Well, no, just to be careful what they say to whom. Everyone has to do this if they want to live in society; people with poor radar have to be extra careful.
Good point. I have been considering teaching him about Socrates drinking the hemlock because he thought it was his social/moral obligation. Then I thought that is a little overwrought, perhaps.
I do, too. I hated them even as a child. And I *do* detect some oppositional/defiance in his responses because in real life he is very excitable about aesthetic concerns. There seems to be an emotional block of some sort at school.
We are working with DS on "your response does not have to be true, just has to meet the requirement of the assignment." This helps some.
I think I'll ask him to imagine what the teacher desires from his response. "What would you feel if you were the sort of person who feels things about things like this, at school?" The mental gymnastics are overwhelming. Not sure how to reach him.
Not sure where you would go to find a program like this. The program my son went was attached to a ADHD center at a local university. It's probably easier to find if you are in a large metropolitan area. This group was specifically for pre-teen BOYS. They did a lot of playing board games and word games and it didn't feel like therapy to my son.
I don't think we have anything like this near. He is in counseling, now, which I think helps with coping skills but it doesn't help with the social issues because he doesn't behave strangely one-on-one. All I hear is what a cool, interesting, smart guy he is. It's hard to explain this to someone who doesn't see it--I even have trouble understanding bc it's context specific.
On this: we've had conversations about the possibilities of learning in any given situation--not necessarily what the activity or class claims to be teaching you, but -something-, whether it is about yourself as a human being, or understanding other people's perspectives or feelings, or about systems and institutions--so that there is always an attitude of exploration and openness. We're trying to raise reflective, self-aware individuals. And a nice side effect is, boredom is less of a problem, because you can never completely figure out another human being.
This is a lovely frame. I will give it a try.
