indigo--although it would seem like he might be a good candidate for acting, that has been a giant non-starter with DS. He and his sister like to write plays and record them, but when I tried to put him in an enrichment class (young elementary age) he had one of his very first "freak outs" and refused to ever go back because it was so noisy and chaotic that it upset (REALLY upset) him. One of the things his teacher was up in arms about this year is that he "refused" to do the "movement breaks" (dancing/singing stuff" with the rest of the class. I don't think it was defiance as much as freak-out, though.
I don't think he is conceptualizing the summer job as play-acting. He is really seeing himself as a young man with a job, and the shirt/tie is a status symbol.
Really the only things I can think of that do *totally* freak him out are related to noisy environments, natural disasters, alarms, stinging insects, and public humiliation.
Re: writing. Nobody has ever said this is a problem for him, academically, and I think he does okay when it's in class (and he is on stimulant med). At the end of the year, though, there was an asinine "cursive essay" he had to write and it was painful to watch him stare down that paper for literal hours. He can't write in cursive with any sort of ease--it was torturous. (And they don't even teach kids cursive any more, so wasn't sure of the point.) I have noticed his writing doesn't come close to his conversational ability--it's stilted, repetitive, and immature.
I wouldn't dream of making him write over the summer. I realize this is probably not mainstream but I will not actually "force" him to do anything, ever. I use more of a when you do X, then you may Y, and don't allow electronics if he does not comply (really the only thing that influences him). We have a pretty close relationship and once I've explained something to him (and its importance), I can usually gain cooperation. I have a lot of trouble understanding the importance of a lot of things, myself, so this is probably informing my approach.
I sure would like it if the NP would call me back...
