Anyone else homeschooling a dc with ADHD or ASD?

[MoonBaby1]

I need to find my people and hopefully start a support thread for all of us who face homeschool problems extra!

My son is 7. He can’t concentrate or focus without me breathing down his back the whole time. I mean the whole time!! He’s academically average which helps but refuses to engage and every day is a battle with tears and mountains of unfinished work.

Yep

Sorry, my 12 year old "helpfully" clicked on post message for me.

I have my 6 year old who has ASD and hates writing with a passion. He has been offered a place at school but he puts everything in his mouth and so does one of the other children in his class who is in school so we decided it was too risky.

Also got a 7 year old who has learning difficulties and needs constant help and a 10 year old who is nt but has a severe case of "can't be bothered".

yes. Dc is below average, can't concentrate, can't sit still, has lost confidence, takes hours to do homework, needs me for every single minute of the schooling. It's a nightmare and I usually cope with everything but I'm on the verge of a breakdown now.

Thank you both so much for replying. I know what you mean about being on the edge at the moment. The idea f being able to leave him to it after a zoom and a pep talk from me is laughable. There is so much work set I’m drowning in it.

I am in your boat, too; I’m getting a lot of reassurance on how to manage things by reading up on executive functioning... something my DD’s paediatrician said 18 months ago that she’ll struggle with. Gawd I’m really starting to see what she means now. There are some great videos/webinars out there on EF and it’s really helped me see things from DDs viewpoint.... especially in terms of writing and thinking!

Me too - single mum, 2 kids eldest is year 4 and just finally been referred by CAMHs for assessment having had initial screening.

I’ve actually just been signed off work as I couldn’t cope anymore. His anxiety in particular has rocketed.

@furrycat1978 - are there any articles on executive function ( and processing difficulties) you’d recommend at all? This is the next thing I need to tackle with school who seem to think it’s fine to say he is above ability in class but can’t manage in assessment s at all ( and cannot learn independently). They seem to just see it as behaviour.

My son has asd he 9. He is on waiting list for ADHD assesment. He is above ability but he is a nightmare for me my other son his poor class when he at school bless the other kids 5 years with him and they just ignore his behaviour and get in lol. At home trying to teach him he won't sit still , fidgits jumps about makes noises constantly says oh I forgot to do that etc it a battle every day constantly reminding arguing one kids is finished the other have done 1 sentence in 8 hours still going by 8pm was an achievement to himself to finish at 6today haha sorry to go on so happy to see others in same position to talk to most people think I exaggerated :)

Yes 7 year old ASD DS with moderate learning difficulty. Takes 2 hours to write 2 sentences.

I keep losing my posts but in summary:

Try to incorporate some learning through movement.

Maths - and BBC Bitesize Daily also has movement with Maths in their sessions.

Now press play have 4 free audio topic movement/drama audio recordings on their site (best with wireless headphones but could also be played out loud). nowpressplay.co.uk/at-home-free/

Ladybird audio adventures are also good and could involve imaginative play/drama/movement.

Literacy - Kung Fu punctuation when putting punctuation into work.

If you want him to sit and concentrate for longer you could try doing some physical movement just prior to the time that this will be required to help him wiggle it out of his system before hand.

Wobble cushions work sometimes to help with sitting, fidget toys and allow a degree of noise making if he still works whilst doing the noises.

Give regular breaks, sand timers are great for this.

Remember with 1:1 support at home what would normally take a whole hour in class to learn can take 15-20 minutes.

Use a mini whiteboard and pen for some tasks (you can photograph the board as evidence of work), kids love using these.

Use physical resources like Numicon to do maths work.

Play learning games like the ones that Orchard games do.

Do kitchen science, make ramps with cars to learn about physics etc..

Learn around his special interests if he has any, you can learn literacy, maths, art etc... through special projects that get his attention (e.g. make a information poster about tigers gives you reading and writing, 5 X table using tiger claws on each paw, paint a tiger).