What?! A teen in the PARENTS forum?!

Post Reply New Topic

Just before you ask, I'm not a teen pregnancy case. My name is Katie, or Moomoogelato. I have an idea I would like to share with you guys. I am almost 18, come September, so I am trying to get all my life together. Almost old enough to be a parent. ;]

Anyway, I am borderline NLD/Aspie, and struggled with school a lot of my life, so I can greatly relate to your children. That is what has inspired me to open a school for students on the Autistic spectrum, who deserve the right to a good education, and the right to learn about things that actually INTEREST them. All while in an environment where they aren't forced to be "NT-like" and try to get rid of the AS traits that make them a part of who they are, though certainly students who are tired of being commented on for some of these traits in the real world can choose to take classes about neutralizing some of them, while remaining true to their great, beautiful minds. Does anyone disagree to the thought that it is better to encourage students to be themselves, and TRULY be themselves, instead of hiding a part of themselves that isn't accepted by society? Personally, I would say that is the first step to the best form of Autism awareness-- Autism acceptance.

Earlier when I said students should have the right to learn about things that interest them, I mean they actually get to choose to learn about the things they WANT to learn about. In a small class setting, maybe no more than 5 students per class, and the classes will be based on understanding of material, not age. When they are in a younger class or are entering the school, they will be given a test to see their understanding of the basic things you need to learn in school, such as basic math, basic science, basic reading, basic writing, etc. and if they prove they understand these concepts, they will be given permission to take all electives. This could well be a physics class, or a quantum mechanics class even. Depending on their level of understanding, they can chose to learn about certain subjects. I imagine it basically being like a pre-college for AS kids, almost.

Also, P.E. class, like most other classes, will not be required. In fact, it will be offered as an option, only guess what? It won't be P.E. class! It will be things like various dance and martial arts classes, and hiking classes, and rock climbing, and swimming, and anything that gets suggested by parents or students. These should appeal to most students more than the dreaded words "P.E. class," which for me hold memories of being picked last for everything and not having friends and being reminded of how sucky I was at sports. Agreement on this idea? Disagreement?

Also, there will be "exploration peroids" that children can take as often as they want as long as they want to basically do anything they want. For pre-schoolers and kindergartners (which I forgot to mention will probably be the only age based classes) this could be a guided park visit, or a trip to a local zoo or some place cool like that, though it will probably be more group based and supervised. In slightly older grades, students can choose to take their breaks at any time individually, and if they want to be guided to a specific place and then left alone, they can be, or walk alone. For teenagers, depending on their abilities, these breaks could be driving home to play video games, or take a calming bath, or if they are less able to do these things, could once again be guided to specific places.

This should not be a boarding school. As most of us know, an average ASer away from home and family= disastrophe. Agree? Disagree? Yay? Nay?

We should definitely offer classes specifically for LFA students. I am still learning about how they learn, but from what I have learned, it all goes back to involving things that interest them, a environment that isn't intimidating, and being VERY specific in the way you teach, making sure you don't leave any room for things like "Here's a pencil, write with it" but it's yellow, so they don't think they can write with any other kinds of pencils, and not overloading their senses. Does anybody else have more to contribute to the ways to teach LFA students?

Also, I think the age limit should be very broad. Maybe until a student is like, 30. Notice I haven't said "child" this whole time.

What say you? Yay or nay to this whole idea (or parts of it)? What else would you like to see in this kind of school? What would you HATE to see in this kind of school? Are you in favor of this idea in general? Also, if you do support my idea, check out my sig.

Peace,
~Katie

Having a variety of educational options to choose from is a good idea considering the variability of students. That is the idea behind charter schools. However, having a nice mission statement does not a school make. If you truly do want to start a school, you may want to contact a local charter school and ask them what they had to go through in order to get approved by the state, and whats involved in running a school.

I dont mean to put a damper on your plans, but starting a school all by yourself when you have no money to invest or knowledge of the charter school process will be problematic. Perhaps you could start smaller, by setting up an after school program for aspies. Something just in the afternoons or evenings, and maybe weekends to. You dont really need any official approval to run an after school program. All you need is a place to hang out, and maybe a willing helper or two. Try contacting a few churches or schools in your area. Odds are one of them will have an open room they arent using after school hours, and they would be happy to lend it to a good cause.

It is admirable that you are trying to help make children's life better. I can understand that, my childhood wasn't a happy time for me, which is why I come on this forum. If my advice here can help parents and their children live better lives then I have accomplished my goal. That to say, there is more then 1 way to help children live better lives. Starting a school isnt the only way it can be done. You can improve their lives in many ways, and I encourage you to do whatever you can.

Better school options for our kids is always a great idea, but I'm not sure where you are looking for right now. Are you in the idea stage, or have you actually started something? 18 does not sound old enough to actually open and run a school. Are you going on to college? What steps have you or do you plan to take to make the vision a reality?

Of course, if it's just forming a vision, that can be fun, too. I remember a thread on another AS forum about what parent's felt their child's ideal school would look like, and we had a lot of fun with it. But we also discovered there wasn't much universality. It was purely speculation, but also a way to formulate some positive ideas that might actually get put into place somewhere.

Anyway, welcome to the parent's forum. LOTS of non-parent's post here, usually in response to threads where parents are trying to figure out why their child does X, or how a parent might help a child through Y. We appreciate the input from all AS in those threads, parent or not.

Tracker, DW_a_mom, thank you SO much for your input! I really appreciate it.

I'm going to respond to your posts one at a time.

Tracker, you are not putting a damper on anything as far as I'm concerned. The after-school idea is a great idea. It all has to start somewhere, and that seems like a great idea to get interest. And I do realize how ambitious all of this is, but I really want the school to happen, even if it takes until I am in my 30s or older.

DW_a_mom, it is in fact still in the planning stages. If you go to the link in my sig, you will see a discussion board I started where I am trying to get people to go and ask questions and discuss what is good and what isn't. I also have started a forum on the board called "Logistics" where hopefully people will start saying "Okay, so how will x work?" And people will, or I hope will start offering suggestions. I am not great at figuring out these kinds of things, so I try to discuss them in real life with people I know, like my mom, and am now trying to get people online to offer advice.