they can’t stay away from it. There are also a number of downloads available on aol as well as pinball games that really keep the action going. Good luck. Nanci
Response:
I have noticed this same thing. My TS son has no problem playing board games. But my 5 year old with OCD cannot sit still long enough to play them. He also can’t handle having to move back a few spaces or start over if that’s what the space tells him to do. I wonder if he may be ADHD, but am not yet sure.
Response:
I am not an educator, just a mother of four children with a lot of experience. I have found that playing board games that use spinners or dice with children at a very young age- maybe 3 yrs or so, do wonders for teaching math. They learn about 1 to 1 correspondence, which they absolutely must understand in order to add or subtract. What’s more important, they are having fun while they are learning number basics ( and I am having fun, too, I love board games). My kids learned to add, subtract, count money, make change and find percentages and read- all from playing Monopoly! Judy
