Question re high school

[Guest guest]

Hi ya'll,

DJ started high school last year. Spouse & I purposefully kept a very low

profile regarding questions and/or demands (for want of a better word) regarding

community skills or class work. We communicated freely with teachers via email,

notes, phone on a daily basis as needed.

We did this because we were battle weary from the 8th grade experience which

unfortunately escalated out of control from January until end of that school

year. Which included multiple IEP meetings from hades that the upcoming high

school teacher attended ( & blindsided by what went down).

We did not want this high school teacher to be left with the assumption that we

were " those " kind of parents, so we kept a low profile while we observed from

afar & picked our " battles " very carefully.

I am a mellow person but the 8th grade experience did such a number on me that I

became very very angry & to be honest I needed time to get waaaay over that.

I am glad we did this because it enabled the teacher to really see us and not be

all on guard or feel pressured. And DJ had a relaxed good 1st year in high

school as we all adjusted to the new.

One of my questions involves community skills. In our area this involves going

into the community & " working " at different locations several days of the week.

There is a calendar that shows where & what days DJ " works " . Are we supposed to

know what it is that DJ does? I know this sounds crazy, but we honestly have no

clue what he does & it is not something that is spelled out on the IEP.

Second question is similar to first. During 8th grade IEP prepping,I discovered

that our state had new initiative which had just started that basically allows

moderate to severe special needs kiddos to take same curriculm as reg ed kiddos

to earn credits TOWARDS A HS DIPLOMA. Course work had to be modified as needed

& course work could be taken for as long as needed to attain the credits.

This is huge & enables the kiddos that participate to continue to be educated

past age 18! Something I really was ready to fight for anyway but now do not

have to (whew). So as long as DJ is " enrolled " in the Access program, he will

continue to take coursework while in high school (until age 22) as opposed to

the focus being on vocational skills until age 18 & then strictly vocational

skills until age 22.

Since it is a new program, I think none of us knows stuff. For instance, I

always saw the class work my nt sons did. I know what courses DJ has but have

not seen the work. And come on, report cards tell you nada...

Realistically,are these things that I could/should expect or ask about? Keep in

mind that the IEP and the ACCESS course work are seperate. So are job skills.

It just seems odd & feels strange for me not to know what DJ is learning to do

on job skills or classwork. And I cannot help reinforce any skills if I do not

know what they are.

Thanks for any input. High school is a whole different realm & giving teacher a

break time is over (lol) as I figure he knows us by now. I really like this

teacher-great with all the kids & does special things like the camping trip. He

really went out of his way last year to make us feel comfy & has proven himself

with DJ. Still...

Hugs,

Kris