Struggling mama here, how on earth do you cope with the constant school refusal?
For context, I have a 13 year old daughter who has ASD/anxiety/dyslexia and a DLD , she sees a psychologist regularly, and and OT , is on waiting list for speech and has a councillor for social support, we have strong open communication relationship and she has a few friendships although shaky sometimes due to lack of understanding but she's getting there.
I get school is hard l, I have worked/ am working with her teachers to ensure a modified curriculum so that she can succeed and homeschooling isn't an option for us.
I honestly don't know what else I can do to make it bearable for her and it's wearing me down , mornings are mentally exhausting , evenings are mentally exhausting because shes already started the fight for the next day
Will there ever be a light at the end of the tunnel??
2 Replies
Yes there’s a light. I’ve seen lots of anxious children change to the point of being excited to get to school.
The school should have strategies. Dropping earlier/in a quiet zone/ chill out activity/ with a friend.
That first bell commotion is often a trigger for kids. Or the moment of separation. Getting someone else to do the drop helps.
Some kids respond to rewards. One of mine I paid, at it worked well. Not all the time but in the afternoons her memory was that she went awesomely so she could have her reward - which actually helped her build positive feelings about it.
The other one needed time to feel comfortable in her class, and connected and safe with her teacher.
School really should be able to help.
I get my daughter to do chores at home so she’d rather be at school but it does feel like a losing battle. When we try to do home learning or she needs to do assignments etc it’s a nightmare. The work is too hard. I’m at a loss too. Don’t give up though mumma.