School shoes

He may be stuck in a corner - noticing what everyone else wears and wanting to be the same but not finding them at all comfortable.      Does he understand that new shoes always feel odd to start with but then loosen up with wear?

Can he identify what feels odd - is it laces, toecaps, heels or width or stiffness of the sole?

Yes he does understand new shoes always feel different but on this occasion just can't seem to get past the issue. Last night he said they felt tight across the top at the base of the velcro,

and yes being in a corner sounds right, he has had all sorts of issues with his hair looking right etc and now his anxiety has turned to his shoes. He is quite particular about fitting in and looking the same as others.

But the leaders would bring him in and look after him until he integrated - I would have thought he'd see that it takes all the stress away by letting the system work for him.

I started as an adult helper when my daughter started - just a little extra confidence for her if she got lost or confused - worked wonders.

I know all about Scouts as I am a Brownie leader myself, we have talked about this with him in the past and I am afraid it is not something that he has any interest in at all. He struggles with making friends and would not be happy going in to somewhere with people he doesn't know.

As a confidence booster, it might be worth getting him into Scouts - it's adult-supervised and controlled, activity-based social interaction - and they tend to be 'nice' kids.    It's great for building self-confidence.

I was an Explorer-Scout leader - 14-18 year-olds - they get to do all sorts of activities with lots of opportunity for learning personal skills.        It's also mixed these days so there's a lots of social skills to practice in a safe environment - and they're very accepting of any disability - we had autistic and visually impaired members.

As a confidence booster, it might be worth getting him into Scouts - it's adult-supervised and controlled, activity-based social interaction - and they tend to be 'nice' kids.    It's great for building self-confidence.

I was an Explorer-Scout leader - 14-18 year-olds - they get to do all sorts of activities with lots of opportunity for learning personal skills.        It's also mixed these days so there's a lots of social skills to practice in a safe environment - and they're very accepting of any disability - we had autistic and visually impaired members.

But the leaders would bring him in and look after him until he integrated - I would have thought he'd see that it takes all the stress away by letting the system work for him.

I started as an adult helper when my daughter started - just a little extra confidence for her if she got lost or confused - worked wonders.

I know all about Scouts as I am a Brownie leader myself, we have talked about this with him in the past and I am afraid it is not something that he has any interest in at all. He struggles with making friends and would not be happy going in to somewhere with people he doesn't know.