Any advice? For me that is?
Phew. Talk about a tough one. I was in this situation some years ago with a friend.
She was bright, enthusiastic about learning new things, and capable of so much. But she just
wouldn't work, and nothing could change that. Not strategies, not letting her define her own tasks as much as possible, not even the threat of losing a job, followed by losing it, and then going down the same road at another company. People would get the feeling that certain tasks were too menial for her, though she never said so out loud. It was more of an attitude that was perceived. If she didn't want to do it, it basically didn't get done, and that was all there was to it. And this was often blamed on others (who were, BTW, trying to help).
IMO, there were other problems on the inside that were being expressed as a phenotype of laziness.
Does your student have any emotional or other problems that might be interfering with his ability to get stuff done?
If not, maybe you need to let him fail. He's young and may be able to learn a lesson from the bitter taste of self-imposed failure (as distinct from "I gave it my best shot and lost anyway, and that's how stuff goes sometimes.").
