Alex Writes Books
Andrew Wright and Alexandra Wright, Hungary
Alex Wright is the younger daughter of Andrew Wright and Julia Dudas who live in Godollo, Hungary, near Budapest. Andrew and Julia run a private language school in Godollo and Budapest doing mainly company teaching. Julia is the director of the company. Andrew spends most of his time writing books and travelling in order to work with teachers. Andrew’s books include: Games for Language Learning. CUP, Creating Stories with Children. OUP, 1000 Pictures for Teachers to Copy. Longman Pearson
Writing Stories. Helbling Languages. E-mail: andrew.wright@ili.hu
Alex, 12, attends a special school in Budapest for children with autism. Timi is Alex’s fourteen year old sister in her last year in Primary School.
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Autism and Alex
Alex as a writer
Writing the story
About the book
The book
Alexandra is twelve and she has autism. Autism affects people in different ways and to different degrees. (It is estimated that 1: 150 children have autism.) However, a common affect is on social intelligence. Alexandra speaks two languages, English and Hungarian and she loves reading and loves writing and illustrating books. But with all of these interests and skills she is not very good at judging how to behave according to social conventions. For example, if we visit somebody’s house for the first time she has no problem in looking into their cupboards, helping herself to their biscuits, playing with their children’s toys, etc. More importantly, although Alex can communicate very well and she certainly makes people fall in love with her within a short time she often speaks and writes not to communicate to others but to express the flow of her unconscious, spilling out images which few people can possibly connect with…so they have no idea what she is talking about. This is the key skill for us to work on… communicating… speaking and writing in order to pass on ideas and feelings which other people can follow.
Alex did not begin to speak until she was over five years old. You can imagine therefore how happy we are that she is such a chatterbox now! And you can imagine how important it is for us that she adores writing.
Alex writes stories everyday and has done so for some years. She types them on the computer, prints them out and illustrates every page. She then punches them and binds them. Approximately 500 books ranging from 15 pages to 150 pages written, illustrated and bound stand on her bookshelf. It is a truly extraordinary achievement. Approximately, half the books are written in English and half in Hungarian. At home the family language is 60% English but at school she only speaks in Hungarian. Approximately half the stories are closely based on existing stories in book form or DVD form. She copies out whole sentences but often substitutes different names…her own or her family’s names or some names of children she knows. Some of her stories are completely her own.
As I have told you above, the key challenge for us is to help Alex to understand that if she wants to write for other people she must continually think about what they know and what they might understand. Of course, this is the same for all of us!
What can be learned from the experience of working with a child with autism which might be applied to working with children without autism? Let me list a few thoughts:
- We all have disabilities…Alex can do some things which many children cannot do. So the idea of appreciating that we all have strengths and weaknesses is important.
- The restriction of autism for Alex is her limited social intelligence but amazingly this disability has its positive effects as well! Alex has almost no restriction placed on her by peer pressure. She has no shame in playing with a toy animal and listening to Mozart at the same time…bizarre for most children aged twelve. Furthermore, she has no concept of jealousy, envy or ill will which makes her into a movingly warm and captivating young person. Countering the restrictions of peer pressure and social and commercial pressures on our young people by offering more liberating experiences is a key challenge for all of us.
- Alex learns by reading and listening. Research in mother tongue and second language learning indicates that extensive reading experience has an enormous effect not only on reading and writing skills but on the overall conceptual development of children.
- It is important in working with Alex to understand that threats are counter productive as well as being morally obscene. Our job is to find experiences which engage her, related to concepts and skills which she can relate to and to explain them in ways she will understand, to be encouraging of positive achievement and not to dwell on negative achievement. This is significantly different to the approach taken with ‘normal’ children. Teachers working with Alex regard any failure to achieve something as feedback for their work as teachers rather than as a failure of hers as a learner. There is no marking grade system for Alex. I wish Timi, Alex’s big sister, was encouraged to develop instead of being driven to remember and regurgitate.
I felt this invitation to Alex to publish one of her stories was a wonderful opportunity for me to introduce her to the idea that writing for people to read is not the same as just writing. The process in producing the story below was as follows:
- I asked Alex what she would like the story to be about. She answered, Toffee, (her little white woolly dog).
- I asked her to sit at the keyboard, and to do all the typing. The whole text you see was typed by Alex.
- I did not make any suggestions about what should be in the story but I did affect the story in two ways:
- I asked questions and then told her to write her answers down as full sentences.
- when she came up with ideas with no clear connection with the flow of the story I asked how on earth the reader would see the connection. And I did, at times, say, No! ‘Alex! How can anybody see why Sheer Kahn should suddenly appear in your story? You don’t tell us why!’
- I occasionally asked her about the spelling if I felt that you might not recognise the word…this happened maybe four or five times in the whole text.
This is the first time I have tried to guide her to an awareness of the needs of a reader. I have not wanted to interfere with the wonderful creative drive over these years. However, I feel confident that she will benefit if she can communicate rather than just write…doesn’t that apply to us all?
This book is:
A story written by Alexandra Wright
The publisher, Sandra, is the current chair of IATEFL, Slovenia and she will publish the story on the website of IATEFL.
IATEFL: International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language)
November 2008
Toffee is playing with the dogs in the garden
Written by Alexandra Wright
2008
November 29
Toffee is playing with the dogs In the garden. And feel rather happy. The dogs are chasing the Toffee. Clifford is playing with Tina. And playing with Toffee. Toffeeka’s is running away.
Page 1
Toffee is hiding in the tree. Clifford is a ghost. He’s coming. Toffee’s frightened.
Page 2
Toffee Is up in a tree and he is frightened. Clifford dosen’t know That Toffee’s in the tree. He’s looking up and barking.
Page 3
There he is said Cilfford laughing. Very good Toffee. Clifford was barking and, the sound is horrible. Toffee is not frightened Now.
Page 4
So Toffee come down the tree. Clifford is talking to Toffee. How are you? Fine thanks Tina was found Toffee as well.
Page 5
This time Tina is hiding in the bush. Toffee and Clifford are looking for her.
Page 6
Ha-ha you found me. Laughed Tina.
Page 7
Toffee is having a tea party for Clifford and Tina.
Page 8
Tina is blowing the bubbles. And Clifford is so funny and Toffee is laughing with Scruff. Scruff came to the party.
Page 9
The next morning Tina and Toffee were in the tree. And calling Clifford, Clifford, Scruff, scruff, wake up everyone.
Page 10
Tyna and Toffee were fall off the tree. And SPLASH? Into the water. The Dogs are laughing and the frogs are croaking.
Page 11
All the dogs are licking the Tyna and Toffee. To make them dry. Find then all funny. Haha?
Page 12
So the dogs were good and gathering First Orange is 1. Lemon is 2. and Apple is 3. and Pear is 4. and Plum is 5. and Cherry is 6.
Page 13
And they got home and making the supper. And putting in the big bowl. The Orange and lemon and apple and pear and plum and cherry, and pineapple and banana and cake and sandwich.
Page 14
And they eating a lovely delicious soup.
Page 15
It’s bedtime for story said Clifford Tyna and Scruff and Toffee and dog-wig, are sleeping with the Piglet. And Pooh and Eeyore and Tigger. Well joying Next time. Cheerio.
Page 16
THE END
Letter from Alex
Dear Sandra
Thank you for the Publsing the Toffe’s book. I hope you like the story of Toffe. Do you want a pictures. All about Toffe and dog-wig, Clifford and Tyna and Scruff.
I write a lovely story in the world. Apa helped me a bitt.
Love from Alexandra.
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