My School Administration and Me - A Battle.

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I will condense this as best as I can, and I would appreciate any insight as to what to do about this.

In 3rd Grade, I was diagnosed only with clinical depression, although the Aspergers symptoms were definitely present. And I went through the public school system being shunned, rejected, and thereby fueling my social anxieties as well as my overall angry demeanor. I was finally diagnosed with Aspergers in my freshman year of high school - 9th Grade. Now, 3 and 1/2 years later, I am still trying to get my school administraton to understand and implement my requested accomodations. As of this moment, I am on Homebound Instruction - which they have said is temporary (9 weeks max) - and intend to re-integrate me back into the school. I wish to continue the Homebound Instruction as a middle ground between Homeschool and their little failing mind-control experiment (regular public school). They state that I am their first student with this serious of a problem and are new to this process, yet they claim that there is nothing further that they can try within their district (IF they are new to this, then they DON'T KNOW THAT). On top of that, they have refused to allow me any additional time to complete a semester's worth of required work for a Journalism class that I was absent for- there are 4 days left in the semester, and they expect me to study for finals AND do all of this work in that 4 DAYS! I will have one semester left of my senior year - and being in the building around my shunning, stupid, annoying, greedy, apathetic peers causes severe anxiety which results in physical symptoms (constant long lasting bad headaches and digestive issues). I am not going to go through more physical and mental anguish because they say I have to if I, in fact, do NOT. My therapists are doing all they can to convince the school that it is not right to subject me to this anymore. There are not any prominent homeschooling programs in my area. The alternative to this battle is to drop out and get a GED, or homeschool myself- which I actually wouldn't mind as I hate their busy work. Yet colleges do not view the GED to be as good as a high school diploma, and I don't know anyone personally who tried homeschooling themselves and appeal to the college that way.

That is my situation in a nutshell. (I am seriously wondering if I could sue them over this excrement-coated negotiation.) Bottom line- they don't need me, and I don't NEED them.

Any thoughts as to what I should or could do in regards to dealing with these incompetent people? Thanks a million.

Behave, take a lot of notes and study hard. You do need them because education is going to help you with your future.

First you have every right to feel stressed, upset, angry and undervalued.
You have been treated terribly. But, to sue a school is stressful, upsetting and far more
damaging to you than facing this school district. And the chances of winning a law suit are
very difficult since the U.S. Gov. recently passed a ruling that said

[i][i] " The Supreme Court ruled that the school districts are not legally obliged to prove the adequacy of individualized educational programs. The court held that it is up to individual parents to demonstrate a program's inadequacy. The, which settled a split in the federal courts, was a major blow to parents' advocacy organizations, who had argued that most families are not financially able to bear the cost of the burden of persuasion when going up against school district. [/i][/i]


Your best bet is to try to get through this school and use them to your advantage.

Do you have an advocate?

Do you have a diagnosis of Asperger's (Autism) from a medical and psychological
doctor?

Do you live in the US?

Do you live near a major city? Often if you do you can contact your local AS chapter
for help on how to deal with your school.

If you are in the U.S. the school is required to educate you. Do a search on FAPE.
This means

Free Appropripate Public Education. In order to comply with the federal mandate (Public Law
102-119, known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B (34 CFR Parts 300
and 301 and Appendix C) that all disabled children receive a free appropriate public education,
a school district must provide special education and related services at no cost to the child or
her/his parents.

In most school districts Autistics can go to school until age 21. This means if it takes
you a little longer because of stress they have to educate you.. It also means you may be
able to convince the school district that taking independent study classes for credit
or on line classes from home helps you learn best. That being practically home schooled
but still receiving a diploma from your HS is the best for both parties.

Explain to them you want to have a high school diploma, you find the surroundings
are effecting how you learn. The anxiety, stress, tension are not helping you to learn safely.
Part of your disability may be that you can not be in a large school setting.
The the social interactions around you are effecting how you are able to learn. This is
part of your disability. They must help you.

You might want to talk to your doctor, find an advocate and get as much information
as to how you learn and what stresses you out. Suing a school is a hard road and not
worth it. You simply want the degree so you can leave that H-hole with your dignity in tact.

If you can find an advocate or local support group see if someone can go with you to
your school IEP (Individual Education Plan) meeting and talk about ways
the school can help you get your diploma.

~mm

Ps. I should probably tell you my son is in the exact boat and that we too are struggling
wtih dealing with a school district that is not kind. You are not alone. I only wish you
lots of luck and a wave of happiness. You deserve it.

I would take the GED route if I were you. Sure, you won't be able to start college at a 4 year college, but I'm pretty sure you can start off at community college and go from there.