I just had a meeting with my twelve-year-old son’s caseworker at school. He has Asperger’s Syndrome, and often these meetings are about as much fun as going to the dentist. I found out today that he both tested out at an eleventh grade skill level on a standardized math test and is getting a D in sixth grade math. What does this mean, you ask? Well, it means he is not doing well at jumping through hoops.
It has always been a struggle to try to figure out how to explain to him why it is important not that he get the right answer, but that he work the problem the way the teacher wants it done. Why it is important that the homework get turned in after it is complete. Why he has to do a worksheet when he already knows how to do that math, and proved he knew how to do that math two years ago. Why he has to write neatly. We call it hoop jumping. Sometimes to get by in the world of NTs you have to jump through some hoops.
But what is the balance? How much hoop jumping is one kid expected to do? Why is this stuff so important to the world? Why is it so problematic that he does the math his way? What is the point of all of this, really? It’s so arbitrary. At what point do we cross the line from socializing our children to creating a flock of sheep?
Seeking Knowledge... 