How to Teach Math on Kids with Autism and ADHD
September 06, 2022
This is my fourth year of homeschooling Bunso, my son diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Mathematics is one of his favorite subjects. When he was younger, it was easier for me to teach him since the concepts were still the basics. But as years pass, learning and teaching Mathematics become more challenging for both of us.
As a mom and teacher, I have to find ways to sustain my son's interest in Mathematics. It is a trial and error endeavor but through the years, these are the strategies that work for my son which I also apply when teaching him other subjects besides Math.
I teach him based on his learning style.
Bunso is a combination of kinesthetic, visual, auditory, and naturalistic learners. He gets bored when being taught through lectures. He doesn't want to memorize. He learns by doing. He is more adept at doing the process while I act as a facilitator. The concepts that he needs to learn are drawn up from the results of the activities that I ask him to do and I was just there to probe and help him delve deeper into his learning experience. He likes to be immersed in the activity, having his sensorial needs addressed. He likes to feel, touch, see, and hear in order to remember what he is learning.
I divide the tasks into chunks.
Children diagnosed with ADHD in particular get bored easily. Giving them tasks that are too lengthy or too traditional will not motivate them to learn. In order to achieve Bunso's full learning potential in a day without both of us struggling, I divide his daily tasks into chunks. What works for him is splitting his homeschooling schedule into three parts. We have three short sessions in a day: one in the morning, one at noon, and one in the afternoon. Through this, he doesn't get overwhelmed and tends to like learning more since he is not pressured to finish a lot of tasks at a particular time. I always anchor my teaching on this principle by the former Xavier School San Juan president, Fr. Johnny Go: "Minimize activities, maximize impact."
I include him in planning his learning schedule.
Getting his opinion on what he wants to learn first, how he wants to learn, and what he likes to learn besides his usual academic tasks gives him confidence and a feeling of accomplishment/satisfaction. It also teaches him "executive functional skills" or things that a person should do to live productively and orderly to achieve success and fulfillment throughout life.
I give him positive reinforcement.
Giving positive reinforcement means that it is not always giving rewards like stickers, stamps, or tokens. Bunso grows up that learning itself is a reward. Speaking in a positive way as he carries on his task works for him. This creates a learning environment without prejudice.
I consider his interests and give him various activities.
Bunso likes pen and paper activities, cooking, baking, art, and online games. These avenues give me the freedom as his homeschool teacher to integrate different subjects into the activities that he likes to do. It makes teaching and learning easier and more fruitful, indeed a fun learning experience too.
In line with online games. Bunso loves his "Game Time" as always. I let him play online educational games as a review of his previous lessons or mode of assessment. I don't force him to do it since he loves games using the laptop, tablet, or personal computer. It is a win-win endeavor for us! I get to assess his learning, he is able to learn, and both of us enjoy game-based learning!
Speaking of online games, I recently found a site that caters to Bunso's Math learning. Calculators.org has Free Online Games for Kids a.k.a. Student Game Arcade that has a wide array of Math games for children of all ages that even adults like me can enjoy.
Here are some of our favorites:
Feed Math is a fun and easy online game for kids and young at heart who loves food. This is how it works: You have to feed a boy sushi by adding two-numbered dishes. Then time is replenished after each round. After approximately a dozen rounds, the numbers start to get larger, making problems progressively challenging. It makes mental math more enjoyable. Its music and sound effects make it enticing to play.
Math For Kids is a multiple choice game that promotes visual learning by showing animals that kids must count in order to perform different fundamental mathematical operations. Players have two minutes to play. It requires the presence of mind and speed in counting the items inside the box to know how many they are before performing a specific mathematical operation to get the correct answer. It has music and sound effects that make it more fun to play. If your kids are not yet ready for mental math, I highly recommend this game due to the presence of items to count.
Grocery Cashier is a simple game that familiarizes students with addition and giving a "change" on cash purchases. The player rings up customers, collects their payment, and delivers the change under a time limit to he/she must enter the data quickly. A player may use gift certificates or cash to pay. If the gift certificate is larger than the order amount no change is given while change is given for cash payments above the order amount.
Do you know that it was research proven that
According to Lynch, Khouzam, Phillips, Uddin, and Menon (2014), when children with autism solve Math problems, there are certain parts of their brain that are activated. They have the capacity to solve different Math problems using different approaches compared to neurotypical children. They break down each problem into smaller problems to get the answer.
I noticed this in Bunso. Playing different Math games in Calculators.org is his tried and tested way of further developing his Math skills.
Reference:
Lynch, C. J., Khouzam, A., Phillips, J., Uddin, L. Q., & Menon, V. (2014). Brain organization underlying superior mathematical abilities in children with autism. Biological psychiatry, 75(3), 223–230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.06.018
Photo Credit: PublicDomainPictures and an_photos on Pixabay
