Autism and High School

Well, here it is, I can’t believe this is happening, but today I helped my son apply for high school.

What did we do?

In our local area, our high school is very respectable. It carries high honors from academics to athletics, and is has a very good reputation.

However, it is a very large school.

This is one factor that makes us nervous. Our school already goes to a large middle school, and the high school has an extra thousand students or so.

What is our choice?

Our son is applying to a magnet school that specializes in math, engineering, and technology.

It’s a small school located in our area. It’s not has close to our house as the local high school, but it’s still not a bad drive. Local streets only, ten minutes tops.

We encouraged our son to consider attending this school as we feel it’s a better fit.

What are our reasons?

Our son has autism, but he’s never been in a special day class. His autism is mild, and he is high functioning, so he has always been in general education. The school he wants to attend does not offer special day classes anyway, yet our son is used to being in regular classes.

Academically, he more than meets the requirements for attendance into this school.

This school is local. Not quite the short walking distance of the local high school, but it’s still reasonable.

Our son only has an aide for two classes now. He’s ready to go into high school with one. He’s very much looking for it, just a few more adjustments/instruction on preparedness needed.

The school he wants to attend, oddly, has the exact same layout as the middle school. When my son and I visited it last year, my son was pleased to be walking around in a space that already felt comfortable.

One big reason wanting to attend this school is that it’s much smaller than the local high school. It’s a third of the size, which means a lot to us. Smaller class sizes, we feel, will only benefit our son.

Finally, this school focuses on technology. My son has already stated that he wants to pursue some kind of technological career, and this school is a great fit for him.

What about the application process?

It was pretty straight-forward and online.

One part that impressed me is a section that wants the child to answer a few questions. Why do they want to attend this school? What area(s) of the school attracted him to the school? And, what do you want to accomplish during high school?

I don’t think these questions have any wrong answers. I think the school just wants to get a feel for each student. Yet, I’m glad to see my son sit down and think about these questions.

High school is still months away. Yet, the application window for applying (leading to acceptance) to this school, is in January.

It’s a little scary for all of us to be thinking about this now. But, this is our son’s future.

And, luckily, so far, I think he’s beginning to think about it and move forward.