No memory

[theresaow]

My 13 year old son is a super quite child that had rather be home by himself with Mom and Dad instead of playing with other children in the neighborhood.Very polite to everyone. But he can not remember his scool work after a few minutes or remember to bring his things in from school or play. He will not think for himself at all. He hears voices that tell him to lie about his homework or the things he done in school. He is in 8th grade but it has been a struggle. His grades are D's and F's in most classes. A's in band. He hates sports, being outside, and anything that he has to think with. He does not like to play at anything that may "hurt" him. Will not take a bath unless told and will not change clothes after the bath uness told at that time to do so. Cries often or balls his fist up and stares at nothing. HELP! I feel we are losing him.  

[Sandman2]

    I can understand your feeling.  I think that this is way beyond being distracted.  I recently answered a similar post and am posting most of it here since I really think it applies.
     "It really sounds like he has all of the classical symptoms for ADD    For a pretty detailed explanation on ADD check out this site - do take your time reading it, and you can follow the provided links for more info.
       http://www.healing-arts.org/children/ADHD/#Additional

      The sad thing is that kids with ADD and intelligence, don't easily get noticed by the school system.   He certainly is exhibiting many of those ADD traits.  It is also a known fact that if something interests a child with ADD/ADHD they can focus on it for hours (video games, etc).
       Bright children with ADD can develop serious self esteem problems.  Its usually because they know (or sense) they are more intelligent than their peers, but can't produce the academic work.  And of course you have the constant daily judging by the school system.
      A very strong reason to find out what is going on with him is that you treat someone with ADD very differently than you do someone who is just a lazy or spoiled kid.  You don't necessarily have to do meds.  But if he is diagnosed, the school system must do more to meet his needs via a 504 plan or an IEP.  Furthermore, there are many study techniques that will work for a child with ADD.  I highly suggest that you buy the book,  "The ADD/ ADHD Answer book," by Susan Ashley.   It will give you a whole range of information - and an easier range to read then the kind of technical site I recommended above.
  I hope this helps.  I monitor the ADD / ADHD Community forum consistently (here not as much) so if you have any more questions please feel free to post.  One last thought, if all that you have tried isn't working, its time to take a look at something else.
   This is from the post - http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Child-Behavior/Child-absolutely-refuses-to-do-schoolwork/show/1379108
    He sounds like he has hit a very high frustration level.  Which I have found is pretty typical of kids with smarts who aren't able to use them.  I am curious - has he always had bad grades?   Or did the downward spiral start around 4th grade?
     I also seriously wonder about what the school has suggested?  Kids getting D's and F's should be getting extra attention - well check that, kids who are hyper and a pain in the neck get the extra attention.  Kids with ADD tend to get ignored.  I would highly suggest that you check out the resources that I have recommended so that at least you have more information to make a decision with.   I will monitor this post if you have any more questions.  If you want to say what the school is doing or not doing - please post here or on the ADD/ADHD site as I monitor that one closely.

[margypops]

At this age they are inclined to be distracted a lot, May let up on the unless he's told bit' sometimes he could be given choices to bathe etc when he wants to ...perhaps some child /parent interaction could use fixing ? If you feel concerned something may be wrong a visit to your Doctor may be in order...