Jen T

He has an IEP for ED. Was diagnosed with anxiety and depression when young. Has medical diagnosis of Autism high functioning. Always had difficulty with attendance but never given iep till 6th grade. All schools states is he's been absent a lot and history of absences. Has difficult time feeling comfortable in any placement including private with lots of absences. Had been in private placement being of year but because could not meet 80% attendance in 1st 90 days was dismissed. This was from a push from public school case manager. Private school was working hard to help and him feel comfortable. Was often out 3-4 days a week first 60 days. During next 30 attendance greatly increased to attending 3-4 days per week and at least one full week. Was very comfortable at this school but due to attendance public school case manager pushed for his dismissal though private school had been willing to work with. Tried 2 other placements but not comfortable at either. IEP goals have always been a joke with nothing for supporting anxiety or attending school. I've attached progress report to show goals. Have requested student be able to attend public school in fall for CTE classes in Veterinary Technician but these classes always fill up fast so would be unable to get into them. Was in Vet Tech program at private placement but going part time is not an option, would have to attend full day which gives is difficult with anxiety. D216!427!valouisacounty!16-38-28-333574!3-25-23.pdf

What is a school's responsibility if due to trauma, a student hadn't attended school on regular basis since 7th grade, currently in 5th year, for transition to adulthood and graduating high-school? Student is currently on homebound again, has attended school off and on over last 5 years but nothing has been done to put into place transitions, career education, or anything. Student is considered an 11th grader by age, but technically only has 9th grade credits. Student does not want to attend school after next year so based on applied studies Diploma would graduate in 2024. Student has tried to attend school in public and private placement. Had trauma happen in school during 7th grade that was ignored. Student wants to attend school but due to anxiety after being at school for a day will find it very difficult to attend the next day, even part time. Child will have perceived physical pain, headaches, leg pain, stomach pain and feel ill to point unable to return to school next day. Takes Student a period of time to settle into any school setting due to trauma and anxiety. Often out of 60 days Student will attend 1/3 - 1/2 of days due to adjustment. Once Student finally adjusted to school and starts to attend on more consistent basis, student will be dropped from private place due to lack of attendance, even though Student started to show could consistently attend once adjusted. Due to this student has had NO transition preparation including exploring what careers would best fit student, career and technical training, resources for after high school or anything. So student will pretty much leave high school with absolutely no skills. Is there anything that can be done during last year of high school to assist student choosing a career, getting job training and other information. Have requested student be allowed to attend Career Technical Education classes, but classes student interested in are always full. Student would feel comfortable in career training classroom as these are set up as working in career and not a typical classroom.

Hi, sorry if not doing this right. I am in desperate need of an advocate in VA. About the 2nd week of school my son was dismissed from his theraputic private school. I was actually happy about this as he was not happy there. He was there 3 years and his anxiety only got worse. After a long search we found the perfect school. It's small, has maximum 16 students which currently not that many enrolled, maybe 10 students currently, has a liscenced therapist on staff where students get group and individual therapy weekly and family therapy monthly. My son started last week. He had a rough start but started to settle in. My son 14yo, has multiple disabilities including Autism, anxiety, expressive language disorder and many others. I discussed with the director last week what she thought about about a 1:1 for my child as he gets extremely overwhelmed with new accademic work but works well when he has someone that can work with him. As he had previously been in an an Autism school where the ratio was 6:5. She said it sounded great. This past Mon my husband forgot to give my child his medication before he left for school. He was fine on the ride to school on van. But after arriving he started to rip up his daily paper. The teacher asked him what was wrong but he shut down. So the director came to talk to him. Things quickly escalated to him knocking over chairs and desks and throwing a chair. figuring out how to unlock front door and walking outside and tried to elope towards main road, which is a very busy road. School has been awesome trying to remain hands of as student has been traumatized from being restrained at previous school. Because of significant behavior private school is considering dismissing my child. I'd really like them to give him another chance as this behavior was only due to him not having his medication this day. Any suggestions or thoughts? Public school refuses to try him back in public school setting even with a 1:1 aide. He has severe anxiety and no self confidence that has gotten worse the past 3 years