homebound instruction (Cyndi)

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In a message dated 4/7/02 6:12:28 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

writes:

> I posted earlier

> about Sam beginning to just " walk out " of school several months ago, saying

> he couldn't take it - and we got lots of good advice. Well, things

> escalated

> from that time - he found more and more sophisticated ways to walk out

> without being caught. People who cared about him were concerned and let us

> know - we discovered that he had been leaving many days when we thought he

> was in school. When we confronted him, he insisted he was " trying to stay

> sane " . Things finally reached the breaking point - we was furious and

> resistant all the time - we had to take drastic action to get our

> relationship back and just " stop the bleeding " . We consulted with Sam's

> therapist and decided to request a month of medical homebound instruction

> to

> let things calm down - our school division has to grant this with a formal

> request from a physician, psychiatrist or clinical psychologist.

Cyndi---

This is the exact same thing that (18, ADHD + mild OCD) did in the

Spring of his Junior year! Amazing! They sound like identical twins!

Unfortunately, I didn't know about " homebound instruction " and was NOT

under the care of a psychiatrist nor therapist. He refused all of that,

including medication. After several " walk-outs " and skipping school we began

to consider home-schooling for him, but that seemed extremely complicated and

expensive (books aren't cheap). We bought him a car for his 18th birthday in

June thinking this would motivate him enough to stay in school. Nope. That

fall, he stated that he would NOT return. There was nothing we could do-- he

was 18 and he was within his legal rights to opt out of the horrendous high

school experience. He was even willing to give up the car if he'd have to

choose. It was THAT serious and painful for him.

And, it was very painful for me. I loved my high school experience and I

couldn't relate to his problems. Then again, the world has changed quite a

bit since I attended high school, which is now a pressure cooker of rules and

regulations, and high academic expectations.

took his GED last December, and never cracked open a book or studied

at all. He passed this 8 hour test with flying colors!!

He's taking a year off to detox from the whole high school thing and

hopefully, he'll be re-charged and ready to attend college next fall. He's

working as a landscaper right now, and loving it.

I'm so glad the stressful high school years are now behind us. There were

days when I honestly thought I was going to lose my mind...

And then... we'll have to do it all over again in about 4 years when

goes to high school!! Ugh...

Joni (in VA)

Mom to , 20, , 18 and , 11