stress?

[brooke]

Since going back to school after xmas my son has seemed quite stressed. He is only 7 but at the moment he is fighting with his brothers a lot and saying he doesnt want to go to school as its too hard. Im sure he isnt being teased as we have chatted about that and he just says the work is hard! but he is letting everything get to him and is upset alot We had a good run before xmas so maybe its just a growing phase. He is also waking up at 3am quite a lot and not going back to sleep. Did anyone else notice a change at this age?

Brooke

[Bagpuss]

Our dd became quite volatile after returning to school this month. We really noticed, for the first time, a huge shift in her behaviour. She had been so calm over the Christmas hols, and the first day back at school, she came home....well, it was like walking on egg shells with her. She's been abit up and down ever since. I think she gets tired, it's a long day, with lots of things to cope with, and when she gets off the bus, she can unload all that she's been keeping in. Could be that your ds is reacting to going back to school, take care

[Kinda]

It maybe worthwhile to have a chat with the teacher to see if there are any problems in class that he is struggling with. Perhaps a chat with him when he is relaxed to hear his views about what he feels about school and then take it from there.

 

If the teacher is not aware then you could ask her to keep an eye on him and let you know what he/she thinks.

[krystaltps]

Brooke <'> .

As you asked about age... I found that age and period in C's life to be particularly difficult for him. He became aware for the first time of his differences and was very unhappy. His self-esteem plummeted, and his peers also noticed his differences and he was teased a lot, which made matters far worse. He was permanently stressed, his behaviour was abominable and any sleep that happened beforehand ceased almost entirely.

I have heard other people say similar things about their children at this age, as it's a time when the gap becomes apparent.

For C, it was a case of building his self-esteem and helping him to come to terms with his dx (he was dx during this period). We explained to him that many of the things he did that upset him and others was not because of something intrinsic to his personality (he used to refer to himself as a "bad boy"), but because of AS. We also told him about the positive aspects of AS and read the Kathy Hoopman books together, so he could have someone to relate to.

[Lindyloo]

Luke has also been showing signs of stress since returning after christmas. Like your ds, he is 7. We can always tell when Luke is stressed because he starts to wet the bed. I think he really struggled with the excitement of christmas (Luke has never been very good with excitement) and is now in a bit of an emosional termoil with having to return to school.

 

I hope your DS settles back down again soon.

 

Linda

[LizC]

Hi Matthew who is also 7 always gets like this when going back to school or any change really, he gets stressed and then worked up, he gets an overload on his system, too much info and thoughts etc. then gets violent and unpredictable and also says he doesn't want to go to school. he was like this in the lead up to christmas too. but for as long as I can remember he has always been like this! <'>

[brooke]

I have just found out that he has had pips some kind of sat test i think - which i think could have been part of the problem also lack of sleep and like kyristaltps says i think he is becoming more aware that he is different but cant seem to grasp why

Thank you for all of your replies x

[krystaltps]

Hi Brooke, have you read any of the Kathy Hoopman books? It may be worth a try. C and I read them together, and he was sooooo delighted to have found a character like himself he just couldn't get over it. The books, plus the chats we had afterwards- looking at all his positive attributes, really helped him to come to terms with his differences, and appreciate them. He's proud to be different now and pround to be AS.