Can behaviour coping/ improvements happen between ages of 5 and 7 years old? (demand avoidance/ dysregulated emotions/ meltdowns)

Hi there. Our son is 5 years old and feels like his demand avoidance etc is getting worse. He started school year OK but he now mostly refuses to stay in the classroom, runs off to escape, and reacts to most demands or pressure. He gets dysregulated often when doesn't get his own way and finds it very hard to cope with his feelings, at home and school. Stating the obvious, we love him to bits and would love for him to develop coping strategies etc in order to be happier and be able to do more 'normal' things he rejects at the moment.

We are trying to get an idea if we can be hopeful that over the next 2 years, with the right help, our son will be able to cope better? to feel less angry/ frustrated/ anxious, and generally calmer. Is this realistic? High chance, low chance? Hoping by age of 7, in 2 years he will be more developed and able to handle his challenges better than he can now. 

We're doing Speech and language therapy, soon to start occupational therapy. Have applied for EHCP at school.

Be good to hear if parents generally think we could be hopeful for good degree of improvement, or if it's not that likley. (Appreciate all kids and families are different and unique!)

thank you.

Parents
  • I was very angry when I was his age. I got better. But then my parents pulled me out of school. A lot of it will depend on resonable adjustments. Your sons solution will be very spicific to him. For example I was a precousiously verbal child who spoke like he swallowed a theasurus. My reading / hand writing was poor though (dislexia) which caussed a lot of frustration. However my comprihension and retention of (most) information was stupidly good which made me very easily board.

    With homeschooling my parents were able to fit lessons around my strengths and weeknesses like a glove to minamise my frustration. I imagine your son may need a similar level of educational customisation.

    I'm just guessing but in the average class the teacher produces a lesson plan for each kid but they are all (nearly) carbon copies. Your sons will need to be radicaly difrent. Like a second lesson inside a lesson, which may require a dedicated teaching asistant to facilitate.

    The reality of teaching is it's not like a sope opera, it's more like an epic. You miss one episode and you are lost. You don't catch one foundational principal in education an every subseqent lesson is wasted on you. Your son probably needs good one to one suport to figure out where he lost the 'thread' of the lesson and pick up from there with some creative teaching stratergies. Unless of course its actually boardom on his part because he learns the lessons too easily and feels half the class is just wasting time. Again the answer is aceleration and one to one suport.

    Or he might just be disinterested. Not every child is instantly facnated by maths. it can feel very dry. But there are ways to make it intresting. Like linking maths to prity diagrams, or music, or showing how maths is usefull for cool things like blowing stuff up or sending rockets to the moon. Stuff that captures kids imagination. Again that probably requires an imaginative 1 to 1 suport worker / TA who is present in basicly every lesson exclusivly for your son.

    Basicly if school feels like a prison where he's just being bossed around but not actually learning he's going to hate it and probably get progresivly worse. If he feels like he has a more cooperative and profitable relationship with his teachers he's probably going to get better.

Reply
  • I was very angry when I was his age. I got better. But then my parents pulled me out of school. A lot of it will depend on resonable adjustments. Your sons solution will be very spicific to him. For example I was a precousiously verbal child who spoke like he swallowed a theasurus. My reading / hand writing was poor though (dislexia) which caussed a lot of frustration. However my comprihension and retention of (most) information was stupidly good which made me very easily board.

    With homeschooling my parents were able to fit lessons around my strengths and weeknesses like a glove to minamise my frustration. I imagine your son may need a similar level of educational customisation.

    I'm just guessing but in the average class the teacher produces a lesson plan for each kid but they are all (nearly) carbon copies. Your sons will need to be radicaly difrent. Like a second lesson inside a lesson, which may require a dedicated teaching asistant to facilitate.

    The reality of teaching is it's not like a sope opera, it's more like an epic. You miss one episode and you are lost. You don't catch one foundational principal in education an every subseqent lesson is wasted on you. Your son probably needs good one to one suport to figure out where he lost the 'thread' of the lesson and pick up from there with some creative teaching stratergies. Unless of course its actually boardom on his part because he learns the lessons too easily and feels half the class is just wasting time. Again the answer is aceleration and one to one suport.

    Or he might just be disinterested. Not every child is instantly facnated by maths. it can feel very dry. But there are ways to make it intresting. Like linking maths to prity diagrams, or music, or showing how maths is usefull for cool things like blowing stuff up or sending rockets to the moon. Stuff that captures kids imagination. Again that probably requires an imaginative 1 to 1 suport worker / TA who is present in basicly every lesson exclusivly for your son.

    Basicly if school feels like a prison where he's just being bossed around but not actually learning he's going to hate it and probably get progresivly worse. If he feels like he has a more cooperative and profitable relationship with his teachers he's probably going to get better.

Children
No Data