Anxiety affecting behavior in group projects

[Anonymous]

DC's report card was mostly positive with the exception of behavior issues in one of his extracurriculars, which is a less structured format requiring group/collaborative work. For most kids this would probably a fun class, but it required open-ended thinking and oral presentations and his difficulty fulfilling these tasks came across to the teacher as resistance and defiance. DC has undergone individual therapy and social skill groups in the past, but he is great in those settings. I can see how this will be problematic in other classroom settings down the road, just not sure how we can work on these issues. Any suggestions?

[Anonymous]

How old is he? This may be a class where he needs the instructor to offer more structure/support/scaffolding. Does he have a 504, and does it apply in this setting?

For an older kid (middle school and up) I think you either help your kid implement their own strategies or you decide the activity isn’t a good fit and select something different next time. School and life is full of group projects, so he has to learn to manage them, but not all of them are unstructured free for alls, either. He may need help knowing exactly what is expected of him. Not knowing can create anxiety or even just hyperactivity leading to acting out.

[Anonymous]

It’s important to let the teacher know ahead of time that this kind of thing is hard for your kid and why. They have lots of students and may not specifically remember that your child has a 504 or whatever. Then the teacher can help by setting up a work group with helpful peers, providing structure, checking in frequently, making sure breaks are built in, or whatever. That way your child can learn to manage these situations as they can’t all be avoided.

Don’t worry about the grade unless it’s going on a high school transcript for college and is a really low grade. Otherwise, grades don’t matter much, except in the moment. You won’t care what the grade was in the future.

[Anonymous]

If a behavioral health issue is affecting activities of daily life, like school work, then you get more help from a behavioral health specialist. Sounds like the interventions worked some, but your child needs more support at this time.

[Anonymous]

Does he have an iep?

[Anonymous]

DC has a 504, but didn’t qualify for an IEP. Like PP mentioned above, I probably should not have assumed the instructor was aware, and I will need to be more proactive about reaching out ahead of time in the future.

[Anonymous]

I think if it was just this one teacher, I would take it with a grain of salt. Group work is very common in all classes now, so reach out to other teachers to see if they are seeing the same thing.