<p>Missypie - “(Or my son can get the job where he reads the same book a dozen times.)”</p>
<p>Sometimes you just have to laugh. The funniest thing is that his favorite books are mysteries…so tell me again why anyone would read a mystery novel once they already know whodunnit? ;)</p>
<p>^To see what hints they missed the first dozen times through.</p>
<p>Your S and I have a few things in common. :)</p>
<p>My son can’t figure out how I can say I like a book if I have read it only once.</p>
<p>Missypie- I feel for you and your S. Don’t discount future colleges not looking at the HS grades and SAT scores. For some schools if you have under a certain level of units they want to see them.
My older child had severe depression issues that caused some school interuptions. Her GPA stayed fairly strong but she had 2 semesters full of W’s. When she went back to school she applied to a large amount of schools. Some of the schools cared and others did not. In all cases she sent her SAT scores whether they asked for them or not. She figured it couldn’t hurt. Quite a few schools wanted her HS transcripts as well.
Maybe at some point you and your S can visit some of the schools that have a more structured support program. Your S is about a whole lot more than numbers and a GPA. Hopefully with a structured program they would be willing to look deeper and see how special he is.
Another story-
My ADD/LD executive function disorder son just graduated from college. Freshman yr we thought of bringing him home. I am glad I didn’t. I knew if I brought him home he would have end up on the couch not doing much of anything aside from video games and basketball games. He still has huge EF issues but he is so proud of himself that he made it and graduated when everyone doubted he would last a semester.</p>
<p>“As for my two cents: When in doubt keep the kid close to home. Being away at college is nothing like navigating highschool. The challeges are both social and academic and a kid with any type of challeging situation can easily crash and burn. You really have to know how your kid reacts in many situations before they head off to a campus far from home. By far I mean anything that means you will not see them at least once a week. Nothing is worth risking the type of crash and burn that could happen.”</p>
<p>I don’t know about that. Perhaps my kid isn’t an aspie after all…but probably the best thing for him was leaving home. Being away from overbearing parents, arranging so much in his life for him. Being responsible for himself, yet in a positive and supportive environment. He has flourished in so many ways, being on his own. Though there are many schools that could have worked out badly for him.</p>
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<p>There are a few folks on CC who have received a midsemester “come and pick him up” phone call. There are others whose GPAs were so low that they couldn’t continue.</p>
<p>The question is, is it better to keep a kid close to home at a college with lesser support, but with more parental availability, or to send a kid further away to a more wrap around program like Univ of Alabama-ACTS? We are really struggling with this dilemma for my son who will be a senior next year. Would really appreciate anyone’s experience on this.</p>
<p>adamom -</p>
<p>If a program such as the one at Univ of Alabama has most of what you would want for your child, could you also arrange to maintain regular contact by skyping and having a parent visit every other week (or even every week) until your son is well-settled?</p>
<p>I think a college that specializes in his interests would be perfect for him. Say MIT. You said he loves math and science. Well guess what, so does the majority of the school. By sending him to a school where the majority of the students share the same passion as him, he would have plenty to talk about. Of course I’m not talking about solely MIT, but schools like RIT would fit as well.</p>
<p>GL to your son</p>
<p>Thanks for the thoughts and we are going to continue our search. I am hopeful we will find the right situation to help him thrive and succeed.</p>
<p>Does anyone have info on disability support services for the technical institutes like MIT, RIT, RPI? DD likes the idea of being around a bunch of science geeks but I’m nervous about the level of support.</p>
<p>My son will be going to UA in the Fall and will be in the UA-Acts program.From the meetings we have had so far I feel like this is the right place. One aspects of the program is to maintain weekly parent contact. I know that without support my son would be lost!!! He spent two years at a small college that was about 2 hours away. They were able to work with him and get him ready for a bigger college ,we werele to bring him home on weekends. He really struggled the first year but we hung in there and it paid off. He really wants to go to UA…if he did not have the support in place he would be to afraid to try it and so would I. It is 6 hours from home so I feel like this will help him gain some independence. When we went for our inteview I asked what causes a student to not do well and they said it is the student that does not want to be there. My son can’t wait to get there. We go in two weeks to BAMA bound where he will get to meet his mentor and reg for fall classes. I hope this will work out for him…all we can do is try and PRAY a lot!!!</p>
<p>Ixrayyou, I would love to hear how things work out for you and your son, so please keep us posted once he settles in at school.</p>
<p>Pondering this thread sent me into a tailspin of regret and depression last night. I really think that the absolute best program for Son would have been Alabama’s…with his HS stats, he could have received in-state tuition, and perhaps he’d be ready for his junior year in colllege instead of being a college drop out. But we only considered schools in a 3-4 hour radius of home, thinking that was best. Now no one will give him any kind of merit aid based on the dismal college record he’s racked up. </p>
<p>OP, I don’t want to make you panic but it’s so important to get it right the first time if you are relying on any kind of merit aid.</p>
<p>Here’s something I didn’t really understand at the time that I think is essential to focus on. Many Aspies and kids with EFD need SUPPORT…not just accommodations. Every school has a disabilities office, every school has to give accomodations. But many of these kids need very frequent EFD coaching, counseling, psychological services, help with getting prescriptions filled, etc etc etc. If a parent has been the coach/executive function throughout HS, the student will very likely need at least that level of SUPPORT at least initially in college. Being allowed a notetaker and a quiet place to take tests is a tiny drop in the bucket of what these kids need and most schools do not offer intense support —even if they say they do.</p>
<p>Missypie-maybe a call to Alabama’s program and have a conversation with the director. It might be worth a shot. I would think your S’s case is not unique. The director might be able to offer you some insight as to what your next step might be.</p>
<p>Mom60, I looked up Alabama’s transfer requrements and they say you need at least a C on every single college course. I’ve emailed the transfer admissions officer to ask “really?”…his GPA is plenty high enough to transfer, but two Fs would seem to make transfer impossible.</p>
<p>missypie - what if he were to retake the courses with Fs?</p>
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<p>What is crazy is that Alabama would give him credit for one of the failed classes due to his AP score! His original school didn’t give AP credit for it. The teacher required all the tests to be taken using a certain computer program and he never could figure out how to work the program (and never asked for help, of course) so he’d spend all of the test time trying to work the program.</p>
<p>The other was in a foreign language and he just can’t pass a FL past the “101” level. Alabama requires either hours in FL or computer, and of course, he’d ace the computer classes.</p>
<p>I have to think there is a way to get around any “no failed classes” requirement (maybe I looked at the wrong page or an outdated page, but I thought it said 2.0 or above overall in attempted classes?), especially in PieSon’s case - keeping my fingers and toes crossed here that you will get some encouraging news soon from the transfer admission officer!</p>
<p>I must be reading it too literally because I looked and the same language is used to describe the degree requirements. If my interp is true, then no one who had ever failed a class at Alabama could ever receive a degree from there.</p>