Ndw, it actually does seem like he has Tourette’s. Before the evaluation, I noticed the humming, blinking, and throat clearing that he did but it just didn’t even enter my mind. The more I’ve been reading up on it, though, it really does sound like him (those were his first tics, the ones the tester noticed, but now he has different ones). But, I do have no doubt that his anxiety, which has been much worse lately, exacerbates them.
Sadly, he is not and has never been challenged intellectually in school. I don’t count writing as being challenged, because it is obvious to me there is something going on there. I have been trying to work with the school since kindergarten (minus the year of homeschooling) to get him what he needs. It has gotten a tiny bit better because now his math teacher lets him work on a higher level packet during class (but doesn’t give him instruction) and lets him do Art of Problem Solving instead of most of his homework. So, while I hate to complain about this, he’s still not getting what he needs in school because he’s either just working on his own without the teacher, or having to fit in the AOPS after a full day and other homework. He says he is happy and likes school, but I’m concerned because the anxiety makes him very resistant to change, even good change.
I would love to get a big trampoline, but we have no yard.:( We do have a small indoor one; I need to think of ways to make it fun to jump on it for a significant amount of time.
Mykids, that’s interesting. I do feel like my son definitely needs a structured environment to learn best. Even at home, he has a really hard time figuring out what to do in his free time (unless of course he’s allowed to use the computer). I always just assumed school was nicely structured. The classes and camps he’s done have all been chosen by him, so the topics were ones he’s interested in. Even if they weren’t very academically challenging, they included a lot of fun elements (art, structured play in nature, science) and no written output required. He was allowed to register for a chemistry class for 7th and 8th graders (he’s in 4th) for the week of Christmas, and I don’t think he’ll have any issues.
Thank you everyone for your thoughtful responses.
