Anxiety

[Trentmom]

Hello,
My son is 7 years old and in 2nd grade. At home he does well, but at school his anxiety is so high he gets nothing done. He often hides under desk or sits on floor and refuses to do any work. It was the same last year to a certain extent but has gotten better. he has been diagnosed for 3 years with Aspergers and also ADHD. Any advise

[Sally44]

My son showed similar behaviours to yours in his previous school.  I have recently managed to move him to a mainstream school that also specialises in autism/aspergers.  But it sounds like your son is in the right school, so why is he showing avoidance behaviours?
I think the Educational Psychologist needs to do some assessments to find out what his cognitive ability is.  That will give you a starting point because you will know whether his difficulties are due to his intelligence levels or down to autism, or dyslexia or some other problem in the cognitive process.
My son gets very bored at school and is very bright.  However he is not reading or writing independently yet.  He can memorise a book immediately but then not recognise those same words in a different context.  He is now beginning to understand some basic maths concepts using a system called Numicon.
Last week he won the prize in his class for French.  The whole class had played 'Simon Says' in French and his teacher told me that they couldn't get him out!  As my son has just moved to that school that was the first time he had ever heard French and the fact that he picked it up immediately showed all of us that he enjoys to learn using movement and auditory sound.  
So you really need the professionals to get involved to pick out what your son's difficulties and strenths are.  Then, where possible they need to try to tap into his abilities to address and support his areas of weakness.
Can he engage and understand class instructions.  Can he then go to his work place and sequence his work independently or does he need his work to be structured for him.  Can he ask for help if he needs it.  Does he have access to visual cards to show to an adult if he finds it hard to speak.  Does he have access to a quiet room if he needs some time out.  Are there sensory or environmental issues in the classroom that need to be addressed.  Does he have visual/verbal or auditory memory retrieval problems.  Does he have auditory processing disorder or Irlen Syndrome.
There is a long list of things for them to start working on.  Do they use his interests to motivate him eg. first reading book and then 15 minutes on the computer (if that is something he has chosen that he likes to do).  Does he struggle during playtime and dinnertime.  Are there any dinnertime clubs he could go to.
If he is verbal has anyone asked him 'why' he is getting under the table.  He may be able to tell you why, or he may just do that because of how he is feeling but he cannot pinpoint why he is feeling like that.  In those cases of overstimulation or anxiety he may just need the option of time out, or a short break either doing something he likes or something physical like jumping up and down, or pushing  against a wall, or pulling on a piece of rope with the TA.

[Rachel Thompson, Ph.D., BCBA]

From your description, it is hard to know what role anxiety might play in your son's school difficulties. I recommend that you mention your conerns about anxiety to your pediatrician. To address your son's refusal to participate in schoolwork, I recommed that you work with your school on the following. First, be sure that the work your son is being asked to complete is reasonable given his skills. Ideally, your son should be able to meet success most of the time in his schoolwork, while still being challenged to expand his current skills. It would be interesting to know whether your son refuses all work or just certain types of work (e.g., math or reading). This information might give you a clue into the reasons for his refusal and might provide a basis for modifying his curriculum. If he refuses to do work that he is very capable of doing, a different strategy might be needed. In this case, consider working with your son's teacher to develop a system of rewards for completing school work. In addition, teachers should work to minimize the potential "pay off" for not working. For example, your son should not get lots of attention from teachers when her refuses to work, and he should be required to complete his assignments even when he protests to be sure that he is not allowed to avoid these tasks.

[Trentmom]

My son is in a public school in California, his class is very small and made up of other children with Aspergers / Speak delay and ADHD. He is taught by a Speacial Educaton teacher and the principal used to be a teacher of Autistic children. He has an IEP goes to speech, occupational therpay and physical therpay no other speacialist are involved at the school. His days we are not sure of the structure and have a meeting upcoming to address this.

[Sally44]

What kind of school is he in.  Is it state mainstream or special school.  Are there any other children at that school with the same diagnosis as your son.  Do the staff have any understanding of Aspergers or ADHD.  
How to they structure his day and his lessons?
What country are you in?  Does your son have a Statement of educational needs or does he have an IEP?
Are any professionals involved with your son at school eg. Educational Psychologist?