Hi. What can we do when none of the school supports are helping? My son avoids schoolwork in class and at home. He refuses to get his books out in class, will not write notes, will not answer questions/speak up and will try to avoid producing written work of any kind. The teachers are at the end of their tether because they have put all his plan supports in place. He is 13 and got his autism diagnosis when he was 7 mainly because his avoidant eating was so severe. He was doing OK at school then and despite that I was able to get him is EHCP (IEP) when he was 8. He's now in a mainstream secondary school (a very academic grammar) In many ways it's a great fit for him however things aren't going well, despite all of his support plan being in place. He is falling behind and the more this happens the more stressed he gets and the less he does. He's never had to work at academics before and now that he's going through school he can't rely on memory any more. We keep things as calm as we can at home and have followed Asperger Experts since the early days so we know about defence mode (he is in good shape at home). I've taught him why we need notes and how to take them. I've tried to engage his innate motivation as he says he wants to stay at this school, so he knows that he is expected to engage with lessons and at least "try" or be seen to try! He's also been given a laptop and a scribe but it doesn't seem to make any difference to his output or engagement. I think he struggles to do the work because he is scared he will fail.... Has anyone got any advice?

Posted by fionac at 2022-02-02 08:25:30 UTC