son having anxiety attacks when going into school

[bigdonna]

sorry this is long but would love to hear from anyone else who has been chased by education welfare for your child not attending school,my son is now 10 earlier in the year he was off from april til july due to sinus and migraine problems,he went back sept but was being bullied this caused anxiety so it is really hard getting him to school he has the runs most mornings together with headaches,feeling sick,stomach cramps.we are being referred to see ed phych but school have changed his class still not working.he hates the school.i am taking him on monday to see new school.he also had sinus op 3 weeks ago has suffered from depression due to medication,just feel awful what is going to happen.

Oh poor kid, to have gone through so much by age 10. No words of wisdom sorry, but I really hope the new school is the fresh start he's looking for. Are "education welfare" coming down hard on you or are they actually concerned about his welfare? Hope that psychology appointment is pretty quick too.

thanks the queens peach,no i think they dont have a clue they said i had to take him to school or i will be fined ,we have new heads they are crap lots of kids moving from school i also have 8yr old dd there.shes happy there!!!,

try here

The site Emmaagain suggests would be good to be aware of and in particular the pages on school anxieties
Hopefully he will feel much better about his new school but maybe home-ed for a while, if possible for you, would be more suitable for him, at least until he passes through this difficult phase.

thanks emmaagain,and juuule not sure how i wouild go ahead with home-ed i am a childminder but could do it as he has been here since practically april anyway thanks

If you're a childminder, you can do it without even blinking. Get yourself onto some of the HE email lists (there's an Education Otherwise one for starters) and say "HEEEELLLLPPPP" and wait for the supportive replies to come floosing in :-)

thanks will try that

We've had problems. Our dd has a genetic joint disorder which means there are days when she is in too much pain to even get out of bed or sit upright. We've had our ups and down with the Education Welfare, since the school until recently has chosen to regard it as a discipline problem (despite letters from paediatricians, school doctor etc etc). The first EWO we saw was lovely, very experienced and helpful; the second seemed to know very little, hardly able to read a doctor's letter and totally cowed by the then headteacher who told her what to think. He also invited social service to take us on as a problem family, they came to one meeting, looked on in bewilderment and said 'sorry, we don't do medical'. The meeting minutes (taken by the school) greatly regretted that social services were not able to help. Duh!

She's just spent 4 weeks in hospital being retrained in how to use her muscles, so hopefully things will go better now. The hospital insists on her going back to school gradually and won't allow her to go back until their OT has been in and discussed matters with the school. Bless them!

About the anxiety attacks- having struggled with this problem for 4 years, we've gone through periods of those too (though thankfully no bullying). In our case, home ed was not an option as our dd does not want it (and I don't want it either).

Haven't got any good advice for you, I'm afraid- just lots of sympathy, I know how hard it is! Also, it should be possible to get medical help for panic attacks; I know there are school phobics in the rehab home my dd attends.