This daily correspondence between schools she attended and us gives you a glimpse of our daily life. Most parents of typical children do not communicate on daily basis with the teachers. This gives a reader an insight to how important daily communication is for a child with autism.
Kat has attended school since she was 3 years old. These are school notes that were result of correspondence with her parents and her teachers. We have made comments at a later date reflecting back on the impact of these events. Kats School Notes Index
Date |
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Comments |
1996-01-02 |
1/2/96 !
Good Morning ! Well , she's very talkative this AM. Calling out words during the pledge, called out again during the Star Spangled Banner& when I asked/told her to leave the room she shouted "NO". I waited a few seconds, spoke softly to her & told her "we are very quietly going to leave the class & go out in the hall"& she complied.
Back in the room, I have had to erase both smiley faces & its only 9:20. She's doing quite a bit of self stimming & when I put her back on task she tells me "NO." I tried your suggestion of having her leave the room whenever she "silly talks," but I've done it twice today & both times she was disruptive when leaving. When coming back in she's quiet but as soon as the door opens, all eyes focus on the door & their attention is disrupted . She's been working quietly now on the 1st set of math worksheets (9:30) If she had kept up the loud silly talk , I would have called you. She's on her 2nd set of math worksheets & now has started w/ a "whooo" sound . I wiped off another smiley - she made as if to hit me- & I wiped off another one . I circled the part of the paper that gave her difficulty. I now (9:45) gave her some reading worksheets . Maybe the math is frustrating her . She zipped through them w/out a sound until she finished then she yelled out, "Mrs. L. I'm finished ! " While checking them, I see she made 2 silly mistakes. Just like we spoke about a few weeks ago , she's become so familar w/ these sheets that she doesn't even read them - she just circles anything. She's workingnow on the other reading worksheets & being quiet (9:55) . There were 3 pages where she skippedover parts . I circled them & hadher complete them. She got a little frustrated when counting on the number line & while she's doing addition papers, she stims quite a bit ; either verbally or playing w/her pencil in the air. The last set of math worksheets really gave her a hard time . The number line threw her for a loop, ring greater number, & missing addened all made her call out . All in all, she did a great amount of work ,even though she wasn't quiet the whole time. When I gave her a break& let her read , then she was the quietest all day !
Have a good day.
E.
E.,
Danuta is not feeling well today. Is it OK if she comes into school to observe tomorrow?
Tom
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1996-01-03 |
1/3
Hi ! Hope Danuta is feeling better & I'll see her tomorrow . Kat seems a little quieter today. We're in music now and she's listening & sitting quietly enjoying the music. She called out loud once - I wrote it down on the smiling facesheet - she yelled "I am kissing" &then made kissing noises. I also encloseda menu for January. Backin the class , she's working quietly on her 1st set of W/S .* She's writing in the answers on one, (I marked it w/ a star) has her finger in her ear ,humming & writing the answers all at the same time ! I wiped off a smiley face& she stopped, made an angry face at me. Itold her NO, be good , work quietly. She started to work. She also made another mistake on an easy worksheet. On a math paper - she sobbed & then circled all the numbers. Imade a note on that also. She's doing "things" w/ her hands & pencil & humming - I wiped off another smiley face. She's quiet now & it's time to go . See you tomorrow.
E.
Hi Ellen
I will bring her book when I come in.
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1996-01-05 |
1/5
Hi,
I hopeyou have enough worksheets. The extra worksheets for math are easyto get but the language ones there isn't much to them they will take her seconds . Any ideas welcome!
Danuta
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1996-01-10 |
1/10
Nice break ! I hope you enjoyed the " bit of snow " we had . Kat absoultely loved it. She did have therapy all day yesterday so it should not be a s bad. Iguess our meeting will be rescheduled. Let me know if there is a good day for me to stop in . I am traveling 16, 17&18th next week & Melissa is off thatweek to at a training course, so we are trying to work out a schedule. I couldn't find her surprise bag. Let me know if it's at school.
Danuta
Hi ! She started off fine this AM but didn't want to sit& listen to the singing . She kept on blurting out words . I wiped off 1 smiley face & she was better . She played the xylophone today &had fun. She also was the "mallet " collector "for her row . After music I gave her a box of raisins & we went for a walk as her surprise. Her behavior was wonderful. I think she needs the break of going out fora walk, after sitting still for 45mins .The raisins were a big hit too ! (send in more! )
She came back to work quietly & w/out any problems . We set the meeting date for Fri , Jan. 19th @ 8:30. ok ? She had a super day !
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1996-01-11 |
1/11
Hi ! A little verbal at 1st but then she settled down . Do you have her menu at home? If not let me know & I'll send another one home . I've enclosed another note for Kat from "A. mail." Also do you have her calendar ? She's been working beautifully for the last 1/2 hr. Soon we will go for a walk, w/ some rice cakes ! & go to thelibrary. She finally chosea book & we went to back to finish up on the math worksheets . A super day ! !
E.
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1996-01-12 |
1/12
Hi ! Well again 1st thing she was "babbling" & humming . I spoke to her re this , wiped off a smiley face & she settled down. Went to the computer room this AM. I put her in a program called "Reader Rabbit " Level 2. Unfortunately this game was too difficult for her . There were 4 diff activites : Matching rhymning words (sun, fun) , ABC Order( James, Kim , Lee, Mike), Phonics (find words that sound like elf,& words would "swim by) & Make compound words (___plane [air, game, race, work]) I tried each one w/ her for a few minutes , but she had trouble. Maybe this is something we can work on w/ her for future use ? Let me know & I'll show you the program . I tried a Math Facts program next.
E.,
Danuta is away this week. Melissa is also at a seminar, so Kat will probably not be in for lunch until Friday. Didn't have time to replenish worksheets this morning. I will replenish tomorrow. How did she do with Math Facts Program? Have a good day ! ! !
Tom, Danuta & I spoke about this. The program is +, -, x, division facts from simple addition to 3 digit mult. &division . The "+", & " - " program is facts through 15, So I helped put in the answers for the ones she didn't know . The remainder of the program she did on her own & she did just fine. Also - in addition to the "surprise", we've been giving her raisins or mini - rice cakes as a surprise at the end of the day, & as a surprise when she takes a break &goes for a walk . That's been working great. She looks forward for her "snack."
A good day.
E.
* I did a little work in the "Beginning to Add" workbook. She enjoyed licking the stickers & putting them on.
E.,
Kat had pretty good day of therapy yesterday. Only problem was a little talkative during last session. I replenished worksheets for Math and Language. Have agood day ! ! !
P.S. Enlclosed is A.- mail for J. We will be sending in invitations to Kat's house this weekend tomorrow.
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1996-01-17 |
1/17
Hi Tom ,
Kat started off very chatty , but settled down when we got to music. She played the xylphone today to "Put another nickel in - Music, Music, Music." Not much work with done today - she went to an Enrichment Workshop on "The Rainforest. " I think she enjoyed it !
Have a good day.
E.
E.,
Therapy at home went very well. No out bursts and mininal chatting. So far this week looks like a pretty good on ( Knock on wood !!! ). Tomorrow we have a meeting so Iguess I'll see you there . Have a good day ! ! !
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1996-01-18 |
1/18
Hi ! It's 9:30 & so far so good ! Do you have her "surprise" bag at home ? She's been working beautifully all morning. She zipped through all the reading worksheets & I gave her a math addition worksheet w/ coloring . She did an unbelievable coloring job ! ( I had her use crayons ) She did have some S. T. while coloring , but stopped when I pointed to the smiley faces . A Super day ! See you tomorrow !
E.
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1996-01-19 |
1/19
I think our meeting this AM went well - I'll send you everything next week. Kat had another wonderful day ! Have a great weekend.
E.
* Don't forget the snacks.
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1996-01-22 |
1/22
Hi, Kat had a good weekend. She went bowling and scored 41 without the gutters being " blown up." Since she is going to start Longer Fridays she will not go to lunch on Mondays starting today. I only put Math worksheets in today since she didn't finish them last week . We'll add more tomorrow. Do you have aplace to store snacks that we could sendin more at once ?
Danuta
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1996-01-23 |
1/23
Hi ! I'm glad to hear she had a good weekend . She did well in gym today ; for her surprise at the end of gym, she got a drink & a Vit C . sunkist drop . I'll save the pretzels for the end of the day. Mrs. B. gave out treats & the sunkist was the least sugary one !
Enclosed are the curriculum guides we spoke about . Hope these help you.
Yes, I can keep snacks in the cabinet here or in my room for Kat to have .
Her silly talk today was very mininal . She had some trouble on the subtraction pages, however she self corrected & erased her mistakes . She hada problem w/ 8-3. A good day !
E.
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1996-01-24 |
1/24
I'm back ! I heard she came in late& then left right away. Hope everything was OK. So far so good ( 9:15 ). We're off to music. She was quiet & even dida dance ! Ask her about it . She had a very good day . I gave her worksheets from the Language L1 section. She had trouble w/ the plurals .
E.
E.,
Danuta will be out of town this week. She had a great day in therapy yesterday. We removed worksheets that she had trouble with and will practice at home and then try again. Have a great day ! ! !
Tom
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1996-01-25 |
1/25
Hi ! Startedout OK- but "freaked out" when J. asked her phone #. She mumbled the # & then when I asked her to say it louder - she became very upset&agitated. She would not say her phone # but kept mumbling it repeatedly & getting herself very worked up. ( This episode only lasted about 15 seconds.) I calmed her down & said we'll talk about it later & she was OK. Maybe you should speak to Mel about this. Also -please don't forget to send in some kind of a surprise for her , either an edible treat or something else. It's 9:30 & she had settled down & is working nicely. After 6 smiley faces we went to the library - I told her we'd go at 10:00 & she kept lookingatthe clock. Finally@ 10:00 she announced "It's 10:00" ! We spent 20 mins. at the library . A great day. Attached is a list ofnames & a note from Mrs. A. re: the children who would like to play w/ Kat. What an unbelievable response !
E.
E.,
Meliss a will be in today. Kat will be with her till 1:00 in school. You can discuss episode with her directly. Have agood weekend!
Tom
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1996-01-26 |
1/26
Hi ! Kathad a super morning ! She did really well on the "Art Show" tour &then back in the classroom . Melissa &I discussed the phone # incident & she felt that Kat might have become confused w/her old #. She suggested I have her write it down next time. Havea great weekend &I'll see her on Monday.
E.
Katherine read 2 rock descriptions which she wrote in front of the class during science. It was wonderful -everyone clapped!
Melissa
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1996-01-29 |
1/29
Hi, thank you & Mrs . A. forthe list of names wewill start thisweek. Kat went to the roller skating party last night and had a great time. I will be gone Tue -> Thursday. Tom is in charge. How did it go on Fridaywith Melissa ?
Danuta
PS. Is the "surprise bag" atschool ?
Danuta
Hi ! I'm so glad to hear she hada great time at the skating party. The children told me all about it . Today in gym they played "soccer" w/ each child gettinga chance to be a forward, goalie or a sideline person . Idon't know if Melissa saw this in gym last Friday - but Kat was really unnerved by it . She was agitated when the ball came near her& she had to kick it. She flailed her hands & yelled " Where are the beasts ?" several times, & after she kicked the ball would again yell out -" Ouch! That hurts," & start to sob. The balls they use are the soft & spongy Nerf balls which couldn't possibly have hurt her foot ! I am concerned however, about the possibilty of a ball hitting her in the head or face, which could happen, since there are about 6 balls going back &forth during play . I'm sure she wouldn't get hurt but it might scare her. Since she was so unhappy , I removed her from the "game" & we stood& sat next to the wall & watched . When she was in the game w/ me, when I told her what to do, i.e.- kick , catch or throw the ball, she had silly talk outbursts & completely tuned me out . It was very loud & noisy as all the children were talking & yelling &having fun . After gym we went for a walk, she came back to work , had trouble writing a journal , she just kept stopping & stimming. Only got to 2 worksheets, ran out of time . See you tomorrow.
E.
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1996-01-30 |
1/30
Hi , Katherine had made all her lunch selections for February ! Danuta will be gone the next few days. When Melissa was with Kat in gym on Friday she said it went well and was able to get her involved in soccer. I'm not sure to what extent she got Kat involved . When she comes in today I'll try to get her to write you a note so you know what she had her do and so she can read some of the difficulties you had. Have a good day!
Tom
Good morning. We had a fire drill 1st thing this AM & she did really well. She was quiet & walked out w/ the rest of the class & earned a drink of water . Our next goal is a 1/2hr in the class & then go for a walk. She can do it ! !
For her journal ,I'm trying to have her write as much as possible . Today, she wrote quite a bit ! I still have to prompt her w/ what to write: the date, weather, how she feels, what she's going to eat for lunch, etc. but she doesn't seem to mind & we're working on speaking quietly. She did a wonderful job this AM. I started her on the S.P. worksheets ,then went to math. She did just fine on all of them. I can see she's been practicing her "plurals". By the way, the class goes to the Book Fair today @ 11:00 . (Ijust found out! ) However , she can go w/ Melissa after lunch today, or you can come back tonight from 7 - 9. The book fair is open all week , so if you or Melissa can't make it today, she can go any day this week.
A great day !
E.
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1996-01-30/01-31 |
1/30
E.,
Sounds like Kat had great day. Journ a l was very nice . Looks great! Did you have a chance to speak with Melissa about soccer? Keep up the great work!! Have agreat day !
Tom
1/31
Hi ! Thanks so much for all your encouragement ! We're at music now & she's quiet ,but doing quite a bit of hand & arm waving . The children are sitting & listening to each child describe the drum they made & a poem to go along w/ it. They all speak very softly as they are not used to "public speaking ! " It is rather hard for us to hear them, so I'm just watching her & making sure she's acting appropriately & is being quiet . She is ! She did a wonderful job in "self - control" during this class . We went fora walk , she wanted to look again at the book fair & we had just enough time to write in her journal before she went home. What an excellent day !
E.
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