Therapy for OCD/School Refusal

[mama2alex]

I did ask USF/Storch for local recommendations, but the only one they gave me was 1 1/2 hours from our house. The psychiatrist has recommended a therapist who originally did not return my phone call, but the psych says this woman "gets it done." So I put in another call to her today. She's 15 minutes from the school, so doable.

 

He didn't get in again today, so I'm feeling very helpless.

 

Thanks again for any/all suggestions. I am listening, but just too tired and down to write much right now.

[MomWithOCDSon]

Sorry, Mama. Hang in there, and we'll keep a good thought that the new therapist will, indeed, "get it done."

 

Does your DS have an IEP? If not, have you considered one? I'm asking because with that IEP, he would have a case manager assigned to him, and perhaps that person could be someone to help him inside the school . . . help the therapist coach him through his return.

Edited January 10, 2013 by MomWithOCDSon

[smartyjones]

He didn't get in again today, so I'm feeling very helpless.

 

mama -- have you checked out anxietybc.com? i've found their info and worksheets helpful -- but my ds is a bit younger than yours. who is deciding the plan of how/when etc he will go to school? hang in there!

[pandakid11]

Hi

I don't know what to do to get over this. Even trying one class is impossible and will lead to shaking for 2-3 days. He says it is happening outside his control. He wants to go, then his subconscious stops it. This is so baffling. I don't really have an answer. I feel like we need to break the ice though.

 

 

Ugh! So tired of this stuff.

[mama2alex]

So, he got in for 3 hours today (the full time we'd planned on) and felt very proud of himself!

 

Nancy, We're at a small private school and they are willing to do almost anything for us. We have a "go to" person who knows the entire story and situation, and I check in with her fairly often. We talked today about having him go first to his homeroom/English teacher, who has dealt with anxiety herself and is just fabulous. She's almost always in her classroom, so she's his best bet if he needs help. Then, second choice if she's not around is assistant vice principal, who is the "go to" person I mentioned. She's thinking about who should be his third back-up.

 

Smarty, I'll take a look at anxietybc.com. Thanks for the tip! We are deciding together how/when he will get to school, but I am not giving him the option of sitting with me in the daycare room anymore. Its either get in or go home. I don't have the stamina to sit at school with him for hours a day anymore, and it was starting to feel like a counter-productive bad habit.

 

PankaKid11, I'm not sure where you are in your treatment process, but its taken us 3 1/2 years since PANDAS/PANS onset to get to the point where I feel like I can push him to get to class every day. He got sick at the end of 2nd grade and missed a lot of 3rd, including the last 6 weeks of 3rd when he just refused to go anymore. We left that school and at the small private school he now attends, I set up lots of support for him and on days when he was too scared to get in to class I would try to just get him on campus. Often we would sit in a room they use for after-school care and he would read or do homework or sometimes cry and beg to go home. Sometimes he would settle down and then get up to class, and that was always the goal. However, there were many, many days we couldn't even get in the front door, but we always tried. It has been a very long process and I've probably made a ton of mistakes. He has reached the point in his recovery where many of the original symptoms are gone, and although he still has a fair amount of anxiety, I think he's ready to push over this hump. I really think we're at the point where this is, in part, just a bad habit, and also at a point where he can be helped by ERP (if we can just find a good therapist). If your son is still very ill and symptomatic, I wouldn't expect him to be able to do much yet. I'm sure if you start a thread and ask for ideas, all these smart ladies will chime in with fantastic suggestions. Its also very important to be at a school that supports him and your family. Another option is to homeschool for a time while he is treated, and then try to get him back to school when he's more stable.