How to deal with an apathetic student

A student is failing your class and you have a talk with them - the student then reacts in one of 2 ways:
1) With contention - "Why are you doing this to me?"
2) With apathy - "Whatever..."
One of the hardest things for teachers to deal with is an apathetic student - and as we ALL know students are apathetic for a number a reasons.
1) They may be having difficulties at home.
2) Their self-esteem may be low.
3) They could suffer from a learning "disability"
4) They could feel a lot of guilt and shame for their poor performance
Most likely the student has been experiencing this academic reality for a number of years - most often beginning between 4th and 6th grade - and what we high school teachers end up with is a student with a complex - they think of themselves as incapable of doing it because its too "hard" for them to make the change.
Here is what I suggest:
1) Build relationships- as close to the beginning of the year as possible
2) Ask them when they started experiencing these academic realities - ask them "were you like this last year?....How about the year before that? What about 8th grade?...7th grade?" (They can remember)
3) Help them understand that it is through failure that we succeed - and that hard work and practice is what helps with learning new skills.
4) Be available for them - to the best that your time will allow

Thoughts?