#school refusal

[defectivegembrain]

Ohh don't know when this happened but apparently they're now calling "school refusal" Emotionally Based School Avoidance instead. Which okay my response may also be "emotionally based" because I can barely read anything on that topic without getting angry anyway, but sarcasm incoming: Yay you came up with a new term that doesn't sound like it's blaming kids for doing a deliberate thing, and instead sounds clinical and detached! Woo you updated your pathologising method for kids dealing with an awful environment! Whoop-de-fucking-do to you now tell me what are you doing to change the schools? The schools, not the kids. Please tell me you're not still teaching the kids that it's them who need to change. What are you doing to provide accommodations and prevent bullying? Answer quickly.

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

Autism & School Refusal

Neurodivergent_lou

[mynamesjameslynx1412]

a heads up to parents whose kids are refusing to go to school:

if you force them to go, forcefully dress them and drag them by their arms out of the house, they will skip class.

I'm not joking when I say my parents threatened to end my life so I would go to school, just for me to sit in the bathroom stall for 3 hours straight.

I didn't have a phone nor a book nor even a pen and paper.

I just sat there in silence in the smelly bathroom until the bell rang.

Because when the only thing a child does in class is write down all the different ways they would take their own life

sitting alone with your thoughts in a bathroom stall isn't too bad.

[littleprincessfawn]

Biggggg post about my kiddo and his troubles with school

Okay my kiddo is home today (school refusal) 😭

(Oh I wanna say a little about it, apparently. )

My kid has been struggling with school refusal, being unable to get in to school or having panic attacks when there, for a few years now. It's getting to the point I'm close to pulling him out to homeschool him. School refusal is very misunderstood. I used to have days as a kid where I didn't want to go to school and chucked a sickie. But with school refusal it's way more than not wanting to go to school, it's like a huge dread, like anxiety or panic attacks I think maybe, and it's very complex.

Here's a link to a great doco about it which mirrors my experiences:

(More words under the cut)

Later in the week I'll be going in to have a chat with the school and see what help they can offer, apparently they do have things they can do e.g. counseling/psychology sessions? The old inclusion support teacher has moved on to another school and the new one is actually really proactive and communicating with me and my kids dad and trying to help find a solution, for which I am VERY grateful because yes I will homeschool if needed but gosh it would be better for my child in SO many ways if we could make school work for him! Let's at least try something before throwing in the towel, and the old inclusion teacher seemed to just kinda... shrug and then the other teachers said I needed to be more positive and made out everything was my fault like no, my child is curled up a ball on the floor whimpering and repeating 'I hate school, I hate this, I hate everything, I can't, I can't do this anymore, I can't do this anymore,' that's not a me thing, that's an autistic and struggling kid thing.

I loved school as a kid (it was my refuge from an abusive childhood) despite being bullied as a kid, so it hurts that the school staff sometimes are trying to treat me like an enemy rather than work together as a team for the good of my kid. This new inclusion teacher seems great so I'm holding hope out. My kids classroom teacher this year is also amazing, but obviously my child needs extra help that currently he's just not getting. She's a great teacher though, she mentioned to me her main goal is improving his confidence which I was thinking YES this is the way. She gets it.

My kid is incredibly bright, is autistic, is extremely gifted in mathematics, has an IQ of 146, struggles a LOT with spelling and low confidence and perfectionism. He just needs to be extended in maths/engineering/science areas (which he does himself via YouTube but I'd ideally like to get a tutor in) and needs to be supported with his spelling to get over the issues he's having so he can communicate and participate in the classroom! He knows I love him, and he loves feeling 'safe' and staying home with me is his comfort zone. He's an only child (that wasn't how I planned it 😭 but it's how it wound up) and he doesn't socialize much with other kids, they like him but he's aloof, not in a mean way just in an autistic 'I don't really wanna socialise the way the other kids want to' way. I need to get him hooked up with more autistic peers. He's got a couple of school buddies with ADHD and as always the ADHD + Autism friendship trope proves true (me being ADHD and having MANY autistic buddies). His kindergarten teacher used to fondly call him her 'little engineer'.

He's the absolute light of my life and my favourite human in the galaxy. He and I have this amazing bond, we giggle together, 'thick as thieves', are creative together, give hugs often, and just straight up love each other. So please don't read this post and think I'm saying my autistic kid is a burden. He's not at all a burden he's my ultimate blessing and he is my reason I don't give up and keep fighting my own battles, and fight his too when needed. One time he said 'You're my samurai, Mummy,' and that's awesome and that's what motherhood is.

I'm gonna fight for him to have a school environment he can learn in, and do everything I can to get him the help he deserves. If after that school still doesn't work, I will home school him, but I want to try for school to work for him first, it'd be so great if we could. And on the days he's home with me I will help him with his spelling, his confidence, let him to follow his special interests and make his complex puzzles and maths problems. He's my everything.

[kezcore]

please tell me i'm not alone in this. does anyone else have scolionophobia? does anyone else experience intense school refusal? it's been a problem all my life. the strangest thing is that i don't even have any reason for it, it just happens - though i guess that's what makes it an irrational fear. luckily, i've been doing online school for a couple years, so it hasn't really affected me much recently, but i think back to my elementary & middle school years and realize how fucked up it was, to the point where i couldn't even step one foot inside the building without having a meltdown or panic attack. hell, just a year and a half ago i tried going back to in-person school, but dropped out after 4 days. it's always made me feel very lonely, so i'd love it if anyone else shares those experiences.

honestly, after all this, how did it take until i was 14 for my parents to finally get me psychologically tested.

[stimpunks]

Changelog: Mass school refusal among neurodivergent children is an early form of resistance to neuronormativity.

We updated our ‘School-Induced Anxiety’ page with selections from Robert Chapman and “‘Children are holding a mirror up to us’: why are England’s kids refusing to go to school? | Schools | The Guardian”. While we were updating, we broke the page up into sections and added a table of contents. Mass school refusal among neurodivergent children is an early form of resistance to…

[tryna-find-a-place-in-this-world]

School Refusal Tips????

Does anybody have any tips for school refusal?? It’s been something I’ve been dealing with since I was 5 but since I’ve started high school it’s just flared up and become even worse. I’m tired of fighting 5 days a week to go somewhere where I don’t even learn anything because by the time I actually get into my seat I’m exhausted.

[k12academics]

We can end the daily school struggle for students who are....

under-performing in some or all areas

fighting about homework

being left behind or bored by the slow pace

refusing to attend or frequently tardy

suffering from school or test anxiety

the victim of bullying

having social difficulties

struggling to memorize too much

participating in activities that require a flexible schedule

Our unique approach includes...

7 students per class

One-to-one instruction

Little or no homework

Extended or untimed testing

Critical thinking, not memorization

Individual pacing

Field trips, clubs and enrichment activities

Sports through cooperating schools and club teams

Home school or distance learning option

Community service

[thequestionsofmychild]

Do you think I should go to school?

This week is School Avoidance Week, and the topic couldn’t be more relevant to us right now. Do you think I should go to school is asked a lot in our house from both me to my husband, and from my son to me. Historically, school avoidance, often labeled as “school refusal,” has been misunderstood as a child choosing not to go to school. But the narrative is shifting. Instead of saying children…

[cupcakesleep]

School Refusal is Stressful

I’m going to preface this right now with homeschool is not an option for me. As an AuDHD person that attempted a form of Crisis Schooling when schools closed it was equally as stressful as trying to convince a school refuser to attend school. I lack the mental energy from complete burnout to try and creatively think of ways to ‘unschool’ or come up with some kind of learning. I can’t drive which…

[defectivegembrain]

Union of School Refusers

[theghostofaname]

School refusal tackled by outreach class supporting students back into mainstream education

I wish I had access to this when I was 12.

Its hard to remember how scared and hopeless I felt those days. It started with just not feeling up to going to school sometimes, then I was purposefully skipping days with certain classes I was struggling in. The more I skipped the more I fell behind and the more classes I had to avoid until I couldn't attend a single day.

We tried reaching out to my school for help when I was struggling, but they ignored us until I fully stopped attending school. By then it felt like things had gone so far and gotten so bad, it was hard (and embarrassing) to return to school. I started with only attending a few classes, then half days, then up to full days. For the last part of grade 7 it wasn't really like I was learning, I was just preparing myself to be able to attend school all day everyday to be ready for grade 8. Then grade 8 was filled with trying to catch up on the things I had missed. It was still really hard, and the continued support from the school was vital, but I made it.

[violent138]

It would be so funny to have Bruce reckon with his kids' weird forms of schooling. For obvious reasons, a bunch never finished much/are in the process, but he turns to Tim, and goes, "At least you've got your high school--" and Tim gives him a look.

In the midst of babysitting Bruce, concocting a fake uncle, and dealing with vigilantism, and the inability to crawl of out bed after training, Tim hasn't been to school in years.

[littleprincessfawn]

Well, looks like I'm home-schooling my child.

This isn't an abrupt decision it's the result of a gradual eroding away of my child's ability to function within the school system. Of me considering all the options and working with the school as best as I can. Of reading about how teachers in the Australian education system are burning out at lighting rates, leaving the profession in droves, and choosing to home-educate their own children.

My child can't do school anymore. He just can't. He tried so hard. He's brilliant and not being challenged in maths. He's struggling and not being given help in spelling. Going to school isn't what's best for him and it hasn't been for a few years now.

This is going to be hard. I literally have leukemia.

But it's going to be worth it. It's going to be good for him. I can finally stretch him as far as he can go with his maths skills. I can finally help him 'get' spelling. Because he's been going to school, there hasn't been enough time for me to teach him at home.

The main downside is the lack of social opportunities. So for that I'll find groups, after school activities, coding clubs, chess clubs, for him to join and socialize with. I'll get better myself so I can organize playdates for him.

When your kid explains school using the metaphor of Loki's torture with the water dripping on his head for eternity (that he picked up on YouTube, and which I believe was actually venom, and I told him everything I remembered about that myth, so hey, we're learning more things already) I feel that's a decent indication that the schooling system is not working for them.

[ithinkmysnorlaxisdepressed]

The “Education” of Pokémon Trainers: A Primer on School Refusal

Now is a time frequently associated with the return to formal education for most school age children. However, in the Pokémon world education seems to be approached somewhat differently. While it may be somewhat normal for children to not attend school across the various regions in the Pokémon world, children in the real world who do not consistently attend school may be struggling with specific mental health needs. The term for the behavior when a school age child does not consistently attend school is referred to as “school refusal.”

School refusal is defined as a school-age child who does not attend school in its entirety, as scheduled, and has no reasonable circumstances for this behavior. Motivation can vary, but this definition captures the very basics of the term (Kearney, 2008).

While there are clear examples of school being present in Pokémon, neither attendance nor educational topics appear to be even close to equivalent to the demands of a real world education. Even Scarlet and Violet, which include “academy” education as a central part of the game, do not seem to follow what we might relate to as a typical educational trajectory. For example, age seems to be irrelevant to educational placement, with children learning next to adults. Also, the vast majority of school subjects described in Pokémon are related to exactly that: Pokémon. Also, when we have seen the protagonist attend school, it has been a rarity. It has only been in the most recent seasons of the animated series that Ash Ketchum has demonstrated any consistency in his educational attendance. However, this is the exception: the majority of the time he has traveled near and far without school being more than a passing thought and with no clear pattern of formal enrollment.

Severity of school refusal has been categorized as belonging to three different levels. First is self-corrective school refusal, which involves children whose school refusal stops on its own within a two week period. Acute school refusal refers to school refusal behavior that lasts from 2 weeks to 1 year. Finally is chronic school refusal, which lasts longer than one calendar year and overlaps two school years. (Silverman & Kurtines, 1996). With regard to the Pokémon anime franchise’s hero, Ash Ketchum, he has displayed at least acute school refusal, if not chronic.

As to the reasons for possible school refusal, there are four underlying factors that have emerged that seem to motivate school refusal behavior. First is school refusal that is motivated by a desire to avoid negative or uncomfortable feelings generated by attending school or specific situations within the school setting. Second is school refusal that is motivated by escaping from problematic social situations or the evaluative aspects of education. Third is school refusal that is a result of attention-seeking behaviors, often involving attention from parents and caregivers. Fourth is school refusal motivated by attempts to pursue positive experiences outside of the school setting. However, not all school refusers fit neatly into one category and there may be circumstances where school refusal serves multiple functions. Additionally, the specific interventions mobilized to treat school refusal vary with the function of the behavior (Kearney, 2007).

Revisiting Ash Ketchum, there seems to be enough evidence to suggest the function of his potential school refusal. There has never been any clear sign of Ash being avoidant of school because he is either uncomfortable with his emotional experience at school or because he struggles with social aspects of education. Attention-seeking also seems unlikely as his typical response to parental attention has been annoyance or embarrassment. However, instead of going to school he has had the opportunity to travel the countryside, make friends, have a myriad of adventures, and catch and train Pokémon. That would suggest attempts at obtaining positive experiences as Ash’s primary motivation.

Intervention for school refusal can be complicated and often requires assistance from parents, school staff, and mental health professionals. The exact interventions used also vary with the function being served by school refusal. However, the general treatment of choice is to provide intervention that encourages as early a return to school as possible (Kearney & Silverman, 1999). However, the world of Pokémon does not seem to require school attendance, nor see lack thereof as any particular concern for possible treatment.

Works Cited

Kearney, C.A. (2007). Forms and functions of school refusal behavior in youth: An empirical analysis of absenteeism severity. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48, 53-61.

Kearney, C.A. (2008). School absenteeism and school refusal behavior: A review of contemporary literature. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 451-471.

Silverman, W.K. & Kurtines, W.M. (1996). Anxiety and phobic disorders: A pragmatic approach. New York: Plenum Press.

Kearney, C.A. & Silverman, W.K. (1999). Functionally based prescriptive and nonprescriptive treatment for children and adolescents with school refusal behavior. Behavior Therapy, 30, 673-695.

[glassrooibos]

JUNIOR YEAR HERE WE COME