Helping Your Autistic Teen Survive High School With the Future in Mind by Jennifer Kirchoff
My son was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) at age 7. I remember thinking, “What will his future in education look like now?” And, in a brief moment of sad despair, “What can he even hope for as a future with these struggles?”
Fortunately, by advocating for our son at every Special Education meeting, ensuring he received the most appropriate learning modifications, working with his counselors and teachers, and making sure he had a balance of physical fitness, proper nutrition, medicine and personal interests (Asperger interests can often be obsessive in scope and drown out everything else!) within each school day, slowly but surely, my son not only achieved successes academically, but also began developing his own unique goals in life surrounding his academic successes.
Attending college became his next goal, and we worked with his counselor and teachers with that in mind. It is truly joyous for me to share that our son is finishing his first year of college, with a load of 33 credits by August 1, 2018! He did have to take a gap year for health treatments, but now stands to wield a GPA of somewhere between 3.75 and 3.9.
Dreams can come true!
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