asperger education

Tommorrow my 15 year old aspie starts high school. A year ago he had his first ever evaluation by a school psychologist, and three months ago we had his first ever IEP meeting. Despite problems he had after enrolling in cyber school three years ago, no evaluation was offerred. The special ed director actually told me to attempt accessing therapeutic services through our private health insurance. It took two years of the poor boy working sixty hours a week before I made a big enough stink that they agreed to the evaluation. It was even longer before he got the initial evaluation. I didn't understand our rights, or anything about how the system worked. Honestly, it didn't occur to me that my high functioning boy was entitled to special ed services, including at the very least, a very thorough evaluation. We STILL haven't had that, but at least now I know what I'm looking for.

T's most obvious deficit was in the area of written expression, and even though it took awhile, after three years he has now been assigned a resource teacher to help him with his writing assignments. But we are now running out of time. He needs so much more than help with his writing; there are social skills to work on now that we won't be spending sixty hours a week trying to keep up with academics. There is an important transition to adulthood that is starting to be the top priority on my list. When he finally had his IEP meeting at the end of last school year, I was encouraged that his team included a "transitions" counselor. I didn't know that such a thing existed. But I'm learning.

One thing about the IEP meeting that was a little disheartening was the fact that his newly assigned resource teacher was obviously about to go out on maternity leave. And sure enough, when his new guidance counselor left me a message a few days later to tell me what T's new class schedule would be for the fall, it was all too obvious that the resource teacher had not coordinated any exchange of information with guidance regarding the provisions of the IEP. Not only that, when I tried to contact the guidance counselor later in the summer when I felt sure that he would be returning to the school, I found out that he was reassigned, and at present there is NO guidance counselor for freshman. So knowing that the resource teacher was still out on leave, I called the special ed director and asked for her to please make sure that T's new guidance counselor, whoever that might be, would be sure to take into consideration the IEP provisions which would impact the new roster of classes.

Almost a full week later, I got a voice mail from the resource teacher telling me that she would still be assigned to T, but that she would be working from home until mid November. My heart sank. Although I thought kudo's were owed to the school for consideration to working mothers, I knew from previous experience that reaching their part time special ed coordinator who worked from home also was almost an impossibility. But then things started looking up; an assistant from the guidance department told me that the resource teacher had completely changed T's schedule around, taking into consideration the IEP provisions, and the resource teacher herself returned my phone call promptly, and with babies wailing in the background, had a fruitful conversation with me about T's needs and his new roster of classes. Pulled out at the zero hour, to be sure, since school starts TOMMORROW, and this conversation only took place two days ago, but hey, it's a semi good sign if nothing else. T is actually feeling optimistic about it, and that is a big relief for me.

On a I-don't-know-if-it's-a-good-or-bad-thing note, T was not accepted into the gifted program. They don't tell you the reason why, but I'm hoping that once we get past the beginning of the school year, the director there will be willing to give me some good insight. I had so many doubts about the program that I wasn't upset when we got the rejection letter. I knew at least that he had been very seriously considered. The deal breaker for me was the three day on site component with a long commute. I would have been willing to kill myself for two days, but three would have been very very hard on T (and me), and I wasn't even sure it was really the best fit. I found out that they don't have an arts or music program, and I think T's destiny lies with media arts. He really has told me consistently for the last couple of years that he wants to be creative, and I'm not sure that potential would have been tapped at the gifted program. I am currently contemplating three other programs that might be more appropriate.

One of these programs under serious consideration is attached to his cyber school: a performing arts division. Fortunately this is only two days a week, and is very focused in professional arts. I'm still not sure that it's the best fit, but I will take a close look at it. One nice aspect of T's new IEP is that he will get six years to complete high school instead of four if he wants, and this buys us some extra time to participate in high school programs that might really help him with job skills. We are also definitely looking into a new technical school built nearby that has a computer certified program similar to what T's daddy completed. Since I think computer skills will be so essential to a career in media arts, I feel more certain that this would be a really good fit. And it's only two hours per day, five days a week, short drive, in the afternoons - perfection.

However, it will all depend on the staff there and the accommodations, and how closely they supervise and discipline the other students. One thing for sure I knew about the gifted program, and the performing arts program as well, is that they would both contain exceedingly positive social experiences, as discipline and expectations are both high. This new school serves the five public school districts nearest to where we live, and as such, I am concerned seriously if the discipline standards will be as lax there as they are in the five districts, plus other technical schools available in the county. The other technical schools in the county would be the third option we should check out, unless I want to go the private school route. I have been told repeatedly by our current school's administrators that autistic kids belong in special programs at private schools (far away) that should be paid for by our district of residence. These people hadn't even met T. I didn't trust what they said, and decided on a watchful wait strategy. Sure enough, last March at the open house, I met another teenage boy with aspergers, and his mother, and if anything, he was less high functioning than T, or at least somewhere around the same. An extremely bright kid with lesser discernment as regards to social skills when compared with T. I wish they lived nearby so we could hang with them.

I figured if HE had a decent IEP and was thriving at the school, then why the H should I switch T over to a private school with a long hours and long commute that he would probably hate? Admittedly, since then I have found some private schools specializing in autism that are much closer by, so I would reconsider my stance. But I sure wouldn't let some people who had never even met T tell me what was best for him. One of these same people later told me that he thought I was asking for way more accommodation that T needed. Well which is it, dude? Either T needs to be in a private school, or he's not that needy. Either way, the message is not to subtle; We Do Not Want To Deal With Your Kid's Needs At Our School. Well tough, they had warning when we first came in, and I'm not making T change schools just because THEY don't want to live up to their obligations. TOO FREAKING BAD.

That is all for today. I will post on how the first week with the new IEP goes.