Can we talk about high school and awarding a diploma for our special needs kids?

[Cynful]

My son has 3 years left of high school. He's technically 9th grade this year (well actually technically he should be 10th grade but we kept him an extra year in preschool). He's no where near what I would really call 9th grade though. Maybe on a few elective type credits, but definitely not for the core subjects.

 

So what do people with special needs kiddos do? How do we award credits and get them graduated? Who has been there, done that? What are your plans for when you get to this situation? I'm feeling pretty lost right now on how to proceed.

[Cynful]

Ok, I know someone here must have graduated their special needs child or someone here will be soon. Others may be getting to it in the near future. What will you do? How will you handle it? Anyone....???

[PrincessAriel]

I am interested in your question but have not yet figured it out for my own kids. I have graduated my three NT kids but these last two, who are not gifted and struggle greatly, will be an entirely different experience. Currently they are approx 5th and 7th grade. I have yet to figure it out but I imagine it involving a lot more with general life skills rather than academics. Not that academics will be ignored but I doubt they will achieve the levels other kids their ages do by the time they graduate. It would be nice to compile a list of resources, both academic and life skills, and some including both, which do not only focus on a college prep materials. Perhaps look at what these types of kids would get in a ps as far as on the job training, contents of courses offered there, etc. It seems at times that the home school community is so fixated on the high achieving student and those who struggle are kind of out of luck as far as finding resources, curriculum, etc. Some programs are already in existence and at times I don't know if I have the energy to reinvent the wheel and don't know that I am extremely opposed to seeing what they could offer to my kids in the future. It is something I am pondering as my dc are approaching high school.

[Cynful]

Thanks for the replies. I just wanted to get the topic brought up. The time moves so fast and it's here before you know it.

 

My biggest concerns right now are how do I award credit for work when it may not be at the level of a NT child? Do I just go by hours? For example, I plan to use something along the lines of Sonlight Core's 6, 7 and 100 (or whatever they are named now). And most likely, I'll be doing alot of the reading out loud. I'm good with that, but you know, most would think this is not acceptable for high school level work. He may only get through Algebra I and maybe Geometry - not sure how that will work because he's supposed to have Algebra II also.

 

Then I also want to add in Life Skills for him. All this knowledge won't help him a bit if he can't live in the world and hold a job. I hadn't thought about talking to the neuropsychologist about it all but I guess that would be a place to start. More than anything I wanted to see what everyone else's thoughts were on this subject and how they plan to work it when they get there or how they worked it as they went through it.

[Tiramisu]

I'd be very interested in knowing if there are state laws regarding awarding high school diplomas or special high school diplomas.

 

I was recently reading about ferpa because I was asked by a friend who is considering getting an IEP if it would follow her dc beyond high school, and it was very informative. From other reading, my understanding is that through high school you are rather free to make accommodations. And the ferpa info talked about "special ed" type of courses being marked on transcripts in some way, but not that they had to be. Perhaps it's up to the discretion of the high school. ?? The context of this information was whether someone who received the transcript would ever know if a student had an IEP, and basically, it seems that unless certain marks were present beside the names of courses, or otherwise indicated, whoever received a transcript wouldn't necessarily know if the dc's classes were adapted to their needs--or, if they had an IEP, unless it was forwarded to them. Does that make sense? It's not exactly what was asked but it's something to think about as an option: Adapt your courses as necessary, and to be up front, marking them on the transcript with asterisks (sp?).

 

I didn't know until dd was nearly 15 and finishing up her freshman year of high school that the was a processing speed problem. I knew something was going on but I didn't know what. It was recommended that I plan to add 50% time on to the recommended time for any curriculum I used. I never really did that scientifically, and just did what we could do, often working on math well through the summer because we would finish, or nearly finish, math books. I also would also do a little consultation and drop less important topics, especially in those monster-thick math and science books. There were also times that I allowed an open book test if she were especially behind. I felt guilty about this, but from my knowledge of local high schools, it wasn't so very much out of the ordinary.

 

I had my dc enrolled in a classically-based program, and they recommended, off the bat, to drop one book per semester. They were more concerned that she was putting in the time and making progress, even if it wasn't at the rate of everyone else. I didn't necessarily take up this suggestion since I was already starting to choose curriculum that suited her better, so I wasn't using many of their materials anyway.

 

Since she was usually in a coop class or two, we would give those priority when we had to, and slack off on the rest, catching up on coop breaks.

 

Online classes were a disaster. Many of them are over-the-top anyway. When we did those, it would take up all our time.

 

The best thing I could do was prioritize, do what we could, and not feel bad about getting to the less important stuff.

 

I also limited the writing because it was so time consuming. I did not require writing in every class or did limited writing. It wasn't until her senior year that I did the full NP eval, and I found out why writing is such a chore.

 

I have to run, but I'll see if I can come up with anything else we did. I really don't think any of this is so helpful, but I'll put it here just in case.

 

I should add that dd is of normal intelligence but with processing deficits.

 

ETA: At some point during the high school years, I decided to go with the lowest level diploma our "homeschool" school offered. Her transcript still looks normal, so it wouldn't be noticeable to anyone else. I just decided that it was better to work on what she needed for her future and liked rather than fulfill the requirements of the higher level diploma that the school offered. She still had enough of the right kind of credits for the colleges she was applying to. Her transcript is still very full but nearly half of her credits are from non-academic electives in the arts.

[dbmamaz]

also i think special needs kids can stay in high school through age 21?

[DyslexicParent]

The public school's special education resource teacher has warned us that DD is at risk of being put in the lowest pathway in high school if she is not able to catch up from being 3 grade levels behind her grade 6 all the way to getting at least 65% in her grade 8 classes 1 1/2 years from now.

 

This is the future that I'm trying to avoid:

Her IEP in high school would show that she is working towards a "Certificate of Accomplishment" only.

 

"Students who leave school before fulfilling the requirements for the Secondary School Diploma or the Secondary School Certificate may be granted a Certificate of Accomplishment. The Certificate of Accomplishment may be a useful means of recognizing achievement for students who plan to take certain vocational programs or other kinds of further training, or who plan to find employment after leaving school."

 

Instead of taking the core Math and English courses, she would be taking special "Locally Developed" replacements. Another of the mandatory subjects would be replaced with a Learning Strategies course.

 

it is my understanding that a SN child will still get credits awarded according to his/her ability and as described on the IEP. If your child were in a public school, the IEP would be drawn up, and the graduation requirements would be based on that IEP.

[Cynful]

Yes, this is what I've been trying to avoid also. In Florida, there are three diplomas: regular and two special ed ones. Either of the special ed ones will not be accepted by the military, colleges and certain tech schools. My son, I think, should be able to get a regular diploma but needs more time. Yes, we can go until 22, however, as a typical teen, he REALLY doesn't want to do that. I'm not sure how much to push the subject or how creative I can be on the diploma and not push the boundaries of what is acceptable.

[Heathermomster]

The public school's special education resource teacher has warned us that DD is at risk of being put in the lowest pathway in high school if she is not able to catch up from being 3 grade levels behind her grade 6 all the way to getting at least 65% in her grade 8 classes 1 1/2 years from now.

 

 

 

This is totally an aside, how is she progressing with accommodations? Are you planning to homeschool high school?

[dsmith]

I'm curious how many of us are graduating on time, or will graduate at a later date. For ds, I feel strongly that he will not be ready to graduate when he is 17/18. I was planning on graduating at 19, but may wait until 20. He is fine with this, our neurologist agrees that it is better for him to hold off until he is older. He isn't working at a highschool level yet, but I feel he will be in two years, at 16. With ds, I plan on regular curriculum with accommodations, as well as life skills. Is this something that is included on transcripts? He may eventually want to go to college but it will be obvious that he didn't graduate on a regular schedule. I really need a guide for this! I've been in a near state of panic the last 6 months or so, lol.

[Heathermomster]

I don't understand your child's specific needs.

 

What are we doing? Mind you, this is a child with maths/dysgraphia/dyslexia that maintained an A average in an nt classroom. Exhaustion brought DS home for 7th grade. As a rising 8th grader, he is scheduled to take 3 high school subjects that are permitted on his high school transcript. He's taking physical science with lab, history, and intro to lit.

 

Outside of math and foreign language, I expect he'll take all typical high school classes with accommodation. Accommodations include reduced number of writing assignments, audio books, increased test taking time, typing, calculator, and possibly high school science text books leveled for dyslexics.

 

For rhetoric level writing, we are continuing with IEW and the O-G tutor. I'm also about to start on the Teaching the Classics DVD. I don't seriously expect any major rhetoric level writing until 11/12 grade. Next year, I want to familiarize him with rhetoric type thinking, so that he can start to internalize the concepts.

 

DS struggles with math, so I expect his math transcript to read Algebra I, business math, math for squirrels,...stuff like that. Not sure I answered your question.

 

Tokyomarie has been there and done that. Her comments are always very insightful. Maybe contact her directly.

[Cynful]

I'm curious how many of us are graduating on time, or will graduate at a later date. For ds, I feel strongly that he will not be ready to graduate when he is 17/18. I was planning on graduating at 19, but may wait until 20. He is fine with this, our neurologist agrees that it is better for him to hold off until he is older. He isn't working at a highschool level yet, but I feel he will be in two years, at 16. With ds, I plan on regular curriculum with accommodations, as well as life skills. Is this something that is included on transcripts? He may eventually want to go to college but it will be obvious that he didn't graduate on a regular schedule. I really need a guide for this! I've been in a near state of panic the last 6 months or so, lol.

 

This!!! This is my son and myself. Except my son really doesn't want to wait, but he may gain more clarity as he matures. Mine doesn't just need accommodations, he's behind mentally and maturity wise. But's he's always moving forward, which is what they've said is most important.

[Cynful]

Thank you Heathermomster. I know we don't understand everyone else's children, but it's so helpful, at least to me, to see what others are doing and know that we're not alone. Just navigating high school alone is a little daunting let alone having to do it with my first who also special needs. I appreciate your sharing what is working for you.

[DyslexicParent]

Despite accommodations, modifications, two educational assistants, calculator, etc., she regressed from being one year behind last year to being three years behind in Math this year (using the KeyMath3 Diagnostic Assessment). :banghead: There seems to be a consistent developmental lag of at least three years or 30% behind, including in reading, handwriting, executive functions and visual motor integration.

 

If she is only at Grade 6 level by the time she is scheduled to enter Grade 9 high school, I can think of the following choices:

 

1) Hire tutors, including a student tutor from Grade 11 to help her navigate the tough social landscape of high school. We will continue to assist her in high school until the maximum age of 21 when she will leave with at least a Certificate of Accomplishment.

 

2) If she gives up on high school by the legal age of 18, we will focus on teaching her life skills, including how to live off her inheritance once we are gone.

 

3) Would retaining her in Grade 8 have more disadvantages than advantages? Some ADHD children's brains catch up to normal by 16 years of age (Grade 11), but I don't know if this applies to her.

 

4) I don't feel qualified to homeschool her. She prefers the 7 hours of public school than the two hours of afterschooling/treatments that we give her at home!

 

This is totally an aside, how is she progressing with accommodations? Are you planning to homeschool high school?

[Heathermomster]

Despite accommodations, modifications, two educational assistants, calculator, etc., she regressed from being one year behind last year to being three years behind in Math this year (using the KeyMath3 Diagnostic Assessment). :banghead: There seems to be a consistent developmental lag of at least three years or 30% behind, including in reading, handwriting, executive functions and visual motor integration.

 

If she is only at Grade 6 level by the time she is scheduled to enter Grade 9 high school, I can think of the following choices:

 

1) Hire tutors, including a student tutor from Grade 11 to help her navigate the tough social landscape of high school. We will continue to assist her in high school until the maximum age of 21 when she will leave with at least a Certificate of Accomplishment.

 

2) If she gives up on high school by the legal age of 18, we will focus on teaching her life skills, including how to live off her inheritance once we are gone.

 

3) Would retaining her in Grade 8 have more disadvantages than advantages? Some ADHD children's brains catch up to normal by 16 years of age (Grade 11), but I don't know if this applies to her.

 

4) I don't feel qualified to homeschool her. She prefers the 7 hours of public school than the two hours of afterschooling/treatments that we give her at home!

 

 

WRT their brains catching up and all that...Search postings by Doodler. Sadly, she's no longer participating. Her DD made leaps around age 15/16 yo. I believe the idea is to maintain a love of learning by feeding their strengths and taking on a more holistic, non-traditional approach to learning. This mom holds a PhD in Literature or something similar.

[JennW in SoCal]

I'm only sporadically on the WTM boards these days, but for some reason have been stopping by more regularly in recent weeks. I graduated my special needs kiddo back in 2009 and he is graduating from a specialized technical college program in a few months.

 

I think the thing you should be thinking about first is what you are aiming for post-high school. 4 year university? Or community college or perhaps some kind of technical/vocational training program? The kind of high school diploma you award, the kind of transcript you need, the kind of credit you assign will be different depending on the direction you think your child is headed.

 

The college prep route is pretty cut and dry -- 4 years of English and math, 3 years of science, 2 of foreign languages and a year each of world and American history, and often a year that is a semester of economics and history. If you are aiming for that, you can still be very non-traditional. Perhaps the "input" won't be textbook based but will be audio books and field trips and documentaries. The "output" won't all be essays and research papers but will include homemade videos or power point presentations. You will only have to justify the credits you assign to admissions counselors, and your child will have to be able to demonstrate their readiness through SAT II subject exams, or AP exams, or community college courses. If you think your child wants to and is probably capable of going that route, then you do need to think more of the transcript in more traditional, formal terms.

 

I certainly did not go that route with my special needs kiddo. His transcript had 2 years of math, 1 of foreign language, 3 of English, and 2 I think of lab sciences He did have the complete history and social science sequence, however. He did a mix of traditional academics with lots of non-traditional inputs and outputs thrown in. The rest of his transcript was filled mostly with interest based learning, which for him was all theater related. He had things like Theater 1, and Principles of Technical Theater, and lots of "community based learning" for which he received credit for all the hours he put in volunteering behind the scenes in community theater groups and at church. He had projects he had to do in order to receive credit, whether it was a journal of his work, or a video about the work he was doing. His senior project was to write a manual for stage managers for one his theater groups.

 

There were also credits awarded for cooking and for photography, and I think there must have been something else, but I can't recall -- it's been a few years! He was NOT going the 4 year route, but planned on starting at the community college then transferring. He found his unusual tech school after he had been in community college for a semester, and it has been the perfect fit. And, for what it is worth, he was ready to graduate and start community college earlier rather than later. I think we would have both been miserable if I had tried to keep him home any longer, and he did well that first semester at the community college, at the age of 17.

 

Having a paper trail of accommodations and testing was a good thing upon starting at the CC. He was able to use the disabled student services office and though he wound up not using them, he qualified for things like note takers or having his tests in a quiet room.

 

Kids DO mature and start to better manage their challenges around 16. I never could have imagine, back when my oldest was 14, that he could move all the way across the country and work for a year. But he was ready and has been doing well. He still has challenges, but he is so very self-aware, and very driven to succeed in the narrow field he has planned for himself.

[Dmmetler]

Depending on the services your DC will need after high school, you may want to look into what graduating with a regular diploma vs a special ed one will do long-term. One of my friends has a DC with autism and TBI who managed, after a lot of effort, accommodations, and services, to complete a regular ed high school diploma, barely. Things like taking Algebra 1 3x in order to pass the end of course exam, for example. A major accomplishment, indeed.

 

And one which made him ineligible for a lot of the supportive services and sheltered worksite environments that would have allowed him to be more independent as an adult. Such programs didn't care how much it had taken to get him through high school-only that he had done it and graduated-which, from their POV, said that he should be able to live independently, support himself, etc, when actually he needed 1-1 supervision basically 24-7 and would have been MUCH better served in a program designed for people with developmental disabilities.

[Cynful]

Depending on the services your DC will need after high school, you may want to look into what graduating with a regular diploma vs a special ed one will do long-term. One of my friends has a DC with autism and TBI who managed, after a lot of effort, accommodations, and services, to complete a regular ed high school diploma, barely. Things like taking Algebra 1 3x in order to pass the end of course exam, for example. A major accomplishment, indeed.

 

And one which made him ineligible for a lot of the supportive services and sheltered worksite environments that would have allowed him to be more independent as an adult. Such programs didn't care how much it had taken to get him through high school-only that he had done it and graduated-which, from their POV, said that he should be able to live independently, support himself, etc, when actually he needed 1-1 supervision basically 24-7 and would have been MUCH better served in a program designed for people with developmental disabilities.

 

WOW!! I had never thought of it that way. I always saw the reverse, that if he receives a special ed degree, he wouldn't be able to do certain things, like college. I guess I'm not really sure if I need to worry about the way you described or not. I think he'll be able to live and work independently, but I really haven't allowed myself to think about it in any other way. I guess I have even more to think about now. Thanks for pointing this out.

[kerenlynne]

Kids DO mature and start to better manage their challenges around 16. I never could have imagine, back when my oldest was 14, that he could move all the way across the country and work for a year. But he was ready and has been doing well. He still has challenges, but he is so very self-aware, and very driven to succeed in the narrow field he has planned for himself.

Praying for this maturity for DS:) He is 16 and technically a sophomore by years in school, but still a Freshman by credit. Someone on the LD boards encouraged me earlier this year about the delayed graduation. I think DS can complete all of his credits for college(at least CC) but maybe not the advanced math. Unfortunately, he is slow and needs a lot of help from a pushy mom just to keep up. We are planning on doing summer school for math so we don't lose any gains we have made over the summer. I am hoping he will find an area of interest so that when he finally graduates from HS, he knows what to do next. I think the most difficult aspect is when you don't know what the plan for your child is going forward. I think DS can make it in college, but I am not sure if that is the "right" course for him so we will just plod along day-by-day until we get to the end.

[Cynful]

Paradox,

 

That's how my son is with school. I'm not sure if it's just the normal teen anti-school thing or the this is too hard thing or both. We already held him back in preschool so he'll be 19 when he graduates (will have just turned in April) but I'd really like him to do one more year of high school anyway. College or community college or tech school aren't going to care what age he is. I'm not even sure a job will care.

 

I also have a very hard time knowing how to gauge how much work to give him and how much to push. We'll keep chugging away.

 

Maybe we can keep this thread updated with ideas that work for all of us?

 

Good luck,

[ondreeuh]

Here are my thoughts ...

 

If my son is not college-bound, then it doesn't particularly matter whether his high school transcript looks typical or not. Really, who is going to look? The vocational schools go by your TABE test results (Test of Adult Basic Education). If he can get a good score on the TABE, he will be eligible for those programs regardless of what his English credit was composed of.

 

My school district has a TON of adapted classes in their course catalog. If you have an IEP, you can take classes like LA Strategies, Life Skills English, Math, and Science, Daily Living Skills Math, Fundamentals of Algebra, Fundamentals of Geometry, Lifetime Fitness, etc. I assume there is some type of adapted diploma.

 

If my son is college-bound, then I would do what I could to prepare him with a typical course of study. He has an IEP, and I would continue to keep that current as a paper-trail to show his need for accommodations. If we stay here, I will likely partner with the district homeschool program to get him an official school diploma. In our state, you get a certificate of achievement when you fulfill graduation requirements, but you only get a diploma if you pass the High School Graduation Qualifying Exam (which is similar to the GED in difficulty, I think).

 

To get a Certificate of Achievement, he would need to take:

 

Health ................................................................................................................... .5 credit

Language Arts ...................................................................................................... 4 credits

• English 1 ...................................................... 1 credit
  
• English 2 ...................................................... 1 credit
  
• English Electives .......................................... 2 credits
  

Mathematics ......................................................................................................... 3 credits

• Algebra ........................................................ 1 credit from the following:
  
  • Algebra 1
    
  • Cognitive Tutor Algebra
    
  • Introduction to Algebra
    

  [*]Geometry ..................................................... 1 credit from the following:

  • Geometry
    
  • Informal Geometry
    

  [*]Math Electives ...............................................1 credit

Physical Education (see BP 6146.2 (B) for waivers) ................................................ 1 credit

Science .................................................................................................................. 3 credits

• Physical Science .......................................... 1 credit from the following:
  
  • 
    Physical Science
    
  • 
    Integrated Science 1
    

  [*]Life Science ................................................. 1 credit from the following:

  • 
    Biology
    
  • 
    Integrated Science 2
    

  [*]Science Electives ......................................... 1 credit

Social Studies ....................................................................................................... 3.5 credits

• Civics............................................................ .5 credit
  
• Alaska History .............................................. .5 credit
  
• World History .................................................1 credit
  
• United States History .....................................1 credit
  
• U.S. Government ......................................... .5 credit
  

Electives ................................................................................................................ 7.5 credits

[DawnM]

Subbing.

 

My child is technically 9th grade this year and we really don't know if we should say he is really 8th grade or just move him along because we aren't sure another year would help that much anyway.

 

It shouldn't matter either way, but our stinkin' HS group decided they want to do these graduations and he wants to do them, so we need to pick a grade. UGH.

 

We really don't think he will be able to complete a 4 year college degree unless it won't require any English classes with heavy writing!

 

He wants to go into something along the lines of graphic design, art something, animation, gaming, that sort of thing, which may be more of a Technical school program for him.

 

Everything for HSers seems to be geared towards the high achievers. It is frustrating.

[Finnella]

My child is technically 9th grade this year and we really don't know if we should say he is really 8th grade or just move him along because we aren't sure another year would help that much anyway.

 

It shouldn't matter either way, but our stinkin' HS group decided they want to do these graduations and he wants to do them, so we need to pick a grade. UGH.

 

We really don't think he will be able to complete a 4 year college degree unless it won't require any English classes with heavy writing!

 

He wants to go into something along the lines of graphic design, art something, animation, gaming, that sort of thing, which may be more of a Technical school program for him.

 

Everything for HSers seems to be geared towards the high achievers. It is frustrating.

 

I'm in a similar boat and trying to decide what to do. My DS is 2e, so college is a possibility but not a sure thing. So for now anyway, I think I have to be prepared to go either way.

 

We started homeschooling about halfway through his 6th grade year due to bullying. I spent the rest of the year finding out all the things ps didn't teach him. For example, he hadn't progressed beyond 3rd grade in math and was still counting on his fingers for everything. 

 

Right now, we're already in 9th grade but only half way through Pre-Algebra and need to be through Algebra I by the end of the year. I think he's pretty tired of playing catch up. There's also the maturity issue from his Aspergers, and his anxiety has spiked this year. Not all of it can be attributed to school, but some of it can.

 

He's smart but his LDs are still a big problem. I'm just not sure what would be better for him: push on or say we're doing another 8th grade year to give him more time.

[8filltheheart]

Depending on the services your DC will need after high school, you may want to look into what graduating with a regular diploma vs a special ed one will do long-term. One of my friends has a DC with autism and TBI who managed, after a lot of effort, accommodations, and services, to complete a regular ed high school diploma, barely. Things like taking Algebra 1 3x in order to pass the end of course exam, for example. A major accomplishment, indeed.

 

And one which made him ineligible for a lot of the supportive services and sheltered worksite environments that would have allowed him to be more independent as an adult. Such programs didn't care how much it had taken to get him through high school-only that he had done it and graduated-which, from their POV, said that he should be able to live independently, support himself, etc, when actually he needed 1-1 supervision basically 24-7 and would have been MUCH better served in a program designed for people with developmental disabilities.

Which state is she in? One thing that we have learned is that states definitely operate differently.

 

Fwiw....our ds qualifies for a lot of services based strictly on his diagnosis. His education has never been a factor in determining services in the 2 states we have lived in.