High school for an Asperger's child?

[Night Elf]

Despite what my DH believes, I do not see our ds13 completing a high school diploma program using Keystone National High School like his big sister. Ds13 is very smart with facts, writes fairly well once he gets past the initial writer's block, does not relate to personal writings like narratives or journals, and has difficulty following a schoolish program when he sees most of it as unrelevant or downright boring. We always had to modify Calvert and K12, as well as other materials. He's now an 8th grader and I still can't see him using a program without modification.

 

I realize we represent a very diverse special needs community on this board, but what do you think about a high school education for our kids? I think Clonlara is the only way to go for our ds13. I just have to convince DH. DH is certain that ds13 can complete traditional work if given lots more time to do it. I don't see how time is going to really help. It hasn't before this, why should high school be any different?

[HeidiD]

and has difficulty following a schoolish program when he sees most of it as unrelevant or downright boring.

 

 

I tend to agree with him on that. And since the ultimate objective of "traditional work" is to develop certain skills, this can be accomplished with various approaches. The accredited correspondence schools are one possibility, but they don't allow for an individualized approach relevant to the student's skills and interests. We've been taking the "home-designed" high school route with several of our kids, using Transcript Pro to make up a nice-looking transcript, and doing dual-enrollment for a course or two at the local state college. So far, it's working out well. I imagine my daughter with Aspergers will follow the same path (she's in 8th grade also).

[Orthodox6]

I'll probably end up swinging a bat by myself in left field with this response. . .

 

As parent of an Asperger's son (currently in high school), and as a probable Asperger's person myself . . . I do not see much, if any, relationship between having Asperger's and obtaining a high school education. (and, by extension, with obtaining a college education) If modifications have been necessary for a school program, I would gamble that they were necessary because of one or more LD issues.

 

What OP describes sounds, to me, like behavioural issues to work through, rather than Asperger's influences.

[Night Elf]

What OP describes sounds, to me, like behavioural issues to work through, rather than Asperger's influences.

 

No, I disagree. It's definitely not behavioral. I spent years fighting that label from people who thought he needed discipline until he was diagnosed. It should be noted that not every Aspie has the same traits as another.

 

The modifications I've done so far are totally on my own. I get no help from our medical doctor/insurance (Kaiser) or our school system. I have no idea of what kinds of modifications he may qualify for because I can't find anyone to give me that information. The school system will only talk with me if my son is enrolled and that isn't going to happen. Even Calvert School wouldn't bend their rules and insisted he write tests and essays by hand because he would need that skill in the future. I had to drop Calvert, but I am glad to see they may have changed their attitude since then.

 

My dd17 is an extremely bright young student, classified as gifted and took honors classes in high school. She finds the Keystone classes to be extremely challenging. Having worked with my son for years, I know for a fact that he cannot produce the amount nor quality of work they desire.

 

Sorry to get defensive, but I would think a parent of a special needs kid would understand that every child is different. Just because your kid can do certain things, doesn't mean my kid can. Also, I didn't say he couldn't obtain a high school education. I said he can't handle the traditional path. There are other options. I was hoping to discuss those other options. Kudos to your son. I'd like to cry now.

[Night Elf]

I tend to agree with him on that. And since the ultimate objective of "traditional work" is to develop certain skills, this can be accomplished with various approaches. The accredited correspondence schools are one possibility, but they don't allow for an individualized approach relevant to the student's skills and interests. We've been taking the "home-designed" high school route with several of our kids, using Transcript Pro to make up a nice-looking transcript, and doing dual-enrollment for a course or two at the local state college. So far, it's working out well. I imagine my daughter with Aspergers will follow the same path (she's in 8th grade also).

 

Thanks. I definitely need an individualized approach for my son. I would love a dual enrollment in college but the state colleges here in Georgia, or at least all the colleges around us, have very strict rules. At least, they don't make it easy. They require a detailed portfolio with textbook titles, course descriptions, examples of coursework including daily work, tests, and projects, as well as an outline of the themes of the courses. Or, the student can take all the SAT II subject tests. I don't mind going through all of that to submit an application for a freshman in college but I can't see doing all that for either his junior or senior year in high school. :)

 

So far, he's not planning on going to college. He says he wants a regular job and does not like the idea of continuing school beyond high school.

[Dobela]

My brother has Aspergers or high functioning autism. He has an above average IQ and managed to get a high school diploma - with lots of modification and assistance. It was not an easy road. College was worse. Finally he did receive a Rehabilitation rating of some sort based on "general learning disabilities" (this was before we had an official aspergers diagnosis) that allowed him to be considered a full time student at 9 hours a semester rather than the traditional 12 or 15. It helped a little, but college still wasn't what he needed. Finally he went thru a rehabilitation school - kind of like a special vocational training school - and there they helped him find a career that he liked and that best fit his strengths and weaknesses. They did all sorts of educational testing, psychological testing, and more. We found it thru the state department of Workforce Education. I don't know if every state has one of those however.

 

At this point, if your son was in public school and receiving special services, you would be making long term plans education and career wise in special ed meetings. You would be deciding if he was taking a college track or a vocational track and then plan coursework accordingly. If you want a traditional diploma, I would look at how many credits he would need in your state. Then modify from that. If it just says 4 math credits, maybe he could do consumer math, general math, and algebra (and so on) instead of the geometry, trig, preCal course that others take. For English, find out what the local schools use for "Basic" classes and use something similar. Maybe find their scope and sequences or frameworks (what our state calls them) and cover what is found in those without all the extra "fluff". That is how the schools here do it for special needs teens. It may be that he can attend the local vocational school part day even as a homeschool student. Ours is attached to the local community college anyway.

 

What does he like to do? Could he be a handy man? Carpenter? Heating and air technician? Or does he prefer other activities like cooking or putting information into the computer (like a medical coder) You may want to look at finding a place he can apprentice at. We have friends that paid for their Aspie son to become a boat mechanic. He went to the special school for 1 or 2 years after high school at a community college vocational program. Now he has his own thriving shop. He is an excellent mechanic. However, his bookkeeping skills and customer relation skills are poor so the mom works part time with him helping manage those aspects of the business.

 

You are doing a great thing planning ahead to the future. Too many folks spend so much time struggling in the "now" that they forget to plan ahead as well.

[Orthodox6]

I'm so very, very sorry. The absolute last thing that I ever would want to do is to upset another parent of a special needs child, to make him/her feel defensive, or to feel bad in any way at all.

 

You are so right that every person is a different individual, and that the same named condition "presents" differently from person to person.

 

My only motive with the earlier post was to suggest that perhaps your son has undiagnosed LD conditions. Parents sometimes don't think of this, or else don't obtain evaluation (for a variety of reasons).

 

Instead, I guess I just put my foot in my mouth. My delivery style evidently is quite poor. (see following paragraph)

 

That is why message boards like this don't make any sense. None of us really can understand what anybody else is going through. I believe that I should not post on special needs boards because of this. I am not upset that you spoke right out to me; I'm glad that you did. Truly, though, I don't see that I should try to communicate with other special needs parents via the medium of a message board. I have felt this way for a very long time, and I appreciate this thread giving me a "wake up call" reminder. Not just what has transpired in this thread, but the cumulative effect of trying to post in many "special needs" threads on this, and other websites.

 

Again, I am feeling terrible that I triggered any unhappiness on your part, no matter how unintentional it was.

 

Sincerely,

 

Antonia

 

 

 

 

No, I disagree. It's definitely not behavioral. I spent years fighting that label from people who thought he needed discipline until he was diagnosed. It should be noted that not every Aspie has the same traits as another.

 

The modifications I've done so far are totally on my own. I get no help from our medical doctor/insurance (Kaiser) or our school system. I have no idea of what kinds of modifications he may qualify for because I can't find anyone to give me that information. The school system will only talk with me if my son is enrolled and that isn't going to happen. Even Calvert School wouldn't bend their rules and insisted he write tests and essays by hand because he would need that skill in the future. I had to drop Calvert, but I am glad to see they may have changed their attitude since then.

 

My dd17 is an extremely bright young student, classified as gifted and took honors classes in high school. She finds the Keystone classes to be extremely challenging. Having worked with my son for years, I know for a fact that he cannot produce the amount nor quality of work they desire.

 

Sorry to get defensive, but I would think a parent of a special needs kid would understand that every child is different. Just because your kid can do certain things, doesn't mean my kid can. Also, I didn't say he couldn't obtain a high school education. I said he can't handle the traditional path. There are other options. I was hoping to discuss those other options. Kudos to your son. I'd like to cry now.

Edited August 25, 2009 by Orthodox6

[Night Elf]

What does he like to do?

 

Right now, he just reads a tremendous amount on video games and American History mostly. Besides playing video games, he follows the gaming magazines and gaming websites. He talks "shop" with the guys at the local game store. He loves the idea of working at the game store some day and said as long as he can stick to talking video games, he wouldn't mind talking to other people. He doesn't make eye contact and he stutters. He is embarrassed to talk to anyone except the employees at the game store.

 

I know it's a bit early but I figure because he is 13, we need to have some kind of plan in place. I looked at Job Corps and although I can't find the income requirement anywhere online, I am positive we exceed it. We are not a low income family. The other option is a local technical college. He has to be 16 and either have his GED or be willing to work on his high school diploma while studying for whatever vocation he chooses. That could be a good option IF they offer something he feels he can do.

 

There is one private school for kids like him that would be so absolutely great for him but the tuition is $17,000 a year. That is way beyond what we can afford. I talked to them about financial aid and was told that only kids enrolled for a year or more can qualify. It's tough to be a middle income family. When I asked for suggestions on how other families afford it, they said we should look into financial aid loans. We make too much for any kind of assistance and we don't make enough to foot the bills ourselves.

 

I just see him going backwards in his academics. Right now, the only thing that is going well is grammar and vocabulary. We're backing up in all the other subjects and finding another way to approach writing. The writing and research report in his K12 7th grade LA was absolute torture for him. We stopped the writing portion of LA. The literature has been great as far as giving him lots of different things to read, but he's had trouble following instructions to understand deeper meanings like why something happened or what may happen next.

 

Oh now I'm just rambling. It's late and I'm tired. :)

[hsmamainva]

Right now, he just reads a tremendous amount on video games and American History mostly. Besides playing video games, he follows the gaming magazines and gaming websites. He talks "shop" with the guys at the local game store. He loves the idea of working at the game store some day and said as long as he can stick to talking video games, he wouldn't mind talking to other people. He doesn't make eye contact and he stutters. He is embarrassed to talk to anyone except the employees at the game store.

 

 

 

I just have to comment!!

 

Your son sounds JUST like mine!!

 

He adores American history, and can rattle off countless presidential facts. Name the year; he'll name who was in office at the time. He loves video games and computers. He's also very introverted and has a hard time speaking to other people...unless the topic is video games!

 

We're also not sure where he's headed in the future. He has another 2 years of homeschooling after this year (he's currently a 15yo 10th grader). We're considering the community college, but he has significant issues with language arts (especially writing..both the content and the physical act of writing itself). He does well with math and he's VERY good at art.

 

We have a few ideas floating around right now. We're attending a workshop this coming November on options for Asperger's students. They'll discuss college and technical schools, etc. So we want to see if they have any words of wisdom to share.

 

One thing we're considering is college online. A good friend of ours is an accountant and we've thought about that for him. She works out of her home and she's extraordinarily busy during tax season (from December through April), but the rest of the year is very light. She makes a fairly good living and it would appeal to my son, who's very logical and orderly and enjoys working with numbers. There are numerous online colleges that offer degrees in Accounting.

 

Another option we're looking at is computer repair. Another friend of ours repairs computers....sort of like Geek Squad, if you're familiar with them. He visits homes and businesses and repairs their computers. If they can't be fixed on-site, he takes them home and fiddles with them there. He also builds custom computers.

 

We're planning on getting our son a part-time job at a video game store to help with his social skills. We've already talked to the manager of the one we frequent most often and he's already expressed an interest in hiring him, once he turns 16 (which isn't for another 9 months).

 

I would continue to explore all options. Talk to people in your community and see if they're willing to take your son under their proverbial wing. (Another friend of ours is a landscaper and he's also expressed a willingness to help our son if he's interested in a career in landscaping).

 

I hope this helps a little bit!

[TravelingChris]

WE used Clonlara for about five years. OUr eldest got his high school diploma from them. I think it would be just right for your situation. THey have requirements like four years of English but you get to choose how to fulfill those. So in his case, have his writing be business style writing- make an advertisement for a game, write letters to game manufacturers, write a review of games, etc. Continue with reading and choose materials that would interest him. I think that we push college too much in this country. Many jobs don't require college skills and many kids, due to interests or abilities, aren't college material. Clonlara requirements seemed to me to be very typical of what high school requirements were before many states went gung-ho on everybody becoming a scientist or something akin. As you can see by the many questions on the high school forum, many complete normal neurologically kids can't handle certain subjects on an accelerated schedule. Regardless of any special needs, each of our children is different and may require different approaches. My son didn't particularly like group classes and ended up doing a rigorous high school schedule with only home classes and one camp and Algebra online before high school. My next child has done co-op classes, Community college classes, online classes, video classes and regular homeschooling. I have had to adjust some things for her since her memory isn't the best. Then my youngest may have something different yet. I don't know.

Realize that even in so-called good schools with good scores or A ratings, a lot f what is done in class is not very traditional and often not very educationally worthy either. I thought that having AP English classes spend time on college application essays not to be a worthy use of time in a class that was supposed to be college level. THe fact that many of the homeschool curriculum and other homeschoolers use basically college level texts and materials in high school, doesn't mean you have to nor does it mean he is a failure. I think sometimes Dads who usually don't have all that much time with the kids often think they should be doing the same things not realizing how different they are. My dh realizes their different personalities but I am rather sure he doesn't fully realize their learning style differences.