A Home School Introduction to Micro-Electronics for Students with Hyperlexia
rjo_
Posts: 1,825
A Home School Introduction to Micro-Electronics
for Students with Hyperlexia
(and Kids of All Ages)
Hyperlexia is an autism spectrum disorder. Another way that similar kids are identified is as "high functioning autistics." Kids with this disorder are capable of learning just about anything, but they learn in a different way than other children. My son, Nathan, has this condition. He is 20 years old.
This course of study is intended to prepare Nathan (and other kids like Nathan) to study the Propeller Education Kit. We are using the Propeller as an aid. The intention isn't to teach about the Propeller, so much as it is to use the Propeller to let the student learn about basic electronics and get them ready to study the learning labs.
Most kids with hyperlexia are boys. Most of them are incredibly good looking, because they have very symmetric facial features. They are rule based learners, who have difficulty abstracting rules without a huge amount of experience. Each time they come across a new rule, they are happy, because then they know what to do.
Nathan has successfully completed some math courses at the local college, IVCC IVCC has a tremendous remedial programs for math students, because our area has a high number of kids graduating from high school, with practically no math skills. IVCC's approach to teaching math is to use computer tutorials that allow students to practice specific paradigms for solving specific types of math problems. This approach fit my son's learning technique almost perfectly. To satisfy his need for repetition and more global information, we simply had him audit each class before taking the class and then made sure that he had a different instructor each time.
Unfortunately, the school does not have such a program for basic electronics. So, this semester, we have all agreed that I will be home schooling Nathan in basic electronics. Nathan doesn't like it when people talk to him. So, everything I want to say, I have to write down. As long as I am writing everything down, I might as well share it.
An hour of credit at your local junior college costs about $300. For that same investment, a child can start on a path of study that is fun and useful. Who knows where it will lead them?
If you know of anyone with an older hyperlexic or high functioning autistic child, let them know about this thread. I would be very interested in feedback.
I know how my son learns... so this is a no-brainer when it comes to him. I would like to know if it is useful to other children like Nathan.
Classes begin next week[noparse]:)[/noparse]
I will be posting each week's lesson in this thread.
Rich
for Students with Hyperlexia
(and Kids of All Ages)
Hyperlexia is an autism spectrum disorder. Another way that similar kids are identified is as "high functioning autistics." Kids with this disorder are capable of learning just about anything, but they learn in a different way than other children. My son, Nathan, has this condition. He is 20 years old.
This course of study is intended to prepare Nathan (and other kids like Nathan) to study the Propeller Education Kit. We are using the Propeller as an aid. The intention isn't to teach about the Propeller, so much as it is to use the Propeller to let the student learn about basic electronics and get them ready to study the learning labs.
Most kids with hyperlexia are boys. Most of them are incredibly good looking, because they have very symmetric facial features. They are rule based learners, who have difficulty abstracting rules without a huge amount of experience. Each time they come across a new rule, they are happy, because then they know what to do.
Nathan has successfully completed some math courses at the local college, IVCC IVCC has a tremendous remedial programs for math students, because our area has a high number of kids graduating from high school, with practically no math skills. IVCC's approach to teaching math is to use computer tutorials that allow students to practice specific paradigms for solving specific types of math problems. This approach fit my son's learning technique almost perfectly. To satisfy his need for repetition and more global information, we simply had him audit each class before taking the class and then made sure that he had a different instructor each time.
Unfortunately, the school does not have such a program for basic electronics. So, this semester, we have all agreed that I will be home schooling Nathan in basic electronics. Nathan doesn't like it when people talk to him. So, everything I want to say, I have to write down. As long as I am writing everything down, I might as well share it.
An hour of credit at your local junior college costs about $300. For that same investment, a child can start on a path of study that is fun and useful. Who knows where it will lead them?
If you know of anyone with an older hyperlexic or high functioning autistic child, let them know about this thread. I would be very interested in feedback.
I know how my son learns... so this is a no-brainer when it comes to him. I would like to know if it is useful to other children like Nathan.
Classes begin next week[noparse]:)[/noparse]
I will be posting each week's lesson in this thread.
Rich
Comments
I for one am extremely interested. Please DO post the results of your efforts.
One thing I know....many people (let alone children) are not very good at learning and
new teaching techniques interest me tremendously.
I get frustrated sometimes trying to teach children since it seems to me that they should
know certain things as basic common sense. Unfortunately it seems that common sense is
not very common and what I·take for granted as common sense is not in fact what children
these days take as such.
Therefore a learning technique as you describe could be an effective approach even to
children and pupils without Hyperlexia.....it could be a different approach to the traditional
techniques that seem to not be working with many pupils these days.
Moreover, being Propeller and Spin based would definitely make·the courses·NOVEL and exciting
as well as educational.....and I am sure in general not just for your son.
So PLEASE DO post your work I’m·certain it will be edifying to·many including me.
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Samuel
www.RobotBASIC.com
·
I will... I think I know enough to get a kid started... but even at an elementary level, if I say something that isn't quite accurate... I'm counting on you guys to let me know[noparse]:)[/noparse] As I am going through it the first, I will be looking for areas that need controller-aided education[noparse]:)[/noparse]
Over the weekend, I wrote the intro and first chapter in Nathan's book, sat down and order everything I thought we would need from Parallax and took Nathan on his first trip to the local RadioShack.
Tonight we had our first class, and it was a roaring success.
There are a number of joys that children with hyperlexia provide there parents every day. One of the joys tonight was having Nathan read through the text and find all of the mistakes. He IS hyperlexic. He has been reading since he was 18 months old. He knows a dangling participial when he sees one[noparse]:)[/noparse]
At the same time, I am kicking myself, because one of the things Nathan enjoyed most (second only to measuring resistors in the multipack and putting them in their own cubby hole (envelope), was seeing the differences in the temperature, between his hands, elbows, and forehead and mine. Autism affects the autonomic nervous system and sensory systems. So, we found that the temperature between his index finger and his thumb were a full 10 degrees lower than mine.
The multimeter that we selected at RadioShack comes with a thermocouple, but I FORGOT TO ORDER A THERMOCOUPLE from Parallax!!!!! That's why I'm kicking myself[noparse]:)[/noparse]
Once I correct all of the mistakes that Nathan found, I'll post the first chapter and lecture notes[noparse]:)[/noparse]
Rich
I am over joyed by your love for your son! I am thankful for your willingness to share your work through this forum. Though the term hyperlexic is new to me, I am wondering if your work may be benefical to one or both of the families I have in my church with children with autism.
I will keep my eye on this post in the hope that I can be of some help and as Sam said "learn a new way to teach electronics to children"
Thanks,
Tony
I do love my son. But when people hear the word "autism" they tend to feel sorry for both the child and the parents. These children, when they can be describe as "high functioning," are absolutely wonderful to be around. They are also continuously amazing. My son for example can tell you what day of the week you were born on, and the birthdays and addresses of every pretty girl in school. Tonight we unveiled Nathan's Propeller computer from Dell... we have a wireless network... it requires a very long password... Nathan knew it instantly. A true joy[noparse]:)[/noparse]
Rich
I'm chemistry lab assistant for medicine students and it amazes me exactly that, and these are young adults.
There are no perfect people, everyone in its own sense is special, faster or slower learners, faster or slower readers and so on. But what we most need is love. From there we can do the world
Edit: Did I said what a nice project you are doing ?.
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Visit some of my articles at Propeller Wiki:
MATH on the propeller propeller.wikispaces.com/MATH
pPropQL: propeller.wikispaces.com/pPropQL
pPropQL020: propeller.wikispaces.com/pPropQL020
OMU for the pPropQL/020 propeller.wikispaces.com/OMU
Post Edited (Ale) : 1/20/2010 12:54:31 PM GMT
But back to the thread, this sounds like a great project for you both! I'll be really interested so see if the teaching style would have suited me, I have always rejected certain styles and still do (like the book "Practical Electronics" I bought over Christmas). I'll be interested if you have to have a large collection of small rules or if you build a sort of structure from the ground up.
Graham
Rich
yours sounds like a great project. The wonderful thing about the internet is that whatever you do, it will be available to others for years, maybe decades, who knows how long? And the cool thing about electronics is that it can be tailored to create environments that can interface all kinds of different people in all sorts of different ways. Your son obviously has some remarkable abilities. It's great to hear he's got a father who can reach out, take hold, and guide those strengths into the best possible direction.
Mark
Thanks for the encouragement and feedback.
Rich
Or did I? you be the judge[noparse]:)[/noparse]
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Will work for Propeller parts!
Kids with CP tend to be intellectually normal and many of them are gifted. To study in this area, the major hurdle that CP kids would have is motor control of their hands. Some of these kids use computers all of the time... some with enormous difficulty and special equipment... some with difficulty, without any special equipment. There are various things that make this easier for them, but you can't make them do it and if they have tried and don't want to... then you are kind of stuck. Depending upon the kid, and what he/she could actually do, I would tend to emphasize the design side of electronics. Example: for drawing circuits, I'm going to have Nathan use ImageJ and a library full of electronic symbols that he will cut, paste and rotate into place.
For a CP kid, I would have to actually learn how to draw circuits using one of the free programs, which are intended to produce schematics and layouts for PCBs. You probably know this already, then you would have to figure out how to make the use of that program as easy as possible. Some kids could probably do it... others would have just enough control to do what I'm doing with Nathan.
So, they could draw a circuit... but someone else would have to use one of the programs to put it into a form that the PCB makers accept.
Kids with autism tend to have poor fine motor control... but this is trainable and can be largely overcome through practice and the use of magnification. So, putting wires into breadboards will be difficult... but only until the autistic kid learns exactly how to do it. I'll talk more about this after the lab session... I think I know how to teach this...we will see[noparse]:)[/noparse]
I can't imagine a kid with CP putting wires into a breadboard and enjoying it. I can imagine a kid with CP designing circuits and having them populated by someone else. Slightly delayed gratification ... but worth the wait.
CP kids could certainly use the Spin Tool interface and with a little preparation study the Learning Labs. Someone loaning them their hands would be mostly what they would need to get started.
Down's kids are incredibly social... just the opposite of autistic kids. Getting a room full of Down's children to be quite is almost impossible.
With autistic kids, you can usually hear a pin drop.
Fragile X ... a wide spectrum of disease impact. Some are in the normal range on almost every level, some are very similar to Down's kids and some are very similar to high functioning autistic kids.
The problem of trying to teach these kids anything in a special education setting is that our teachers have all of these kids in one room at one time.
You can't replace the experience of a formal school setting. But there is a big need for supplemental materials and work settings.
A few typos I spotted:
Introduction:
Page 6, "tine" rather than "tiny"
Page 7, "micro-electronis"
There were a few other things that made me a bit queezy, an electron has a certain amount of charge but not THE unit of charge i.e. the Colomb but I don't think it really matters.
I would also have said that electricity IS the flow of electrons in that context rather than being caused by it. But then it is also the presence of them (as for a charged capacitor).
Another way of looking at electronics is to say that it is the use of electrons to process/transfer information, that also helps when you try to distinguish between electrical and electronic engineering. Electrical engineering being principly using electricity to do work or convey power.
Graham
Thank you very much. Nathan spotted the typos... but kept his copy. So, I had to try to remember where they were.
The Coulomb... didn't spot that one and was writing when I should have been sleeping. Thanks. And it does matter. What these kids do is gather up facts until they can stand it anymore and then finally understand the rule. Get the facts wrong or in discord and they will never get it. That is one of the key issues.
Rich
We have class on Tuesday and Labs on Thursday. It is supposed to last 2 hours, but so far 1 hour seems to be the limit.
Nathan is very enthusiastic ... until it comes time to have to listen to me talk. He talks about it to everyone else!!!
Tonight, the class consisted of Nathan reading the text to me, as though he were teaching me. Giving him lectures, where
he listens and I talk, is very uncomfortable for him. He is comfortable with scripted interactions. If he doesn't have a script, he
is uncomfortable. Nathan has a photographic memory, and perfect pitch. But when people talk,
he has to work so hard to decode speech that he will let you know that he has had enough, and that usually doesn't take very long.
He enjoys reading and he particularly enjoys performing. So, he performs and I listen.
After reading through Chapter 2, we downloaded ImageJ and installed it. Somehow we messed up our order with Parallax.
Has to be my fault[noparse]:)[/noparse] I have all the parts, but I'm holding off until I can put the package in his hands.
We had a quiz. Nathan got a 90%.
With kids like this, looking for signs of comprehension is a futile exercise. One day you walk
in and the have it ... all of it. And then you wonder... where did that come from?
The Lab sessions basically involve measuring and recording various things. We started with the thermocouple, resistors and batteries. This week will be capacitors.
Nathan skipped out on class in the middle. So, we also have some things with ImageJ to learn (which we are using for drawing).
The proof will be in the pudding. That won't happen until we get through the course once and then go back and do it again.
Rich