Reply to IEP and services at the high school level

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[quote=Anonymous]
Here is an excellent web site that I have listed in resources for parents I have met over the years to help with the issue of "Treansition Planning" called http://www.youthhood.org/

- It is not just for teens with a disability.

- The first paragraph sets the tone"Hello! Hey, we're glad you made it. This site is a place for you, your friends, and other teens. It's a welcoming community for all youth and a place where all youth belong. We want you to be here. This is your place, your space.

Here you can start thinking about what you want to do with the rest of your life. This Web site was built to help you plan for the future. What will you do after high school? Will you work? Go to college? Live in a place of your own? By using this Web site, you can plan for your future right now!"

Is is just a fact that Transition Planning for and with a teen with a disability can be more complicated.  Given the huge costs of even instate college, one might want to seriously get to know the local community college to consider if this might be the first step on the leg of higher education.  Some aspects of community colleges today are:

- A student can take the required courses for an undergraduate degree that one is weak in without a full load if need be, and spread out over summer sessions, too.

- A student can live at home and save money while getting used to all the transitions which come with college life.  And it is a fact for many of these teens that just learning the ropes of independent living with a home base might help them succeed rather than bombing out the first semester.

- A student can do both at a community college besides starting out more slowly, one can also complete an AA degree which besides enabling one to transfer to a four year college many times will give one real credentials for the work world.

- Very, very important is that in the community college there is not the pressure of so many years to complete a degree in or to take a full-time load that there is still in many four year colleges (which again are expensive.)

By junior year in high school, it is also time to have an honest conversation with your teen and his/her guidance counselor to see where the student stands in terms of higher education at this point in time.  A 4-year college is not the be all and end all for all students, though it is still trumpeted as so. Take the time to research together and to get first-hand information as much as possible by a visit on each campus with the learning needs center.

I would also encourage a teen with a disability to get out in the summers and do some volunteer work or find a part-time job.  For many it will give them some new skills and for many it may well help to build a positive confidence and record of success which as a struggling student, one so often does not feel.[/quote]

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