I just spent about half an hour or so helping my son with his math homework, which was rounding off. I had to steer him to the answer every time. He simply does not get rounding in the slightest.
Most of his issues with learning (and they are legion) are traceable to his condition, but this one, I think, comes from the very heart of it. Autistic children are often very literal and exact by their nature. Figurative language, for example, confuses and frustrates them. Those of you who are familiar with the Guardians of the Galaxy movie should remember Drax- same problem. This problem extends to Math, which by its nature should be exact- but rounding off is, to them, a rejection of its exactness. To say 2356 is about 2000, or about 2400, or about 2360 is absolutely contrary to their nature. To them, and to Frodo, 2356 is 2356, period, end of sentence. He cannot see it as anything other than itself. Trying to get him to say otherwise is causing him stress and frustration.
Another reason why I say the greatest problem with the educational system is that it is a system at all: it puts everyone through the same or near the same as nevermind steps, and expects them all to prosper equally, and those who cannot are written off.
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”- attributed to Albert Einstein.
'One law for the ox and the lion is oppression,' William Blake.
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