How do I help DS?
DS6 is in kindergarten, and having a rough time of it. His gen ed teacher is excellent, she is able to manage his frequent meltdowns. He started ADHD meds (aderall and intuniv) and we've seen a lot of improvement. He's still frequently escalating, but not spiraling out of control as much. However, the meds still need tweaking, as he has become very negative. He constantly says he hates school, sucks at reading, hates speech, hates mom and dad, etc. The school spent two months doing a functional behavioral analysis, and we'll get the report and have an IEP meeting in 2-3 weeks.
He used to have a best friend, a neighbor girl who we carpool with. She has become close friends with another girl in class, and so no longer plays with DS at recess. He ignores other kids in the class who say hi to him.
He started acting out in his social skills class, to the point where the therapist suggested doing 1:1 sessions for awhile. At the first of these, he refused to talk with her about what games and activities he would prefer to do. He insists he hates her and says the therapy center is for babies, and he shouldn't go because he is in kindergarten. He doesn't want to answer questions or earn prizes, and is rebelling against some of her techniques (she proposed earning a prize for coming to 4 sessions, and having a countdown to getting the prize).
At home he just wants to watch tv or play wii. If I shut those off he will play alone with star wars or ninjago legos, which is ok. He gets easily frustrated and is having lots of verbal outbursts when he plays iPad or website games. I have basically given up on homework, chores, or reading practice for now, because he seems so stressed.
Homeschooling is not a good option. We tried it one day a week last year and I ended up yelling at him when he wouldn't attempt to sound out words. Just couldn't muster the patience required to teach him.
I just don't know how to improve the situation.
Sweetleaf
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Age: 34
Gender: Female
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Location: Somewhere in Colorado
OliveOilMom
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Joined: 11 Nov 2011
Age: 60
Gender: Female
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Location: About 50 miles past the middle of nowhere
I second this. My youngest son got extremely negative on Straterra. Even moreso than he normally is. When we took him off it, he went back to normal.
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I'm giving it another shot. We will see.
My forum is still there and everyone is welcome to come join as well. There is a private women only subforum there if anyone is interested. Also, there is no CAPTCHA.
The link to the forum is http://www.rightplanet.proboards.com