Re: How do you handle homework an automatic trigger for my son?

[Guest guest]

Hi , welcome!

I believe most of us have dealt with school/homework problems. My

son (now 15, in 9th grade) had a huge amount of problems with

schoolwork when his OCD hit him hard back in 6th grade.

We set up a 504 Plan with the school. In this, we had some

accommodations and modifications regarding his schoolwork. Things

like: Mom (me!) could write for him; he could turn in work late with

no grade penalty; he could write short answers (not have to do

complete sentences)....some other things.

At the time, I really had to sit down with him for homework. My

writing for him and reading the stuff aloud helped. As time went on,

eventually he could take on some more of the responsibility (baby

steps).

Gotta go, just checking the notes for a moment from work! What

particular problems is your son having?

> Hi! I'm new to this, but I've already learned some great stuff from

> your messages. I read that to extinquish anxiety triggers, I should

> introduce them in small doses until the trigger no longer has a

> negative impact, but how does one do that with homework? My son,

> Dominic, regularly flips over his.

>

> I'm would also like to know how to deal with sibling rivalry.

> Dominic is 9 and his sister is 8.

>

> Thanks for your help.

>

>

[Guest guest]

O > Hi! I'm new to this, but I've already learned some great stuff from

> > your messages. I read that to extinquish anxiety triggers, I should

> > introduce them in small doses until the trigger no longer has a

> > negative impact, but how does one do that with homework? My son,

> > Dominic, regularly flips over his.

>

My son's IEP (and the IEPs of several of my students) states: Homework

can be reduced, rescheduled and/or eliminated at the discretion of the

student's parents. Assignments which are considered necessary can be

completed during the school day with the resource teacher. (Students

with ..... disorder typically expend a large amount of energy " holding

it together " and functioning at school and may fall apart once they

return home at the end of the day. It is counterproductive to insist

that students work on homework under such circumstances).

We rarely use this accomodation; but it is there if we need it.

Jeanne

jwestpha@...

NBCT - Exceptional Needs (2000)

[Guest guest]

Hi , welcome to the list. There are dozens of ways OCD can interfere

with homework, everything from perfectionism, just right/just so

compulsions, repeating compulsions, compulsions that interfere with reading,

the doubt that many OCDers have that they do know something, remember

something, are supposed to do something, on and on. So to help your son

acclimate to the anxiety that doing homework causes him, it helps if you

have some ideas of his specific issues with it.

Generally what worked for my child was to help her divide homework into

small increments with a planned break to let her anxiety fall again. At

first she could handle about 5-7 minutes before her anxiety rose so high

that she was about to " blow. " After a five-minute break, another short

homework session and repeat until it was done. As time went on she could

work longer periods before the break. To begin with I needed to be right

there, later I would be somewhere nearby but not 100% involved in her work,

later still I could just remind her it was time to start and she'd get going

without anything further from me unless she had a question or whatever. She

faded the breaks after awhile, once her anxiety around doing homework was

low/gone and she was more interested in getting it done so she could watch

TV or play.

If you have a 504 plan or IEP for your son at school, you can request

accommodations for him regarding homework. A couple of common

accommodations for kids with OCD are that all work will be completed at

school, or that the child will work X amount of time on homework and only be

graded on work completed. Some kids resist accommodations if they perceive

them as unfair to others--some OCD kids have these types of issues.

What sort of sibling rivalry issues are your children experiencing?

Take care,

Kathy R. in Indiana

----- Original Message -----

> Hi! I'm new to this, but I've already learned some great stuff from

> your messages. I read that to extinquish anxiety triggers, I should

> introduce them in small doses until the trigger no longer has a

> negative impact, but how does one do that with homework? My son,

> Dominic, regularly flips over his.

>

> I'm would also like to know how to deal with sibling rivalry.

> Dominic is 9 and his sister is 8.

>

> Thanks for your help.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi . My child (11) also is triggered by homework. At the

present time he doesn't get any homework. If he's doing better next

year he will start doing some again but if he still can't handle it

they have talked about taking one of his option classes to do

homework instead. I think this will work very well. His teacher

said that since they stopped sending him any homework, he accually

gets more done in class. Probably because he's not worried about how

much homework he's going to get. Also he really needs the break when

he's at home. A full day of school is already alot for him to deal

with.

> Hi! I'm new to this, but I've already learned some great stuff from

> your messages. I read that to extinquish anxiety triggers, I should

> introduce them in small doses until the trigger no longer has a

> negative impact, but how does one do that with homework? My son,

> Dominic, regularly flips over his.

>

> I'm would also like to know how to deal with sibling rivalry.

> Dominic is 9 and his sister is 8.

>

> Thanks for your help.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Homework is a big trigger for my 9 year old, 3rd grade son, too. Until I

read your posts, it didn't occur to me that OCD could be the underlying

stressor.

He rages when he has to sit down and do even the simplest task...but he

doesn't do it IN school. Evan also has handwriting problems - messy.

His OCD symtoms seem to be pretty mild....more like generalized anxiety. For

awhile he was counting, crossing toes and fingers and had to have clothes

just right...but these have significantly subsided. He's been on zoloft since

last July. He also has Tourette Syndrome and ADD, but is not taking meds for

that.

Teri/WA