What is he like at home? How about on family trips when you are together all day long, what is he like then?
In what circumstances is he best behaved and worst behaved?
Does he currently get enough physical activity, and how much PE and recess does he get in school?
How does he get As if he refuses to do practice work? Is that more an occasional issue or why is that not a problem from the grade perspective?
He is at his best when we are in our little family bubble (again, he is an only). We have no problem managing him at home. Hubby and I are introverts, have a quiet house, and do low key stuff. We eat out a lot and strangers always comment on how well mannered he is. He loves Legos, riding his bike, playing in the sprinkler, all the normal kid stuff. However, He doesnt have any friends, and also no cousins so is mainly with adults. All.the.time. He's great on vacation.
His behavior is at its worst at school and at kid social events (birthday parties, etc). He's a very intense kid; when he's happy, he's really happy. But when he's mad, boy is he mad! He's a "know it all"; always blurts out answers to questions, tells the other kids how they should do things, gets frustrated if things aren't done his way, grabs things out of people's hands.
Birthday parties have been a nightmare (although he's only been invited to a handful of them). One example was an Olympic themed party where the kids were on teams. His team "lost" the competition, and he had a meltdown and it ruined his fun for the rest of the party. He doesn't recover well from setbacks. This is typical for him when kids are around. It's like he's so overstimulated, he loses control of his emotions.
They get 20 mins of recess a day, and PE 2x a week for 45 mins. Aside from that, he doesn't get much exercise (no extra curricular stuff, except karate for a while, which I've been meaning to start back up again). He's not into athletics, and when we have tried competitive team sports, it wasn't fun for him (or us!)
It's hard because I can see some ADHD traits, but then when I look at how generally "calm" he is in our bubble, I don't know. I do think he has some deficiencies in executive function, which is a big aspect of ADHD.
When I say he doesn't do practice work, I should have said doesn't like to, not won't. It seems there are lots of worksheets, homework, etc.; those he hates to do. Grades are based mainly on tests and projects, and on those he excels. He does have issues with writing; he has very sloppy handwriting, and doesn't enjoy creative writing (says he can't think of what to say and his hand hurts).
I'm mainly concerned about his inability to make and keep friends. This part of him definitely seems ADHD.
