A01=Jayne Demsky
absent
absenteeism
alternative schooling
anxiety
attendance
Author_Jayne Demsky
avoidance
behavioral
behavioral management
Category=JBSP1
Category=JNK
Category=VFV
Category=VFX
child mental health
child school avoidance
chronic absenteeism
education
elementary
elementary school avoidance
eq_bestseller
eq_health-lifestyle
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_parenting
eq_society-politics
exposure therapy
four functions of school refusal
health
help
high
high school avoidance
how to help school avoidant children
how to help school avoidant kids
management
mental
mental health
middle
middle school avoidance
parenting
parents
pediatric
pediatric mental health
psychological
refusing school
refusing school and chronic absenteeism support
school
school age children
school age kids
school anxiety
school anxiety and emotional challenges in children
school anxiety in children
school anxiety in kids
school attendance
school avoidance
school avoidance alliance
school avoidance guide
school avoidance guide for educators
school avoidance guide for parents
school avoidance help
school avoidance resource
school avoidant children
school avoidant kids
school parenting
School refusal
school refusal assessment scale
school refusal help for parents and families
school refusal treatment
school refusal treatment and exposure therapy options
special education
special education and alternative schooling for anxious student
SRAS
SRAS and school refusal assessment tools
teenagers
truancy
truancy laws and attendance concerns for parents
Product details
- ISBN 9781454958048
- Weight: 360g
- Dimensions: 138 x 208mm
- Publication Date: 16 Oct 2025
- Publisher: Union Square & Co.
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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A compassionate guide that tackles one of the fastest-growing issues facing families everywhere: the increasing number of children who are refusing or reluctant to attend school. Often misunderstood as defiance or opposition, school avoidance can be a sign of deeper emotional or mental health challenges. Yet, many parents find themselves unprepared when these behaviors arise and struggle to find the right support. In this first-of-its-kind guide, Jayne Demsky—founder of the School Avoidance Alliance—provides a comprehensive roadmap for parents who feel isolated and overwhelmed by their child’s school avoidance. Demsky offers practical strategies that help parents work with school administrators, navigate truancy laws, and most importantly, provide the structure and emotional support their children need to return to learning. Demsky explains how to strike the delicate balance between discipline and compassion, offering advice on how to set boundaries while addressing underlying mental health needs. Through expert interviews with mental health providers and insights gathered from the School Avoidance Alliance’s large and active parent community, Overcoming School Avoidance sheds light on this complex issue. This is more than just a how-to book—it’s a compassionate and timely resource that aims to restore confidence and hope to parents and help children return to a productive and fulfilling school life.
Jayne Demsky is the founder of the School Avoidance Alliance, where she has dedicated over a decade to empowering families and educational institutions in the complexities of school avoidance. The organization was born from the challenges her son faced with chronic school avoidance, filling a critical gap in support, education, and advocacy. Today, the School Avoidance Alliance is the leading resource for school avoidance professional development across the United States. Their flagship courses—“Everything You Need to Know to Get Your Students Back to School” for educators and the “School Avoidance Master Class for Parents”—have transformed the approach of countless school districts. The Alliance’s contributions have been featured in USA Today, Education Week, the Washington Post, ADDitude magazine, Fox News, Good Morning Arizona, CBS News, and more.
