11 year old's school behavior

[single-mom of a son]

My 11yr old has continously experienced behavior problems at school. Examples are; lack of concentration, shout's out answers, does not complete work in a timely matter, and is very short tempered,especially with his peers, & very forgetful.  I have had him evaluated by his pediatrician & taken him to counseling, yet both informed me there is no problem with him. They say he's just immature.  These problems are occasionally performed outside of school, but more so in school. I feel it has to be something wrong, and I'm lost on where to go for help.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

It may well be that your son is immature, but that by itself would not account for the behavior you describe. It would be prudent to obtain a 'second opinion' about his emotional status. It is not at all the norm for a child to be displaying behavior problems at school, even if the child is immature. The lack of concentration, impulsive answers, failure to complete work on time and forgetfulness can all be signs of an attentional deficit, though that alone would not account for his temper outbursts. How is he at home? Do you see the same sorts of behavior on the home front?

[sierradane]

That sounds like my daughter, she has ADHD.  Does your son still have his tonsils?  On the subject of ADHD, I had read where having a tosilectomy (sp?) "cured" all symptoms of ADHD to the point they were no longer classified as such.  My daughter (who will be 11 in two days) does some of the same things you listed.

[coolbeanz]

I have a 10 yr. old with the same problems.  We had a wasted year in school as the school really is no help in working on problems like this.  They tell you to get a psy. evaluation.  Well I went through hell!  My child went for an ADD eval and they said it was a psy problem so we went to a pediatric psychitrist and he said Michael had bi-polar disorder and gave me meds.   I put him on reluctanly, then the psychitrist order blood work and low and be hold we ended up at a pediatric endocrinoligist as it turns out my son has a HYPER-THROID!!!!  Get blood work done, a basic profile and stand up for your child.  I have much more to say on this subject so anyone who wants to can email me at ***@**** as I've gotta run.
Thanks, and Good Luck to all... Rachel

[drodoogie]

My son is 8 and has had recent behaviour problems at school that are very out of character for him. I had his hearing tested and found a audio closure problem, which means he has problems when the teacher turns away to speak or if there is a lot of background noise. I also had his visual processing checked by a visual therapist and found a processing delay. It takes him along time to interpret what he has seen and process that into a task. These problems resulted in mood swings, anxiety, frustration and anger. We have started a computer program that stimulates the areas of his brain that are slow and will hopefully speed up the visual processing. Mood changes are not always a "syndrome" or "disease" it could be a result of frustration with something very simple and it could be something as simple as a food intolerance. The only thing to remember is keep looking if you aren't happy with the diagnosis.

[rob236]

A related discussion, 11 year old was started.