I posted about 2 weeks ago about my ds who is 6 and how we were ruling in/out adhd or anxiety. We'' afte meeting with the outside psych. it looks like he has a generalized anxiety disorder mainly in school. Worris about making mistakes, not finishing in time, internalizing everything etc. He is not that he needs to be medicated, but more in the realm of psychtherapy and coping skills, to teach him how to control his emotions/ feelings. He is meeting weekly with the psych. fo now after school and my son is really enjoying him and his affect seems brighter. I pray he continues to get better. :-) To anyone here with a child with an anxiety diagnosis, does your child have a 504 plan where they have to provide special accomodations for thei child? ie extra time for a test? Thanks for taking the time to read this post!

Leah

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My son also has anxiety to go with his menu of things. We did do some psychotherapy, but I think he needs more, and with a different therapist - I didn't feel she was as effective as her credentials read. He is on an IEP, which offers more services, so not a 504. Of course, to get an IEP, there have to be medical issues, which can be given only through a medical diagnosis. My son doesn't need meds for anxiety, we all feel, at this point. He is already on Focalin for ADHD, which is new to us. He is intelligent, but impulsive (which the Focalin helps with), but we (the school, the doctor and us) think that therapy, giving him strategies to cope, can help w/the anxiety. Talking about it when he feels it coming on helped him a lot when he was feeling it when his sister was a baby. He told me he had the urge to hurt her. I honestly felt he never would, but was amazed that he identified it and trusted me enough to tell me. I think it was based on jealousy, so each time he felt it, we talked about it. A backrub calmed him, or I'd have him jump on his mini trampoline, which helped a lot.

I'd run this by your doctor and see what he suggests. He should be seasoned enough to have an idea of how you can best approach the school for accommodations. I'm thinking that if you also make a call to the school psychologist, that could help set some good ideas on the table.

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My 6 yo has axiety issues, mainly at school. He has an IEP in place and has qualified for special services which would allow him to take tests in another room, etc. if needed. He also sees a psychologist, initially it was once a week, now once a month and he will start once a week again in Aug. to prepare for the new school year. His teacher has noticed a big improvement over the course of the year. I have the psychologist and the teacher communicating directly to hopefully get a better grasp on what is going on with him and how we can best help him in the school setting.

Thanks again for your responses!!!

Hawshoe... My son sounds like he will be following a similiar route as your child. He will meet weekly now, once a month during the summer and then more frequently in August before the start of next year. The real kicker is that they are closing an elementary school in town and we are being redistricted to another one. (not sure which one yet. Will find out next week).
He does not know about it yet. The doctor told me kids at this age are pretty flexible. We are going to have him visit the school a few times before next year, find out who is going there, etc, play at the playground etc... Only 7 more weeks to the school year. I am looking forward to the summer!!!

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I do think that kids are pretty flexible, especially at a young age. Taking your son to the school before hand and getting him comfortable with it will definately help his transition.

I worry about next year. My son will be going into 1st grade and going from 1/2 day Kindergarten to full day. I am planning to get him some work for over the summer to ease the transition.