My son hates school

Hey everyone, my 12 year old hates school. There’s no particular reason for it, but getting him there on time is a nightmare. He will religiously not get out of bed. If I sit until he gets out of bed once I go he will get back into bed. I have 2 boys both have autism so I can’t dedicate my time just to him to get him up. I feel exasperated because I’ve tried so much.. everything from time flow tick charts to reward charts (in this case if he does do well and gets there on time if I congratulate him it almost reminds him that he feels he should be late and then it’s back to square 1) . I’ve tried doing something he wants to do before going to school. I’ve tried showing him proof of the trouble I could get into but he lacks empathy.I’ve tried getting him up earlier and telling him it’s earlier than it is and nothing has worked. I’m at the point where the answer is probably so simple, but I can’t see it due to frustration. Any tips if someone has dealt with something similar would be appreciated, Thankyou 

Parents
  • He’s 12. Teenage hormones have started kicking in. It could just be morning tiredness. Hormonal effects tend to turn teenagers into night owls. If he seems very tired in the mornings I’d just try to streamline the process so he needs to put in as little mental effort as possible.

    get all clothing laid out the night before. Pack all school bags the night before. Put his breakfast in a bag so he can eat it in the car / later at school. Try and make it all he has to do is dress, clean his teeth and get in the car where he can promptly go back to sleep.

    heres my suggestion. Concentrate on getting him into the bathroom in a dressing gown or something before getting dressed. Once he’s moving under his own power for a few minutes  he’s more likely to have to awareness and focus to dress properly.

  • Thankyou so much, I’ll certainly try it!! I didn’t think of morning tiredness .. myself and my eldest (also autistic) if late can get up and dressed and ready to go in 10 mins. It takes him hours and even if I get him up earlier he still will stay in bed until 10. He’s never been a good sleeper either from being a baby 

Reply
  • Thankyou so much, I’ll certainly try it!! I didn’t think of morning tiredness .. myself and my eldest (also autistic) if late can get up and dressed and ready to go in 10 mins. It takes him hours and even if I get him up earlier he still will stay in bed until 10. He’s never been a good sleeper either from being a baby 

Children
No Data