doesn't do school work

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My son won't do school work. Obviously with no work there are no grades. He won't do homework either. Just sits and does nothing for hours on end. I feel like I have tried everything. His writing is getting worse than ever, he's forgetting basic math facts, his spelling when he does write is awful. He seems to be loosing skills from lack of use. Has anyone had a child do this? What is helpful? I'm just lost. Nothing anyone does seems to motivate him. He's supposed to have a behavior plan at school but they are having a hard time putting one together as they really can't seem to figure out how to motivate him either.

whats his special interest? maybe you can motivate him with that. do you have an iep to moderate his homework? Would he be able to use a laptop in class for his handwritting, I know of others that do. I know there is a paper that Dr. Attwood wrote about homework on his site which many parents have given that in to teachers and/or to the IEP meetings.
I have problems still with my son and he's 17 but motivation and modifications has helped a great deal.

He won't use a laptop in school, they have tried. He does have an IEP and he has a half homework modification. I would argue for no homework but we are at the point now where he is just producing no work. Basically his homework is the work he didn't do in school. They have tried to use his topic of interest to motivate but even that doesn't work. I don't know. I'm lost. It's so hard to see your child having trouble and have no idea what to do for them. I've read tons of books, gone to tons of conferences and workshops, none of it seems to do any good.

i dont do my math work, but yes find what interests him the most, and help him be self motivated.

Yes, it hard. Very very hard.

How old is he? Is this a new behavior? I'm thinking it might be depression? Does that seem to fit?

How long has it been since he's been evaluated? There may be more going on.

BeeBee

That is hard. Something else does seem to be going on, was there a change in medication if he's on any?

seems like it's time to call an emergency PPT..........he's not functioning as well as he had, that needs to be addressed.....my son went through a period like this....it was finally decided that he wouldnt get homework because he wouldnt do it, or he would lose it...........

My son's interest right now is snakes. I made a deal with him that if he does his work and passes that at the end of each six weeks I would take him to get a part to a snake habitat. That way he sees the light at the end of the tunnel. When school is over and he has passed each six weeks we will go shopping for the snake. So far this has worked. I can not stand the thought of having to buy a snake (yuck) and it living in my house but I was desperate for him to pass his classes and get his work done. Now if I can just get him to apply it to his behavior. This bribe has not worked there. But he is making almost all A's and B's and I am happy.

too bad you hadn't told him that everything is contingent on behavior......what about another motivator for behavior? it doesnt have to cost money...it could be staying up late on a pre-determined night, or extra time with you to play together , or extra tv time, or extra computer time ?

i like to focus on the positive aspect of behavioral management, as i think the results are much better than threatening " no computer unless you get your act together ! !!"

To answer BeeBee, my son is in his last year of grade school. It has been ages since his evaluation. And yes, it is possible that there is something more going on but he is very hard to read or get any information out of since home is his oasis and he really tends to draw a mental line. I get no information about school unless I directly ask. And the answers are rarely fleshed out.

School is working on an FBA and apparently have been since last year. They are having a bit of trouble figuring him out I guess.

On a positive note not only did he do his homework on Friday, but he did it in two hours, which is record time for him. We will see if this is a trend. Something is definately up but who knows what it is. He's at that funny age where being a teenager is not that far off. I remember my brother and his friends all going a little haywire in those pre-teen/early teen years. Maybe it's just more of a rocky ride for our Aspie boys?

In reply to momofanaspie. No meds but he is gfcf and that's a bit tricky but he is really good about it since he is gfcf by choice. He is old enough to understand and read ingredient lists and all that. Plus this has been an issue for months so I don't think that could have anything to do with it. Who knows though, he says he's more aware of the world around him on the diet, maybe he's overloaded more easily. This is a high pressure year in school anyway, lots of big standarized tests. Maybe he just needs to learn to re-regulate, learn new coping skills and all that. No that that's an easy thing to do.