Refusal to complete schoolwork. Help?

[DavisD888]

I'm new here and am desperate need for support. My 7 year old son was diagnosed with ADHD last year. He is currently taking Focalin XR 10mg and Escalitopran 5mg (for anxiety). At home, with friends, and family, he is a pleasant, sweet, smart, inquisitive child, and listens to adults. At school, it's the total opposite. He refuses to complete the classwork on most days due to the appear of being too many pages or too many problems. When prompted to complete it, he throws serious tantrums, becomes disrespectful, and has even destroyed the classroom. Testing has shown he is on par with his grade level and is fully capable of the work. After he has a tantrum, he's truly remorseful and completes the work with little to no assistance. He'll even say, "that wasn't so hard". He feels defeated before he even tries. He's had these issues since daycare and is currently on his second school. He's currently in a specialized private school designed to help children with special needs such as ADHD and other learning issues.

I've had doctors suggest a wide variety of things from he just need to mature, he has ADHD with hyper-focus, to ADHD with ODD. He only exhibits this behaviour in a school setting. I've tried reward / earn systems, which doesn't motivate him long enough. His doctor is now suggesting Seroquel, which seems like it's WAY to strong for a 7 year old; especially considering what it is designed to treat. The doctor is now taking him off the Focalin to see if there is any change in the aggression / refusal to complete schoolwork. I'm just confused at this point on what to do / try next. These schools make me feel like my child is the only child to ever exhibit this behaviour. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[chicagodad]

Welcome to the group, and well done on getting your son into a school that can truly help him! I can totally relate to your struggles! My 11 year old actually handles school well for the most part, but is often out of control at home. Homework can be rough, but his school has provided him extra time to complete assignments which we really appreciate. After experimenting with several different meds, we seem to have found a good solution with Concerta and Guanfacine, the lowest doses of each. Both are taken in the am before school. As he has gotten older and matured, we have seen some improvement in his overall behavior as well.

I would suggest working with the doc to find a better med solution at this stage. Please know you seem to be doing a lot to help your son. Things will get easier!!

[Daisy2278]

I am sorry you are going through this, I know how you feel. My son is in 3rd grade and has ADHD, social anxiety, SPD, emotional disturbance..and more. He was throwing things off the desks at school when it was time to do work, running out of the class...you name it, he did it. I was getting calls on a weekly basis. It was like the school could not handle him but at home he was fine. He was not getting any work down and falling behind due to refusal. He has an IEP so I requested a meeting to change it. We ended up getting a para to keep him n track and he had to sign a contract with every teacher in the class that stated if he refused to do his work he had to stay after school to work on it. After about 5 times of having to stay after he didn't refuse to do his work. We cut down on the amount of work he had to do, gave him one sheet of work at a time(if he saw a long assignment he would quit before he started) we revised his test and he goes to a TIP room to complete test and assignments so he can get more one on one help. We have seen a BIG change but still have issues but nothing like before. I would ask for a meeting with the school and get an IEP or 504...testing will need to be completed. I could go on and on.... Good luck

[Hschwitzer]

Although my son is only in Kindergarten, this sounds exactly like him! He is currently on Ritalin. He has a behavioural chart at school that breaks down every single thing he does. He gets to put a star on it if he completes it, then at the end of the day, he gets to take a picture of it and it gets texted to me. Depending on how many stars there are, that’s how much video game time he earns. It’s been working great!

[Deenice]

Wow you just described my 8 yr old daughter exactly. The first half of this school year was a nightmare. I refused to medicate her though, finally realized aside from ADHD her biggest struggle was anxiety. I did some research on CBD oil and decided to give it a try in October. We finally got an IEP in place in December, mostly due to her behaviors. Then Christmas break came the school called and asked if I would be open to switching her teacher as they and myself had been observing the classroom dynamics for some time. I agreed. Fast forward to now and we've only had one incident of bad behavior. CBD oil has been a game changer as well as her new teacher and the IEP.