Please help - do you have any opinion about therapeutic school?

[StantonHyde]

We have a partial hospitalization program where I work. The stay is usually around 2 weeks for kids coming from the outside (e.g. not transitioning from inpatient). The program should have a school, where your DS can do his work so he doesn't lose ground--the work is individualized to the student. They have education specialists who work with the child's school. Sometimes that stay may be 4 weeks--depends on how things are going. It is a great option for kids who need some intense help, structure, medication management, close monitoring. They will get to know your child and then they can make a recommendation for school after the program. Some kids go back to their schools, many kids don't--it was a bad fit for them/triggered their issues. School avoidance is a SERIOUS issue for your son. It can be symptomatic of bigger issues--as the doctor explained to you.

I would get your DS into the partial program ASAP and then take it from there. Good luck!!!

[hibiscus]

hillview:

Thank you for your input. We arranged a visit with the therapeutic school this Friday. Also, we will have a family session with the partial hospitalization program on Thursday to find their findings. I will ask the caseworker about the school option at the session

>The school may be in CYA mode.
What does CYA mean?

Thank you,
-hibiscus

[hibiscus]

jren and annex:

Thank you for your message.
My DH and I talked tonight about the therapeutic school, and now lean towards the option. Will find more about it this Friday when we visit there. We thought some sort of transitioning phase would be helpful for our son once he completes PHP. We were wondering though, DS could be able to handle being gifted school since he was fine doing assignments/going to school till that big project. We have to see how much he recovers from current state....

-hibiscus

[hibiscus]

mmsmon:

Thank you for the comment.
Yes, high school starts in 9th grade. It could be a chance for DS to start fresh...Both DH and I started to think the rest of this school year would be transitional and we want focus on finding a counselor who DS can click. We did not have luck in the past, so we started interviewing counselors who are out of network, too.

-hibiscus

[hibiscus]

hbridge:

I read the message. Thank you very much! I PM'ed to you as well, but in case you have not seen it, I hope the best to you and your family.

-hibiscus

[hibiscus]

StantonHyde:

Thank you for telling your insight. I forgot to mention in the initial post that DS started PHP last Thursday. Will find how he stands now on coming Thursday at family session. We started see him trying the skills he leaned, but understand he could stay PHP for a while for severity of his state and how he keeps his feelings.

-hibiscus

[hillview]

hillview:

Thank you for your input. We arranged a visit with the therapeutic school this Friday. Also, we will have a family session with the partial hospitalization program on Thursday to find their findings. I will ask the caseworker about the school option at the session

>The school may be in CYA mode.
What does CYA mean?

Thank you,
-hibiscus

CYA mode = Cover Your A$$ mode meaning they may not be willing to take a child back that they are concerned is a liability for them. I defer to some of the other posters here and think you've gotten some good advice. Great that you are going to visit the school.

[StantonHyde]

Please note that while your son may be smart enough to handle the work load, he may not be able to handle the emotional stress of a G&T program. And behaving appropriately and being healthy are just as important, if not more so, than academic functioning. Good luck!!

[hbridge]

Hi, I did not get the PM....

Hugs.

[KpbS]

I am so sorry you are going through this. I agree with those that say focus on getting DS the help and medication he needs for now. Explore homeschooling, virtual school, homebound teacher etc whatever will help him complete 8th grade. Is 9th grade high school in your area? If so it may be a good time to move on from the gifted school. It does seem the gifted school may be playing too much into his need for perfection and maybe he would do better in a less competitive environment. I would reevaluate options with his psychiatrist and the school district over the summer once he is more stable.

This is exactly what I would do as well. Big, big, , OP.