Suddenly feel so sad for dd

[Penllyn]

She is 15, yr 10, and has OCD.
Lots of tests going on at school and she is not coping.
She panics, even in subjects she enjoys.
She can't grasp data, her maths, science and ict are particularly bad.
I have just suddenly realised that she is going to struggle to get 5 gcse's, will probably not do A levels. I have no idea what she will do.
I suddenly feel overwhelmed because I want her to be happy and she isn't. I'm sitting here in tears because I feel useless.

Hi - don't know if this will be much help but do you think your DD panics & maybe feels overwhelmed because she can't get organised?! My DD is also 15 but in yr 11 & was getting very stressed & upset re GCSEs. She also doesn't seem to be able to retain info & is really scatty & disorganised so we had a huge sort out of her bedroom - I bought her plastic boxes for each subject & various GCSE revision guides so she could store & easily find her work (in theory), I also bought a huge wall year calendar & loads of little post-it notes. The idea is she writes all the things worrying her or exams, info, dates for coursework etc.. on the post-it note, sticks it on her wall chart so she can see at a glance whats due when, then when its done she can pull off the note & throw it in the bin - psychologically throwing the 'worry' away.
So far it seems to have helped & she appears calmer and slightly in more control although obviously still has a few 'moments'. Does your DD have any idea what she would like to go on to do - perhaps knowing what she might need to get for her choice of course etc.. might help her focus?
Anyway hope this helps a little bit!

Thank you Macbath...yes you are right.
She has manic moments of tidiness, but is chaotic.
We are going to do her bedroom next week, make it calmer. I am very minimalistic so it drives me mad!
She has no idea what she wants to do..

Are her problems at school connected to her OCD? Is she having any therapy to help her cope with the OCD? My oldest son, now 20, has suffered for about 3 years. It was really bad during his final year at school, but once the school knew about it they were very supportive even though he must have missed about 50% of his A level year.
I go through periods like yours and wonder how he will ever cope independently. He has previously withdrawn from a place at university and is applying again but closer to home.
School is not as important as her mental health, so I would concentrate on that. She can always redo exams later.

Hi
Have changed back to my other name here...she is back in therapy after a nine month break, while her therapist was on maternity leave.
School are aware, but I have set up a meeting with head of year for after half term to discuss ways forward.
She feels happier today as she had a 45 minute talk with her tutor who is wonderful. I will get all the gen later when she is home. She got 4% in a maths test today .

When you have your meeting, it might be worth discussing arrangements for exams. As she has a medical condition, she could be entitled to rest breaks so that if she gets into a panic they can stop the clock and calm her down. Then when she is ready to continue, the clock starts again. She might also be less stressed by doing her exam in a separate room.
Also, although she might not feel like this, poor GCSE results are not the end of the world. Enquire if your local sixth form colleges run Level 2 courses. These are 1 year courses which are GCSE equivalent and allow students to resit subjects such as English and Maths if they have not done well enough to go straight onto A Levels. The other subjects are often assessed completely by Coursework rather than by exam. After doing this year, she would be able to progress onto A Levels. Often, this extra year does students and their confidence, a world of good. (There can be courses available at lower levels as well for those that need them).
I have known some GCSE students in school who were struggling to be offered a reduced timetable so that they can focus on a smaller number of subjects and to receive support in their free periods.
Of course, your DD may not need any of these things, but I thought it might help you to know what might be available.
The fact that you have picked up on this early in Y10 means that there is loads of time to sort things out so that school can provide the support she needs. I'm sure that with you on her side she will soon be feeling more in control. Meanwhile, enjoy half term!

Thank you for your comments.
Dd loves singing and drama, and does lots at the weekend with this.
I have now stopped weeping and looking forward to a rest this week....

Has she had a dyslexia assessment? May not be dyslexia, but her inability to grasp data sounds like some kind of short term memory problem. And disorganisation is classic dyslexia.

I've had similar problems with my dd recently and had great success this week with The Linden method - google it and see what you think. Happy to answer any questions