Donald
Exceptional Math and Literacy Tutor
Hello parents and students. I am a retired classroom teacher with eight years of experience teaching and tutoring elementary students including those with special needs. I have an M.S.in childhood education (1-6) and special education as well as a background in technology. I'm a published writer who always brings along a patient and nurturing attitude, whatever your learning needs. I bring a focused approach to building and strengthening math, reading, comprehension and writing skills ge...
Aspergers
Though kids diagnosed with Asperger’s can vary widely in academic abilities, my eight years of teaching them points to several strategies that are consistent with academic success. There is a lot of anxiety, distraction and difficulty staying organized and focused. Because of these factors, a lot of potential can go unrealized. I use a lot of structuring techniques including organizational planners to get predictable routines established. These can be simple or complex checklists that have successful task completion as the goal. For some kids on the higher cognitive end of things, explicit ongoing conversations about Asperger’s that encourage self awareness can be really helpful. They help clear away a lot of the anxiety that gets in the way of learning. Systematically learning the meaning of various social queues (reading facial expressions, body language, etc.) is important. Along with rules for social interaction that emphasize politeness and cooperation it’s all helpful not just for functioning in the world, but by reducing anxiousness increases the ability to accomplish things academically. This all complements the teaching approach I have posted in the special needs section.