Reply to What does high school look like for your mildly CI child?

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[quote=Anonymous]
Mom - Has your child been identified with an Intellectual Disability or a Developmental Disability?  There is a very important distinction because in the future as an adult if your DC is going to need what are called Adult Service Supports in order to live as independently as possible, maintain a job etc., then you need to have testing in hand which clearly identifies your child as having an ID or not with an onset date before age 18.  Or if DC is identified as having a DD, then it must clearly be stated and the onset date must be noted as before age 22.  [b]Even if your DC is testing in terms of the psychological a few points above what might qualify for future direct service support along with perhaps a high score on adaptive behaviors, you still want to be sure that you have this documentation in hand now or as soon as possible.  Why ??  As an insurance policy in case future testing shows more of a decline in IQ and possibly much more in the adaptive skills area to enable him to qualify and if he just may need such services as an adult once school ends.

Now for high school, I think you should continue to think of the blend that has been in place for your child in middle school and make the strong point that he has benefited from this approach.

1- I would keep the smaller classroom setting for direct core instruction in reading and language arts, especially if he is at least two years below grade level as you want him to make progress baaed upon his developmental skills base and learn to read and write as well as possible.  For math, I would definitely include computation goals using a calculator accurately.

2- I would have him go to at least one regular high school academic class with support and possibly in the early years of 9th/10th grade in social studies and a science class.  See if there is the option of any sections of these disciplines which are co-taught or team taught with a regular ed and a special ed teacher.

3- I would have him do all of the usual electives.  If he has a special interest or friends in say the band - maybe he could get credit for helping to be in a supportive role as band manager or to try a simple instrument.

4- I would encourage him to see what school activities he might try - again if there is a sport he really enjoys which he might be able to do such as track or swimming, then encourage him to try out.  Or if there is a sport he may have some peers going to play such as basketball or football, see if he might be in team management.

High school should afford him the same opportunities as any other student, BUT in my opinion a key question is do you think he will have the ability pursue a regular high school diploma or not?  You probably know this by his skill levels in reading and math at this point, but if on the borderline, then I would go for it with accommodations in school and with tutoring outside.  By the end of the first semester of sophomore year, I would also say it is time reassess and see if following a vocational sequence with support might be the key to future opportunities once  high school ends, especially if he is not likely to want to stay in school longer than his peers.  (This is often more true for students with mild, but still challenging, disabilities than those with more moderate, severe or multiple.)

If you can reach out to even one family with a teen with a similar functioning skill level to find out what the various pathways are and the strongest program to continue to learn core skills, it will be valuable information.  What I would not do is focus just on "academic inclusion" way above DC's understanding with no concrete connection to life once public education ends for four year just to have him feel good with his peers.  Start out broad expectations, but then as time and performance occur, be ready to make more targeted decisions.  This is basically the information I am preparing in several documents for high school students with special needs in transition in our area from the perspective of a parent of a young adult who did not get a regular high school diploma.

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