Two weeks into Yr 7 and DS is struggling. HIs teacher called me because she's very worried about him. He just can't organise himself and seems completely overwhelmed. She said he looks completely lost. He's already had one detention caused by his forgetfulness.
When he started infant school, he had the best attention span in the class. He worked incredibly hard up until the end of Yr2 and his teacher said he was like a sponge for knowledge. He even did extra work at home making powerpoints about planets etc. That all changed in Yr3 when he had an NQT who was truly awful and the whole class suffered. I don't know whether that year switched him off learning or whether there is something else going on. Since then, DS has had very poor concentration, problems listening (he often interrupts in conversations and goes on and on without realising that he's boring people), chats incenssantly, fidgets a lot, takes about an hour to do a task that he could do in 5 mins, is over-sensitive and a bit paranoid about germs. He is very sensitive to certain smells (which means he can never use the loo at school) and materials and is a fussy eater (he can't mix different foods in his mouth and has a certain order for eating things). His handwriting is appalling, he cannot follow instructions, for some things his memory is terrible, he is unbeliveably easily distracted and he has problems going to sleep at night. Homework is always a total battle and refuses to anything beyond the bare minimum. However, he's very bright, a voracious reader, extremely articulate, emotionally mature, shows a great deal of empathy and kindness and has a brilliant memory for random facts!
Another problem is that he says that he was bullied in primary school and it seems that the name-calling, jostling and general unpleasantness is just getting worse and he's finding it very upsetting. The worst thing for him is that his so-called best friend never defends him (his friend is friendly with the 'bullies'). He's spent much of the last few days in Yr7 crying. He's frightened that if he doesn't hang out with these boys that he'll have no friends.
Needless to say, in primary school his teachers were driven mad by his behaviour and he was generally regarded as lazy and disruptive. I said that I thought maybe there was more to it as he doesn't seem to be defiant but they said there was nothing 'wrong' and seemed to imply that I only wanted him 'labelled' (not so...I want strategies). His Yr7 teacher has been fantastic and for the first time I felt that someone understood.
Do you think that maybe he has ADD or something else? Any suggestions as to how I can help him to improve his concentration, listening and organisational skills. I'm at my wits end tbh. Hope the above makes sense, I hardly slept last night with worry. TIA.
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DS Yr7 not coping - wonder whether he's got special needs
Katsinhats · 19/09/2016 14:33
Hi OP
Some of the things you are describing could be indicators of a group of conditions including ASD Dyspraxia ADD etc
Often high functioning children with these conditions can be missed and dismissed in Primary and get picked up on transition to secondary education when for a number of reasons they can no longer hold it all together
Our DD fell apart on transition spectacularly so I do feel your pain and worry
I would suggest you talk to the school SENCO who can put some initial support in place while assessing where the problem lies and if you need referral to other areas
If you hop over to the special needs group there are plenty of folk who can give you practical help and support
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