Informal survey on bombing senior year, with IEP

Parents Forum
1

We were trying to see if my son was able to survive senior year with the minimal accommodations he would have in college, and the answer is no.
Honest opinion is that it is mental health related, and we are following up on that. Yet we know several of his teachers are not following his IEP - just like college because those accommodations won’t be possible.
That being noted, we are looking at the following options:

  1. Let things remain as they are, let him graduate, and he can go to community college if he wants to. School is fine with this.
  2. Send him to a non-traditional school, now, that can deal with students with learning disabilities - our dime, he has a new guidance counselor and a new case manager this year, so they just want to graduate him and would not pay for a new school even if he is not getting FAPE.
  3. Send him to a non-traditional school next year, as a gap year, applying to college in December of next year assuming all goes well.
  4. Send him to a school to work program, which technically would keep him in the school for another year. People who run the program know that he would plan to go to college after he leaves the program, not to work.

It’s really confusing to us, especially because he thinks he can apply to and get into a 4-year college with Ds and Fs senior year, like they are going to look only at his 9th - 11th grade results. I doubt anyone knows of a college like that.

The informal survey is, which would you choose? Which would cause the least harm if it doesn’t work out?

Even though the cost might be sending bad money after none, we are seriously thinking about #2, because both schools we are looking at have experience with kids on the spectrum with learning disabilities. The cost is about half that of a 4-year college. But how can it look to change schools senior year - would a gap year be better?

Would a traditional gap year program look at senior year grades, or just take our money :slight_smile: ?

2

I’m sorry that your son’s school has failed him. Many accommodations are like glasses – they don’t help if you don’t wear/use them. A school should never take away accommodations just because a kid is a senior. Kids need training to compensate for their weaknesses (and even then generally need to take fewer classes at a time to manage).

I think you should keep your son close to home until he is able to advocate for himself. Clearly if teachers aren’t following the IEP and he isn’t complaining and just taking the Ds and Fs, he isn’t ready to advocate for himself in at a faraway college. Investigate the quality of services available at your community college.

Whatever you do, your son needs to buy into the plan. Right now, it sounds like he is in denial about where he could go with his senior record. A lot of boys get to college flat out deny they need help to protect their ego and then bomb out their first semester. It’s actually better to bomb out in high school – IF it becomes a learning experience and leads to better things. But with some LDs it’s hard to connect cause and effect without help.

The school is clearly giving you the runaround, too. They’re trying to steer you into what is best for them. I would hire a private educational psychologist to assess your current situation and not just take the school’s advice. In the meantime, his grades show he needs his accommodations back right now. Get them back in place while you figure out the future.

There are accommodations available to college students. Here is a list of colleges to try – I copied the names from Colege Transitions Dataverse Colleges for Students with Learning Disabilities. If you google the list and find it, each school name is a link that goes to the relevant program page when you click on it.

Adelphi University
Alfred University
American University
Bard College
Clark University
College of Charleston
Curry College
DePaul University
Drexel University
Fairleigh Dickinson University
Hofstra University
Lynn University
Manhattanville College
Marist College
McDaniel College
Mercyhurst University
Northeastern University
Purdue University
Rochester Institute of Technology
Syracuse University
University of Arizona
University of Colorado Boulder
University of Connecticut
University of Denver
University of Georgia
University of Iowa
Xavier University

3

Is this a kid who is academically oriented and really wants to go to college, loves to learn, etc. or a kid who is going through the motions scholastically because he knows it’s what you want?

4

At this point, I’d be less worried about what would look best to colleges and instead be laser focused on a very definite understanding of what DS’ issues and needs are and a detailed plan for how he will develop the skills needed for him to succeed long term. Without that plan, you could very well get him through HS and into college only to discover he struggles at college.

The prior poster’s suggestion about having a private educational psychologist help you develop a detailed plan is a great one.

And as you work with the psychologist and your son, keep in mind the long term goals of your son being employed and self-sufficient. College isn’t the end goal - a compatible career is. Understand that although you can get accommodations in college, that’s much more rare in the work place. It makes sense to consider your son’s strengths and weaknesses in the choice of what type of degree to pursue and what type of long term career will be a good fit for him. In other words, don’t move heaven and earth to get him through college to get a degree in a field that isn’t compatible with his LDs.

Step back from the focus on getting him into college and think big picture. What is your son struggling with? What skills does he need to develop to be successful long-term? What type of career(s) would fit his desires and his abilities? How does he connect all these dots? You may even find college isn’t what he needs in the next few years.

5

Have you talked with Landmark, either for senior year or for college? They also have a summer program and a bridge to college program I believe. Curry and New England College are sometimes mentioned. Many community colleges offer excellent support for kids with LD’s and/or on the spectrum andor mental health issues, especially if registered with the Office for Disbabilities.

I think it is a mistake to let the school get away with not accommodating him on the idea that this lack of support somehow resembles college. For one thing, he deserves to perform to the best of his ability in high school, regardless of what he does in the future, and accommodations are legally required to help him do that.

Not only should his IEP be followed but he is most likely entitled to services at a specialized school if the current school cannot meet his needs. Schools fight these placements because they are so costly: even the transportation is a budget killer. if residential, naturally, costs are even higher.

You need to advocate for you son now. If he doesn’t have a recent, full neuropsych. evaluation by the school, you can ask for that and if you disagree, in our state at least, they have to pay for a private one. Or you can skip directly to a private one with a provider of your choosing.

If that has already been done, find a lawyer who specializes in educational issues. Believe me, spend $150 for an hour with an attorney, mention it with a smile to the school, casually, and things will start to change immediately! If the lawyer has to come to meetings it will cost more, but it may be well worth it. There are sometimes advocates who work for less or even volunteer if money is an issue.

Your son should have accommodations on SAT and ACT as well, and apply well in advance. This is leveling the playing field. Try to understand that concept which is the basis for the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Colleges provide many accommodations. You are right that they are not obliged to provide them at the level provided by a high school. Accommodations cannot pose an undue financial or administrative burden on the school or substantially change the curriculum. However, accommodations such as single room, reduced course load, extensions on projects and papers, extra time on testing or testing in a separate room, excused absences for appointments, note-takers and many other accommodations are available. He should register with the Office for Disabiltiies but also access help from deans or other appropriate administrator, and a therapist or mD.

Individual advising and tutoring can be helpful, as can a coach, the latter provided by you most likely. Coaching can be in person, online or by phone and it helps a lot of people. Landmark can give you names.

No offense, but I think you are operating with some misguided notions. You are no doubt overwhelmed. Don’t give up pressing for full accommodations in high school, including a placement in a private school paid for by the current public. And don’t project into a future of college of job without accommodations. College also needs to be a level playing field and there ARE legal rights.

The most positive approach can be “strengths-based,” or perhaps “interests- based.” Hoping your family can find a way to access that path. It’s hard. NAMI and other organizations with people struggling with similar issues might be helpful. In our state there is a Federation for Children with Special Needs, not sure about other states.

6

Let him know that colleges want students that will do well. If he is getting Ds and Fs in the hardest courses, he won’t do well in college.

Have him go back to his accomodations. Then consider CC for two years and then finishing at a 4 year college. He has to run his own race.

7

Look at OPs previous post. This student used to have a 3.8 GPA and a 1350 SAT.

If there is nothing else changing besides withdrawing of IEP support, the school is really failing this kid.

8

Who made the decision to try this? Was this an IEP team decision or a family decision?

If he was doing fine with the IEP that was in place…why would this be changed?

9

Perhaps to see what happens before he heads off to college. My daughter is IEP eligible, but we’ve never had one for her because she won’t have one in college and certainly won’t have one out in the workforce. That means that instead of being near the top of her class, she has struggled a little more and has performed merely “respectably”…but it also means she’s had to develop the skills that she’ll need in college and in life - and is going to a school that is going to be a good fit for her rather than one she’d be set up to fail at.

10

This is misguided in my opinion. Colleges do have accommodations. And accommodations in high school can provide a more solid launching pad in many ways, including confidence.

This attitude really does let the public schools off the hook. I have never run into it in all my years of parenting. But every family has its philosophy and every kid is different.

11

Most parents and counselors try to get juniors and seniors in high school to take charge of their IEP meetings and making sure the accommodations are being granted so the student can understand the plan and advocate for it when they get to college. Dropping it seems a little drastic because there are going to be some accommodations in college.

I don’t like the idea of transferring to another high school. There isn’t enough time to get a new plan in place.

12

Schools that are focused on learning disabilities, kids on the spectrum and/or mental health challenges can be very helpful, and if the placement is needed and justified, the public school may have to pay for it.

13

Schools may have to pay for private schools after all efforts have been made to serve the student in the school district. However, where do you think that money comes from? If the school district is paying for the private school, everyone else gets less.

14

^^^^^This is the core of the IEP problem – the law says all students are entitled to FAPE, but budget realities cause schools to provide the minimum they can. Special needs and general education budgets shouldn’t be competing for the same pot of money,

But this student was apparently doing well without a special school. They just took away too many supports.

15

We don’t know WHO suggested doing away with the supports.

@rhandco could you please clarify. Did the school suggest the IEP supports be removed…or did you ask that this be done to see how things would go without them?

What data was presented at the IEP meeting that would have supported removal of IEP supports.

16

I am well aware of the conflict between special education and the regular school budget and have led three separate local political campaigns in my town to address this.

The fact remains, a public school is legally required (by the ADA) to provide funding for private schools (and transportation) if a services at the school are proven not sufficient. It is not at all clear this is the case for this child, but since the parent mentioned the option of a new private school, it seemed reasonable to mention it- if not for that family then for others reading this.

17

@compmom

I agree with you… but we don’t know who made the decision to suspend the provisions of the IEP. And @rhandco doesn’t seem to want to clarify this.

18

I was responding to specific posts, not the main issue here. If the parents suspended the IEP to gauge performance without them, it strikes me as almost bizarre. The school must love this family.

19

I’d go for #2, with this is mind: the preparation you give him now/in the hs years, will serve him better in the future than staying in a no-win situation. And I’d be planning for more than just spring semester, also the following year.

Even if you get the hs to follow the IEP to the letter, their begruding efforts won’t serve him well as he goes forward after hs. It seems he needs more than the next 5 months, more than just to get the hs diploma.

I can see why you tried this. I do think you’re looking forward. Even if the hs accommodations had been perfect, he needs more. I think you’re wise to look into this.

20

Also with regards to work…you get a project/task and a time frame, and you have to do it. But work is “open book”…you can ask questions. There are no “tests” where you have a small time frame to do something complicated with no resources.