It's been ages since the last update, and that's because life turned upside down for a while. It's still not quite "right", but it's about as best as it's going to get for a while.
Thursday was my first official IEP meeting as the parent of a high school student with Autism. That's a huge milestone for any Autism parent (or parent of a kiddo with special needs), that most simply do not think about. Many parents take for granted that their "typical" child will move through preschool, and then K-12, with zero hiccups. It's just how it is. Sure, grades go up and down like a kid's moods, but they all end up with a diploma at the end. (We hope). However, parents of ASD kids often find themselves wondering how to get their kids an education, when their kids seem unable to learn, or read, or even speak. Jack is not in that situation, thank goodness for him. However, given his entire past history of behaviors, there was no taking for granted that he would even be in a "regular" high school. He is, thank goodness. He's riding the bus with his sister again, he's walking to class in an out-building, he's staying after for a Game Club, and even going to math tutoring without argument. He's even in some honors classes. The IEP (especially the part with the "transitioning to adulthood" questionnaire) showed me what things I still need to help him work on to be prepared once he flies the coop. However, it's also shown me just how well he's doing. He still gets accommodations for tests, and needs help with organization and how he handles requests to do work, etc. But he's headed in the right direction. That's honestly the best I can hope for, for high school.
Savannah has "been there, done that" with her first job. She did a 5-month stint at a local eatery. Despite being only 16, these people had her working nearly 40-hour work weeks. Seriously, it was a nightmare. She enjoyed the socializing part, and the "making money like she's never made before" part. However, being called to cover someone else's shift, or working the line solo while it was super busy, just really turned her off. She finally gave notice (honestly, with our approval- we were tired of picking her up after 11pm!), and will probably wait until school is out for the summer, to look for something else. Which is just as well, considering her math grade tanked once she started the job. This is the second year in a row that she's just completely given up on bothering with math. She may very well have to take it over the summer, to get the Art classes she's hoping for next year.
My last post mentioned the PSAT, and how they have a stupid rule that anyone on an IEP has to stay for the entire test, or else suffer some kind of consequence. Well, I was able to get Jack early from school that day, once all of the other kids in his unit were done. However, that's not where this story ended. I received an email from the Educational Testing Service, stating the following:
"ETS received a report from the test center supervisor which indicates that you failed to follow test center directions by working on a section of the test during the time allotted for another section. This letter is to advise you that the reported incident is considered an infraction and serves as notification that violations of test procedures are reviewed. At this time, no further action will be taken and your scores for this administration will be reported. However, for any tests administered by ETS, a subsequent infraction may result in score cancellation and repeated violations may result in your exclusion from future testing. Therefore, please familiarize yourself with test procedures before taking any other tests administered by ETS".
Thursday was my first official IEP meeting as the parent of a high school student with Autism. That's a huge milestone for any Autism parent (or parent of a kiddo with special needs), that most simply do not think about. Many parents take for granted that their "typical" child will move through preschool, and then K-12, with zero hiccups. It's just how it is. Sure, grades go up and down like a kid's moods, but they all end up with a diploma at the end. (We hope). However, parents of ASD kids often find themselves wondering how to get their kids an education, when their kids seem unable to learn, or read, or even speak. Jack is not in that situation, thank goodness for him. However, given his entire past history of behaviors, there was no taking for granted that he would even be in a "regular" high school. He is, thank goodness. He's riding the bus with his sister again, he's walking to class in an out-building, he's staying after for a Game Club, and even going to math tutoring without argument. He's even in some honors classes. The IEP (especially the part with the "transitioning to adulthood" questionnaire) showed me what things I still need to help him work on to be prepared once he flies the coop. However, it's also shown me just how well he's doing. He still gets accommodations for tests, and needs help with organization and how he handles requests to do work, etc. But he's headed in the right direction. That's honestly the best I can hope for, for high school.
Savannah has "been there, done that" with her first job. She did a 5-month stint at a local eatery. Despite being only 16, these people had her working nearly 40-hour work weeks. Seriously, it was a nightmare. She enjoyed the socializing part, and the "making money like she's never made before" part. However, being called to cover someone else's shift, or working the line solo while it was super busy, just really turned her off. She finally gave notice (honestly, with our approval- we were tired of picking her up after 11pm!), and will probably wait until school is out for the summer, to look for something else. Which is just as well, considering her math grade tanked once she started the job. This is the second year in a row that she's just completely given up on bothering with math. She may very well have to take it over the summer, to get the Art classes she's hoping for next year.
My last post mentioned the PSAT, and how they have a stupid rule that anyone on an IEP has to stay for the entire test, or else suffer some kind of consequence. Well, I was able to get Jack early from school that day, once all of the other kids in his unit were done. However, that's not where this story ended. I received an email from the Educational Testing Service, stating the following:
"ETS received a report from the test center supervisor which indicates that you failed to follow test center directions by working on a section of the test during the time allotted for another section. This letter is to advise you that the reported incident is considered an infraction and serves as notification that violations of test procedures are reviewed. At this time, no further action will be taken and your scores for this administration will be reported. However, for any tests administered by ETS, a subsequent infraction may result in score cancellation and repeated violations may result in your exclusion from future testing. Therefore, please familiarize yourself with test procedures before taking any other tests administered by ETS".
So, I was a little pissed when I read this. When I asked Jack about what this could have been about, he said there was a mix-up with two sections of the test- they were done out of order. That's certainly not Jack's fault, unless HE thought one section of the test was to be done before another. I don't know. It just seems stupid. These are PSAT's. They're doing it for practice- this year and next. It doesn't count for anything. So why the hassle? SMDH.(I asked his Intervention Specialist, but she hadn't heard anything about it until I forwarded her the letter). Sigh.
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