DS7 does not like PE. He has a difficult time with sports in general. He is actually pretty decent at soccer but doesn't like it. He's tried t-ball, mixed martial arts, basketball, swim-team, and soccer but doesn't like any of them. He says he's just not into sports, but I worry that maybe he's just avoiding it due to perfectionism.

He LOVES science club, chess, math club, and piano. In fact, his quote for the day is, "Piano is MY sport!"

So, he's struggling in PE, primarily because of perfectionism. He falls apart if he can't do something well right away or if he loses.

The PE teacher is having trouble, and I'm really not sure what to tell her. This is an issue that we and his regular teacher are working on in terms of academics, recess, homework, etc. And, he's really making good progress.

The PE teacher doesn't seem to have time to "work on it." I'd be happy with him doing something other than PE, but I don't think they can do that. Plus, I'm not sure what kind of message that sends to ds. What would you do?

Here's the email the PE teacher sent to the regular teacher:

"I have some real concerns about N during PE. He has at least one meltdown per session where he becomes so upset, crying, and yelling at other friends when he makes a mistake during the activity.

My response is to ask him to step away for a few minutes and then I try to make my way over to talk things through with him. This takes time.

My concern is that I can see that it is very upsetting to many of the other friends when he has these episodes. Everyone becomes a bit on edge about it.

Also, when we are in the midst of a game where I am trying to oversee the events of the game, it is difficult to step away to tend to N every time and sometimes more then once in our 45minute time period.

I feel that on some days, he is requiring much more of my time and attention then the other friends combined."

I just think athletics are such a source of anxiety and stress for him that it's pointless. I'm not sure what he's actually getting out of it. The doctor and counselor feel that he is having full-blown anxiety attacks when he has a "meltdown". I'm not sure if this is what is happening during PE, or if he's just being impulsive and getting his frustration out by yelling and blaming others. I've seen him during extracurricular sports, and it's always been the anxiety sort of outbursts, not actually yelling at someone else.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and for any advice you might have.