This is going to sound very long winded so here goes.
My son is 7 years old and I am having a number of issues with him both at school and at home.
He is an intelligent child, but probably lacks emotional intelligence in some ways.
The issue we are having is that at school he is in trouble alot and having to stay in at lunch almost EVERY day. This may not seem like a big deal but the reason he is in trouble is because he literally articulates EVERY thought that comes into his head and talks constantly. It is becoming a problem for other children in the class also. In a small school and multi age level class this is proving more and more difficult. His constant thinking also means that he takes a long time to shutdown, relax and fall asleep.
The other issue is that he just will not do as he is asked to do when or how he is asked to do it. His teachers are at their wits end as am I. Does anyone have any advice at all?? Desperate...
3 Replies
Time for a battery of assessments to rule out any underlying issues. It maybe nothing.
A psychologist can probably help with strategies etc.
Assessments??
my son is very similar. Within the first week of school the teacher wanted to keep him in at lunchtime because he quite literally wouldn't shut up and was disrupting the whole class and was not even starting his work let alone finishing anything. I really didn't like the sound of that as I felt he would react negatively towards it and just not get that he needed to be quiet. Instead of punishment she used positive reinforcement (constantly) she brought in a sand timer so he had a visual aid showing how long he had to do his work. On the board, there is now a red circle (no talking), Amber (whispers only) green (talk freely) she has a magnet so the children can see if they are allowed to talk and volume. She also has a deal with my son that if he completes all his work in the allocated time he gets one on one time with her for 1minute. She sets a timer and once the timer goes off he knows he must stop his story and can finish it next time. My son is not ADHD or has any other diagnosis. He is just a boy that needed to be listened to. Just by implementing these three things he has come leaps and bounds and knows when he can tell his stories and when he has to concentrate. Please, before taking him to a doctor for a diagnosis, please speak to the teacher and try some positive reinforcement. From what I get off your story is a little boy that wants to be heard. And that he is always in trouble, meaning why should he try hard as he gets in trouble anyway. If you constantly got in trouble for the house not being clean enough, soon enough you wouldn't bother cuz you know it wouldn't be good enough anyway.
I hope you have some success with the teacher.