Abe (almost 18 yo, PDD, ADHD, NVLD....) is taking his first steps. (Okay, Ora has totally blown her mind this time.) These are the first steps towards college. And believe me, mom is much more worried than when he took those first steps 17 years ago!!
A few weeks back, Abe, along with many (all?) of the kids in his school took the SAT. They all had time and other accomodations. I know that his IEP talks about testing breaks, small group sizing, having someone re-read the question to him. The only feedback that I got on this (from Abe) was that he didn't get too much done on the essay section. This was definitely going to be his worst section, but supposedly FLC has been working on this skill...... The kids wasn't bummed out about it, but Mom is anxious to see the scores.
So now we've been to a "College Open House". Abe isn't going to go to this school because while they have a great accomodations program (called PAL), it states upfront that it's geared for kids with learning difficulties and they don't want anything to do with kids with emotional issues. (Hrrumph)
But we had a really good day looking at the school. There were times that I thought that it might work for Abe, but.... Actually, the bottom line is that they don't have any majors that turn him on. And we had a nice day being together.
There is a meeting a school in the coming weeks. It's the annual IEP review, but also a transition planning meeting. I hope that they come to the table with some good suggestions, because otherwise, it's all on Mom (of course). Abe just wants to make the final decision but he wants mom to do all of the groundwork for him. I'm working on getting an advocate to come with me because what I really want is for him to stay where he is for an additional year- and NOT graduate this coming year.
Abe is okay with this idea. I think that he's scared out of his mind about going off to college. Which, frankly, is a very mature attitude.
Rosie (14.5) is all ready to start picking out her eventual school right now- by herself. I told her to back off until we have Abe into college.
As this blog reaches its 1st birthday, I look back over a lot of trials and tribulations to be at this point. That is where there is still a lot of work to do for my kids, but they are starting to show signs of maturity and becoming "real" people that you'd like to be around. In other words, though my teens make me tear my (thinning) hair out, I can proudly say that they are good kids!
looks delicious: and sounds both exciting and scary!
Posted by: Daisy | October 29, 2008 at 12:05 PM