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My son is 13, and he is in the process of moving from a mental health program back into his school. He's never liked his school, but unfortunately there's nothing I can do about it. I thought it would be easier after he finished the program, but he seems to be struggling a lot.
When he was nearing the end of the program, he was doing really well. He was catching up on his homework and keeping track of his own medication. The first few days at school went well for him. He seemed happy, and he kept telling me how he didn't know how many people had missed him, and he felt like he had a lot of friends.
On Friday, he came home from school happy and energetic but by dinner time he was miserable. He refused to eat. Eventually I got him to eat a little, and I asked what had happened. He told me nothing had changed. The whole weekend, he refused to do his homework and he barely got out of bed. Tonight, he has been crying and refusing to take his medicine or shower. I have tried everything I could to help him, but no matter what he won't leave his room.
I know how hard it is for him, and I am trying to be patient but more than anything I just want him to be happy. If anyone has been through something like this, it would be nice to have some advice...
Edit: He was diagnosed with depression. The program wasn't really very good about communicating with parents, but they had me take a class on the skills he has learned. I've tried everything I learned in that class, but tonight it hasn't worked.
Yeah, we talk almost every day. My son has been doing really well until now, and I can't contact the counselor until tomorrow afternoon. I think my best bet is to wait it out
Eh, my homeschooled kids get a surprising amount of interaction with other teens. Many kids do much better once taken out of the school environment.
That's not to say that homeschooling is the right answer for the OP's son, though. What does he say would make school easier? Is he struggling with the work, or the teachers, or the other kids or what? Is a different school an option? What about an online school? Maybe he needs a new psychiatrist or his meds need tweaking. If you aren't happy with the doctors at his program, can you get a referral for a different one? It seems like you need to contact a medical mental health professional.
He may be overwhelmed with the return to public school. There is probably a lot of noise and changing from classroom to classroom, need to reintegrate with friends and teachers, answer questions re "what happened" and "where have you been". He should probably stay home until you can speak to the counselor; a meltdown at school would be devastating. His medication may need adjusting, and you may simply be forced to make other school arrangements in the end, It sounds like he really gave it his all this week, and he's fortunate to have such a caring parent. My best wishes to you both.
Did you get/do a IEP before you re-integrated him back to school?
Going from a 1:1 / Small group classes to the "chaos" that can be normal middle school environment.
He moved from a Highly structured environment to one that while structured has a lot of freedom, and many different personalities involved. The 1st few day he was "Missed / New Kid" to now things are expected to just fit in with his classmates, doing things they have done for months, where he does not know the routine.
You should work out a IEP with is school, and his Mental Health team from his "old" school. Just tossing him into the Deep End was not fair to him.
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), and we are not really equipped to offer that.
