Enrolling ID Student in Public High School

[imagine.more]

Hi everyone! So we've finally reached high school age with Ana (15) and we've decided to enroll her in public school for 9th, mostly because at home she refuses to do her schoolwork without tantrums and glares and I'm too tired to fight to make her care about her education anymore. We're fully recognizing that she will learn almost nothing in public school but I figure if she refuses to learn at home I might as well have more free time :P lol!

 

So, for those who have enrolled their kids with special needs (especially mild/borderline intellectual disability) I'd love to hear how it went and get some tips! I'm worried about academics of course but also socially. They're putting her in all general ed classes as her adaptive skills are higher than the ID class students. I'm very concerned about her low vocabulary and naivete making her a target for bad 'friends'. But then again, maybe she could find another less intelligent girl who is sweet and fun like her? I'd so love for her to have close friends...she struggles to keep up with kids her age beyond superficial conversation.

 

And academically...I'm not sure the school truly 'gets' how low her vocabulary is. We've discussed, they have her scores, and they are doing the right things in the practical sense: I just get this vague sense they think she's more capable than she is. On the other hand, I have no idea what the range of abilities/achievement truly is for high schoolers. I only attended Honors classes except PE and one English course that was 'college prep' and which seemed abysmally low to me as a student. But that was so long ago I can't judge if it would have been too hard for my daughter. Also, schools nowadays have gotten rid of the tracks so all you have are regular classes and honors/AP. No vocational track and special ed classes are used very sparingly. Not sure how that all affects the quality of the general classes.

 

Anyway, I need reassurance and tips! Ana was furious that we registered her but seems to be warming up to the idea. I'm still nervous though!

[Hilltopmom]

I just posted about this recently too :)

 

My dd went to visit the school today for a few hours. She loved it.

 

updating evals the rest of the week& next.

 

All inclusion classes most likely,but I'm trying toat least get her in a pullout math situation.

 

I'm having her go into 8th to get a year to prep before she needs to start accumulating credits to graduate. (She's mad about that)

 

Eta- apparently I should've known not to redshirt her way back when. She'll turn 15 during 8thgrade. In retrospect, she's right, but it's too late now. Socially, she belongs with the high school kids. But academically, I dunno, high elementary. Sigh.

Edited June 7, 2017 by Hilltopmom

[Hilltopmom]

I looked it up,mthe thread was "s/o if you put your ld Kid school".

Scroll down about a page and a half to find it

[Guest]

I believe Ottakee put her ID kid(s?) into public school for high school and had a positive experience. Hopefully she will chime in. I'm watching this thread closely. :)

[PeterPan]

I think how helpful they are varies with the school. If you have any choice on schools (out of district placement, charter, whatever), that could help. In general though, it's a system and the ps will take them in and let them fail a while and then slowly begin to grind the system.

 

Could she qualify for ESY (extended school year) or something this summer, so they could work with her and have a jump on getting a more accurate IEP in place?

 

And yes, it's the case that they can have kind of an optimistic or pessimistic take on the scores. It's kind of a good sign if they've met her and think they can have an optimistic take, kwim? It means she's got some strengths that might come out.

 

Do they have vocational schools or other options in your area?

[imagine.more]

I think how helpful they are varies with the school. If you have any choice on schools (out of district placement, charter, whatever), that could help. In general though, it's a system and the ps will take them in and let them fail a while and then slowly begin to grind the system.

 

Could she qualify for ESY (extended school year) or something this summer, so they could work with her and have a jump on getting a more accurate IEP in place?

 

And yes, it's the case that they can have kind of an optimistic or pessimistic take on the scores. It's kind of a good sign if they've met her and think they can have an optimistic take, kwim? It means she's got some strengths that might come out.

 

Do they have vocational schools or other options in your area?

No school choice here, it's very take-it-or-leave-it. This school does have an excellent graduation rate though (like 95%!). There is a technical school that offers things like culinary classes for juniors and seniors so we're planning to take advantage of that when she's old enough.

 

They only do summer school to retake failed classes so there is unfortunately zero flexibility there. That had been my first thought as well.

 

Most people think Ana is perfectly normal when they first meet her. Basically you have to see her for a full 24 hour period to start getting hints of something being off. Or try to talk to her at more than a superficial level. It's interesting all our family members who stay for a few days with us leave saying, "wow, I didn't really see what you were worried about before, she seemed so normal, but now I do!" Even her school teachers took months to realize how little she understood of class because she's sweet and smiles a lot and can look attentive. So it's not surprising the counselor and everyone is somewhat overestimating her at the outset.

 

So we're trying to prepare her for some basic facts of high school. Especially what's different from 6th grade which was her last time in PS. So far we've covered:

 

Bells- nobody will walk her to her class, the students will go by themselves to different classes

 

Lockers- she needs to write down her combination so she doesn't forget

 

Teachers- she will have a new teacher every semester (this school has only semester-long classes for every subject, like a big block schedule)

 

Lunch- she needs to find her own seat--sit with someone else who looks like a freshman and seems nice, do not sit with juniors/seniors (she thought you sat with your teacher and class) and do not bother the teachers monitoring (she will go 'mommy hunting' for nice female teachers and latch on)

 

Dances- no, teachers don't assign you someone to go with...a boy asks a girl who he already knows/likes. (She seriously thought the teachers assigned you a date to prom! And she's seen plenty of movies about high school)

 

Anything else you guys can think of that average kids just pick up but she might not?

[Hilltopmom]

My dd thought that if she "failed" her re eval testing,they would put her in elementary school.

 

You can't have your backpack in the hallway or classes- must be left in locker all day.

 

Gym lockers,hall lockers & how to work them

 

What Study hall is

 

How going to resource room works (like for extended time on tests)

 

Dress code

 

Getting out to the bus on time at the end of the day

Edited June 7, 2017 by Hilltopmom

[Hilltopmom]

i know exactly what you mean by "nothing seems off at first" .

 

Dd has this issue. She can chat like a typical high school kid,gets along great with everyone, interested in current stuff.but....has such low level academics that I'm having trouble picturing herein a regular class, even with supports

 

I'm trying my hardest not tofreakout. I good friends with a counselor there who will look out for her,at least. And the high school art teacher is a high school buddy of mine

Edited June 7, 2017 by Hilltopmom

[Hilltopmom]

Oh,yesterday when she was visiting, the bells weren't working. She couldn't figure out how everyone knew when it was time to leave each class, she told me "wow, the bells are too quiet". I had overheard the office staff telling someone else they were being worked on,so off.

[Ottakee]

I did put my 3 in school in 6th or 7th grade.  All have cognitive impairments.  One esp. is like your dd.  She comes across as higher than she really is.  A few minutes and people don't see an issue.........after a few days/weeks it becomes much clearer.

 

Does the school offer any "resource room" classes or "merit" classes?  Our school does.  These are classes between the level of the cognitively impaired classes and the regular ones.  They try to cover the same topics but less in depth, a slower pace, modified, etc.  That is where one dd did much of her classwork.  Those might be a great option for your dd as they are smaller, have tests modified, etc.

 

You will also need to consider if you want her on the diploma track or a "certificate of completion" program.  In our state if they get the certificate of completion they are eligible to attend young adult services/skill training until they are 26.  If they get a diploma, they are done, not matter how much they could benefit from extra help after graduation.

For the locker, if learning a combination is difficult, you could ask for a very simple combination to be set up for her (and tell her NOT to tell others her combination), have a key instead of a combination, etc.

Can they pair her up with a buddy her first few days to help her navigate the school, the lunch room (ours has LOTS of options....and lots of different prices), etc.  She will need to be reminded to use the rest room during passing time if possible and at lunch (and before going home if the bus ride is longer), etc.

You can also contact the school social worker as they often have "clubs" for kids to help them make friends, learn some social skills, etc.

 

[imagine.more]

I did put my 3 in school in 6th or 7th grade. All have cognitive impairments. One esp. is like your dd. She comes across as higher than she really is. A few minutes and people don't see an issue.........after a few days/weeks it becomes much clearer.

 

Does the school offer any "resource room" classes or "merit" classes? Our school does. These are classes between the level of the cognitively impaired classes and the regular ones. They try to cover the same topics but less in depth, a slower pace, modified, etc. That is where one dd did much of her classwork. Those might be a great option for your dd as they are smaller, have tests modified, etc.

 

You will also need to consider if you want her on the diploma track or a "certificate of completion" program. In our state if they get the certificate of completion they are eligible to attend young adult services/skill training until they are 26. If they get a diploma, they are done, not matter how much they could benefit from extra help after graduation.

 

For the locker, if learning a combination is difficult, you could ask for a very simple combination to be set up for her (and tell her NOT to tell others her combination), have a key instead of a combination, etc.

 

Can they pair her up with a buddy her first few days to help her navigate the school, the lunch room (ours has LOTS of options....and lots of different prices), etc. She will need to be reminded to use the rest room during passing time if possible and at lunch (and before going home if the bus ride is longer), etc.

 

You can also contact the school social worker as they often have "clubs" for kids to help them make friends, learn some social skills, etc.

 

 

I had been hoping for some resource room classes but they only have regular ed and the enclosed sped class. We're planning to start her on the diploma track as the first goal since in VA there's no benefit to the certificate of completion over that. It'll be a challenge, but we'll see if she can do it.

 

She's very adept at physical stuff so her locker shouldn't be a problem as long as she keeps the combination written down just in case all year because her memory is spotty. I'll have to ask about a buddy for the first couple weeks. That could be helpful!

[Storygirl]

We've visited three public high schools, looking forward to DS's needs. He just finished sixth grade, and we wanted to find a good PS placement for him for high school, so that we have time to move and change districts if necessary. Looks like we will probably be moving.

 

DS does not have ID but has a low/borderline IQ, NVLD, social impairments, ADHD, learning disabilities, and additional issues. So he needs significant help. He is in private school now, with an IEP, and gets good help from the intervention team there, but his school ends at 8th grade.

 

Each of the schools here have an option for general ed plus intervention (sometimes called co-teaching), where there is an intervention teacher in the room, along with the general classroom teacher. There are also intervention study halls, where the students get help on their classroom work as well as their IEP goals.

 

There are also resource room options, but each school varies in terms of whether they would place him in resource room or general ed plus intervention, or a combination, depending on the subject.

 

We gained a lot of information about the differences in the schools when we toured. One school that supposedly has a good intervention program actually had disappointing answers to some of our questions, compared the the others, so we crossed it off of our list. Things we didn't like:

 

*all students had to take algebra in 9th, no matter what (DS has a math disability)

 

*they did not offer gen ed plus intervention for any social studies classes (the school we like best does)

 

*they only offered gen ed plus intervention classes for 9th and 10th grades; no in-class intervention for 11th and 12th grades, because they want the students to be working toward independence (not taking into account that for some students those higher grades will present the most challenge)

 

* no alternate texts provided for English classes (DS has reading comprehension disability) so that he could read the same text at a lower reading level.

 

* they put students into general classes they knew they cannot handle, and then grade them pass/fail, so that they can move them through to the next grade

 

*resource room is a last resort for the lowest level students

 

They did have some positive things to offer, but overall they failed to match the help that our first choice district offers. Most of the help would come in intervention study hall, but he would have to take one study hall for English, a second for math, and a third to provide help for his other classes. Social skills would be covered in a fourth class. This is crazy!! It leaves no time for electives.

 

In contrast, the school we like best would place him in the resource room for English and math, have him in general ed plus intervention for social studies and science (but could move him to resource room if needed, because they have that option), and would have one intervention study hall per day, not three or four.

 

I think each of the schools would offer him assistance in getting around the school and managing the lunch room.

 

We hate the idea of moving (we just moved two years ago), but we will do it to put him in the better district.

 

Ask if they have intervention teachers placed in the general classroom. If they do, ask if she can be placed in those classes.

 

Schools really do vary. I hope that yours turns out to be a good option for her. It's good that she is a candidate for vocational school (DS may not be a fit for a vocational program, so that is a factor for us). I think that many vocational schools can do a good job working with the students who have trouble with typical academics, and graduating with job skills is a major plus.

[Pen]

My ds started back into public school this year. He has some LDs, but not low intelligence.

 

He has a friend (I'll call "Jimmy") who does have low intelligence who was also new this year...or rather, like my ds, new after many years away. They had been in Kindy together.  

 

They both joined the cross country track team, a fall sport with a lot of nice kids in it (at least at our school). Even better, practice for XC began before the regular school year did, so both my ds and Jimmy had a good group before school started. My ds turned out to be good at XC. Jimmy turned out to be pretty good at sprinting, not so good at distance running, but  Jimmy walking when tired was accepted and no one who wanted to join XC was turned away. The kids in XC have been helping to keep Jimmy clear of "bad elements" and in an ok situation socially.  If you can discover a group like that that would be okay for Ana at her school, I think that could help.

[Pen]

Dances here: it is okay to go alone as well as with a partner at least to 9th grade dances.

 

And here the teacher DJing dances so far helped by having already paired kids start dancing together, but then had all the pairs break up and each person go ask a non dancing person to dance, then all those pairs break up and each person ask a non dancing person to dance until everyone was dancing (guess they had an even number of kids or maybe some teachers danced to make it even).

 

At my ds's school they did a fair bit of moving kids around during the first few weeks as they discovered what level class kids needed.  For the kids there were not optional drops past the first week, but the staff seemed able to do class switches a lot longer. I don't know if that is typical.

 

I highly recommend getting a study hall especially one with a teacher available to help if that is at all possible.