My DS7 is like that. He hates to make the smallest of mistakes; even thinking he may make a mistake can paralyze him and make him refuse to do something. I have seen him even freeze up when he just gets answers slower than he think he should. *Sigh*
I have tried to use sport examples, he isn't very good at sports but he loves them, so he has to work at them - unlike anything at school. I ask him what it took to learn to swim and to get where he is now (a pretty strong swimmer), or how he has had to work to play soccer or basketball.
This winter I started training for a sprint triathlon and he wanted to join me so I signed him up for a Jr Triathlon (Swim 100 yards, bike 2 miles and run .25 miles - all of which he could do). I was THRILLED when he failed and yet completed the race (don't judge, everyone needs to fail occasionally, and it was good for him). He was worried about the swim because he hadn't swam in open water much and then a boy about 12, went into hysterics in front of him and held onto the buoy and wouldn't move. DS clung on too and I sure he was thinking if he is that scared I should be too. The hysterical boy was "rescued" first, as is only right. So DS was the last out of the water by a long shot. I was worried that he wouldn't want to continue, because he has been known to drop anything that becomes difficult, but he kept going and finished - dead last but he did it anyway. I am going to be using that example this year a lot.
