My almost 6YO has tried and failed at multiple group activities over the years, with us cancelling many memberships after his complete refusal to get involved.
Lots of people on here recommended to wait until he started school, so we did. Now in Y1, he has improved with getting involved with stuff at school (thank f*ck, yippee!) he now has football at the weekend and swimming lessons…but has refused to join in with both.
swimming- he loves water, he can swim (used to do lessons & got attached to the teacher however he went up a class with a new teacher and now refuses to get in the pool).
football- loves football, plays at home all the time, was excited to join a club but when we got there he got scared and didn’t join in.
I’ve tried;
soft approach (just go and watch, then join in when you feel ready/ I’ll come with you and hold your hand)
hard approach (get involved or I’ll take away ‘X’)
bribery
can someone please help me with deciding HOW I deal with this? I may shelve football but I refuse with swimming as it’s a life skill and he still needs improvement. He won’t tell me what he’s scared of, it’s like he doesn’t know.
is this a sensory thing?
thank you!