DS has HFA, just started Y11, and at a 'top private school'. The expectation is GCSE A/A* across the board, more-or-less, to continue onto sixth form.
We have identified a few issues:
(a) easily distracted/loses focus. So for example the day before returning from long summer holiday he's told to back his bag. But he doesn't actually finish the job and leaves bit and pieces hanging around when I check on him around 10pm. Then when he's packing the remainder at 11pm he still wants to gets distracted by looking at the label on something. Or if he's told to do the dishes he'll walk off while the sink fills up even though it doesn't really need to be full to wash eight plates or something. So it might take four times being told to actually get it finished.
This does I think pertain more generally. He has extra time in exams, but there is a sort of general lack of urgency, like when he has homework he needs to focus on something which might be somewhat abstract (writing about Macbeth or whatever) but can sometimes just sit there blankly rather than just getting on with things.
He does quite well in his chosen sport and enjoys it, but only because they have a ridiculous level of training (six days a week) - absent that very rigid structure he would basically sit at home on his backside and perhaps TALK about riding a bike but not actually do it.
(b) anxiety/stress - he can panic about things and identifies as anxious, and said that he felt ill during his exams I think because of this reason.
(c) anger - he gets angry easily at being told things so it can be difficult to talk to him. We probably don't have the best response to this as parents as we are not the most stress-free household.
(d) organisation - slightly related to (a) his bag will be a horrible mess and he won't hand in notes and he missed the bus because he thought he had left something at home but then hadn't and so on.
So we have a task from the school to support with his grades but also I think to try and get him to be I suppose a bit more self-reliant because he will soon be an adult and nobody is going to sign him up for things. Does anyone have any advice?