Advice please ds (8) referred to Educational Psychologist

[Comingfoccacia]

My dts (8) has been referred due to some alarming changes in his behaviour. He is extremley sensitive and seens to have very low self esteem. He hits himself, calls himself evil, says his life is not worth living and gets really stressed and upset, seemingly quite randomly (no obvious triggers). He is very bright, inquisitive, confident and loving little boy. This behaviour has manifested itself within the last few months. School have intervened and I had a meeting with the Ed Psych, she will meet with him soon. It's all happened really quickly. I am at a loss to know why he is behaving this way. No big changes at home. Anyone have any advice?

Has he been seen by your GP? I think a noticeable change in behaviour needs a thorough check on the medical side too.

Yes GP seen and agreed with Ed pysch referral

Is there any chance he is being bullied at school? Is it since he moved up a school year?
I'm struggling to word this, but if the change is very dramatic and seemingly from nowhere in that you had no concerns about his development until a few months ago, I really think he needs a thorough medical assessment as well as the Ed Psych assessment. Ed Psych assessments are very useful, and it is great the school are fully supportive but do have their limits from a diagnosis pov.

He's not being bullied, this was one of my first concerns. Thanks for the advice, I will make another apointment with GP.

Based on our experience (ds2 had a similarly very sudden change in behaviour in year 4) consider the possibility of an autistic spectrum condition. Previously he had very good coping mechanisms but got totally overloaded in year 4 as he gained self awareness that he was a bit different (and embarassment because of it) and the gap between his social skills and those of his peers really widened. I would visit your GP (without your son) and ask for a referral to CAMHS to investigate reasons for the change in behaviour. If your ds has already low self-esteem you definitely do not want to discuss his difficulties in front of him (wish someone had told us that one). In the meantime as this process will not be quick perhaps ask the school to put in some ASC type strategies to reduce anxiety as whether the primary cause is an ASC or another problem these are likely to help.

Thanks OneinEight, interesting your ds had similar changes in Y4 too. As per Frayedhem's advice I will make a further GP appointment.