My son constantly forgot to term in home work on time. What could be the reasons for this problem?

[Jason888]

Hi,
My son who is in 8th grade is a very smart person and learns things very quickly.  His test scores are always in the top 3% of the class.  However, he constantly forgot to turn in home works or assignments.  We keep remind him but, few weeks without our help, he will have missing assignments again.  He always said "I forgot about it."  Sometime, he finished home work but forgot to turn it in to teacher.  We would like to know is any mental health issues that may cause this problem and what we can do to help him.

Thanks,
Jason

[justTess]

I explored the same question recently with my 9th grade son.  I thought he was a lazy procrastinator who needed better school and study habits.  He left a string of fustrated teachers regarding his classwork and homework but he would ace his standardized test.  His IQ was tested abouve 140 using CogaT.

He (my son) suggested that he may be ADHD and wanted to see about getting a diagnosis.  We went through two psychologist which both stated it was inconclusive because of his high IQ and we finally sought out an adolescent psychiatrist... This was difficult to find since may psychiatrist we interviewed either wanted young children or adults.  He took three surveys; Hawthorn, Conners, and abbreviated ADHD scale.  With this they were able to diagnose ADHD.  I had asked for a more thorough test like WISC III however, since he didn't show a learning disability... his psychiatrist had told me this would be out of pocket.

He has been on meds for a little over a month and he has said he can complete the projects, reading and math with much more focus and ease (he's in all advance classes).
I'm not suggesting that you get meds.  I'm just sharing the difficult experience I had getting a proper diagnosis for bright children with ADHD.  (Meds unfortunately, seems quite easy to get without a thorough diagnosis from our experience)  His teachers are in complete shock since it had never occured to them he might have been ADHD.... they thought he was just being difficult and a pain.

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

There are several possibilities including the possibility that it could be an attention deficit disorder and require some kind of medication.  I would not jump to that conclusion.  Sometimes we see very smart children acting in this way and that means nothing more to them than  the grades are unimportant and they are more concerned with what they learn

[HelloKelle]

Oops, I just noticed this is an Expert Forum. Sorry.

[HelloKelle]

As a matter of fact, my ex-boyfriends son, who is now 13, had the same problem. It was absolutely baffling!

We took him to a child psychiatrist recommended by his pediatrician and it turned out that he had ADD. Not ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder), just ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder)

He was put on medication, once daily and his life changed completely. He could concentrate, focus, his grades went up, his mood changed AND the homework was being turned in - daily! Even the teacher called us on the phone and asked what in the world was going on. haha.

Some people struggle with medicating their child. I, personally do not. I can't remember the name of the medicine, but it changed this kid's life and I'm grateful for it.  Also, it's gotta be rough on his self-esteem that he can't remember to turn in his homework. You guys probably get frustrated with him and he gets frustrated with himself.

Check into it and see.

Kelle