Published on 12, July, 2020
My son has Aspergers and will be 15 soon. He has started working towards GCSE's. The problem is he just won't revise. Then when it's time to sit an assessment or actual exam papers (he's sat two already) he panics and gets really upset that he's going to fail. So because of this he now has the thought that hes going to fail anyway so what's the point? Has anyone got any ideas how I can get him to first of all revise and secondly to teach him how to stop getting into a state?
Agree about the rewards, wish my parents had done that rather than just nagging!
Unfortunately the more the importance of the exams is emphasised, the more stressful it all becomes, and the less able you are to concentrate. So probably the only way to reduce exam stress is for the outcome of the exam to matter less.
I would keep reassuring him that exams can be retaken at any time, and have a Plan B and Plan C lined up, eg a part time voluntary job, some workshops for a hobby he enjoys, or some evening classes.
I flunked my A-levels but retook them as a mature student and it was far easier!