If you have a teen with high functioning ASD that has bounced around school placements...please share your wisdom!

[kristenlc1]

hello all--my son is 16 yo. He has ASD ,dysgraphia, ASD, low working memory and sensory challenges. He is bright but school adversive his whole life. He just failed out of a more supportive CTE high school --it will be his 3rd out of district placement since 8th grade.
The pandemic severely impacted his middle school experience-first there was virtual school in his home district and then when the kids went back to in person it was a disaster because his public middle school was terrible. So he went to a out of district school that was essentially small group tutoring for kids with anxiety and school refusal. It was poorly run and reinforced a lot of my son's bad behaviors (elopement/work refusal/oppositional behavior towards teachers and fellow students).Freshman year was spent at a OOD placement that was too academically rigorous and did not offer the supports it said it would offer. he spent the rest of the year being tutored. This year we tried a school known for hands on learning with an agricultural focus and for supporting neurodiverse kids--my son loves animals and we thought he would thrive with hands on learning) but class sizes were too large and the supports weren't there.

We are faced with transitioning back into his public high school because the out of district placements in our area are geared toward much lower functioning kids. We have a cursory schedule set up for him composed of preferred subject electives and a combination of resource and inclusion classes. Hoping to find a good afterschool activity (likely something involving gaming and/or job training in food service or working with animals. He has a good sense of humor and can be social --he is in fact quite extroverted - but is young for his age, and young looking and we are afraid of what happens when he rejoins peers he knew in elementary that have advanced developmentally in the physical and social realms.

I am exhausted by the back and forth and I guess I am looking for stories of hope or advice if you have been thru the wringer with a kid like mine. I would also love to hear any tips you have in terms of what worked for reintegrating your child into a new school .

[Anonymous]

No advice, but similar questions here, and just wanted to send positive thoughts your way. He sounds like a great kid. Hang in there.

[Anonymous]

You are very kind to say so!

[Anonymous]

Where are you located? Have you looked at your district’s non mainstream alternatives?

My kid had serious issues with elopement, school refusal, oppositional behaviors, executive functioning issues, low processing speed and mental health issues did really well when he was placed in one of our district’s non mainstream alternatives. It takes awhile to work through the IEP process but the program and staff were amazing.

Before that, mine had a few psych hospitalizations and was placed in virtual school, which, like regular classrooms, was a disaster.

Good luck.