We have a child that is 6 years old, very bright. We’ve had him tested and although he has some issues he does not have any diagnosis. He has always been quick cognitively and tests high intellectually. The big problem is that if a task is presented to him that he perceives as difficult he shuts down and has a great deal of difficulty mainitaining attention. Some activities that he is comfortable with, his attention is great and he will finish his project appropriately. The minute he perceives difficulty his attention wonders. We think that some things come quickly to him and that is the pace he is confortable with. If something requires work he is uncomfortable with that and gets anxious.How do you help this child? What emotional support methods or behaviorial modification methods can we implement to help him? Any advise or input will be appreciated.
Re: Bright child shuts down when work is tough
You’ve just described my son, who is now ten. Even in a class for gifted kids with LD he still would shut down when faced with tasks he perceived as too hard (or too boring). My son has been in this class since second grade (he’s in fourth now) and it is only recently that things have improved. Debbie’s post gives some great advice. You’ve got to praise (where the praise is legitimate) every little step along the way. Everything must be broken down into tiny, manageable steps. You’ve got to understand that the child doesn’t want to be acting like this, but he just doesn’t know what else to do or how to stop himself. The things that helped us include 1)regular visits to a mental health professional for the purpose of relieving my son’s stress. My son does not have any diagnosed mental health problems but therapy has proven to be very helpful in relieving the anxiety school brings; 2) regular communication between parents and teachers to stop problems before they start; 3) finding things outside of school for my son to enjoy and excel at such as therapeutic riding; 4) getting my son a guinea pig and a hamster so that he could be in charge of something and 5) stimulant medication for ADHD.On that last point, my son was first evaluated when was only 7 and he was considered too borderline for an ADHD diagnosis. Consequently, medication was not recommended. At age 10, he was still borderline by some measures but the diagnosis was much more clear. We began a trial of medication and saw astoundingly good results and no side effects. He is much more able and willing to persevere on the hard stuff. During educational testing, without medication he had to be refocused on every question. With medication he required no refocusing over a two hour testing period. His scores on tests of visual motor integration and fine motor skills also improved on medication. Medication certainly is an individual decision and is not right for everyone, but I truly wish we’d tried it three years ago. I think we might have avoided a lot of grief.Andrea
Just my opinion, but I am guessing one of two things (or a mix of both) is happening.One is anxiety.. fear of the unknown, as you have thought. The other is what some might call *learned helplessness*, where a child, for whatever reason, has learned that if they say I can’t do it, or shut down, they will get help or the task expectation will *go away*.Two years ago, I had a new student (new to our school). He was in Grade 2 and exceptionally bright. I couldn’t get him to even put his NAME on a paper the first few days without huge effort. I’ve taught a long time, and was ready to pull my hair out in frustration!Perseverance paid off in the end. I firmly but gently told him I needed him to do this, that I would be back in a few minutes to see how he did, and left. I kept near his desk (about three students away) but did not look in his direction. When I returned, he still hadn’t done anything. I tried then to get him to put his first letter down. I had to praise (without going overboard) even his hand picking up his pencil. Each step was encouraged and praised.Eventually he realized I was not going to go away, and that I did expect him to do this task. Again, I praised anything I could. It took some time (a few weeks) before he made attempts on his own…and I really didn’t know what I would have done next if that didn’t work.I had the pleasure of teaching this young man for two years (I had a combined 2/3 class). New things were scary and he did some backtracking, but the praise and encouragement, as well as *you do this… I will come back in …. minutes and see how you are doing* really worked for him.I hope this is of some help!Regards, Debbie :o)