Homework with Kevin

Talking in circles: Kevin is a genius at doing this until he wears me right down.

Tonight's homework session is so very representative of this.

I tried to capture as much of it as I could, to give you a sense of how this boy's brain works, and how tiring it is for me to grapple with his logic on a daily basis.

I was going to do a Facebook post, but this got too long. As long as it is, it still isn't an exhaustive record of the seemingly endless go-around that occurred throughout our interaction during homework.

***
[Kevin didn't do his weekend journal at school today. He had a tough morning. The teacher sent it home for him to finish tonight. He was not happy.]

Me, prompting him along as we begin homework: Kevin, what did you do this weekend?

Kevin: Nothing.

Me: Seriously? I thought you had a very busy weekend. You have lots you can write about.

Kevin: I don't remember anything.

Me: Well, I remember at least 3 things; you went for a haircut, Uncle Chuck babysat on Saturday night, and we went to Kade's birthday party yesterday.

Kevin: All of those things were boring. Nothing happened. I have nothing to write about.

Me: You didn't do anything fun with Uncle Chuck?

Kevin: No.

Me: Well, I can think of lots of things you did at the party yesterday.

Kevin: I don't remember anything.

Me: You don't remember going in the bouncy castle with Kade? Or showing Aiden your 3DS game? Or playing Minecraft with them? Or eating yummy foods?

Kevin: I don't have enough to write about. The teacher needs 3-6 sentences.

Me: Kevin, if you put ONE sentence about each thing you did, you will have enough sentences!

Kevin: But my teacher wants details, and I don't have enough details! And I don't know which thing to pick.

Me: Okay, I'll pick for you. Write about the birthday party. If you write about ALL the things you did at the party, then you'll have lots of details.

Kevin: But I did nothing at the party.

Me: I just REMINDED you of lots of things you did at the party!

Kevin: I don't want to do this at home. It's SCHOOL work, not HOME work. Is there any way I can NOT do this today?

Me: Absolutely NOT. You have to do it at home because you DIDN'T do it at school today like you were supposed to. It says right here in your agenda: "Kevin needs to complete this at home tonight" because "he would not cooperate this morning." Look. Your teacher wrote that RIGHT HERE.

Kevin, several sighs, moans, and groans later: Will you give me a Popsicle if I "bump it up" and write SEVEN sentences?

Me, worn out by this time, and trying to help Andrea with her homework, too: Sure. We don't have any Popsicles, but I'll give you something if you do a good job on your journal.

***
5 minutes later ...

Kevin has completed his journal. It has seven sentences. Yes, he wrote about the birthday party. And he wrote about the bouncy castle and showing Aiden his game. But all of the details were about Pokemon: how he and Kade played Pokemon characters in the bouncy castle, and what he showed Aiden in his Pokemon game. No, he could not remember anything about his haircut, his evening with Uncle Chuck, or what we did at the birthday party. But somehow, he could remember and name exactly which characters he and Kade pretended to be, and exactly what he showed Aiden on his game.

Seven sentences about being MewTwo and Digger and the "how to play" page on his Pokemon X game.

Autism.
Stickiness.
Focused interests.

Yep.

(He picked Skittles for his treat. Okay.)