GwenMBS

On 10/18/2022 at 2:05 PM, Backroads said:

So an IEP would not exist as a legal document in college and no college would have to honor it if they didn't want to, nor would there be anything like IEP teams or meetings. While ADA of course still applies, all accommodations are what your son would arrange with the college and professors. 

That said... I am aware of a few people who did bring their last high school IEP to the college to help arrange accommodations. Again, it won't work as a legal enforceable document, but everything listed will be useful for talking with the disabilities office. It does get to still be a handy list of information and ideas.

So, while your son could likely negotiate accommodations just by talking with professors and the IEP isn't necessary, it's not a terrible idea to have one on hand.

Is the online high school you're looking at publicaly funded? If so, it might be worth still going the IEP route just for the sake of getting stuff in writing. 

No, the online high school is a private school.

My 8th grade autistic son has an IEP due to his slow processing speed to give him more time for tests/assignments/time to answer questions etc. Part of his IEP is a social skills class that I really am not happy with - and neither is my son. He's at a private school and takes a bus to the public school for this 3 days a week. He hates missing academic class time and doesn't feel like he's getting anything out of the class. (I've asked the special ed teacher what's happening in the class but haven't heard back, I need to follow up.)

For high school, we are quite likely doing a combination of an online high school with a homeschooling coop. The online high school said they would work with us, communication being key - no problem for me! His teachers are very used to a lot of communication from me.  But I don't think there is a formal IEP - so I've been wondering if we'll regret not having an IEP or something in place in high school for when he transitions to college. Because I can't imagine him not going to college - he gets mostly A's and loves learning and the career options he's mostly interested in will require college. He'll mostly potentially need more time for things - but he's been doing fine in school so far this year. He's rarely had math homework (in the past, math homework was a daily thing, even with shortened assignments). My husband is a professor and I know from him that if you communicate with your professor, they'll work with you. Plus he could take a lighter credit load if needed.

As I write this, I'm thinking he won't really need accommodations in college, or at least nothing he can't get without just talking to his professors. Is there something else to consider, or a reason why he really should have an IEP in high school that he can take to college with him?

I also really want to ditch the social skills part of the IEP. The public school says if he doesn't do social skills, there is no IEP. If the private school is willing to do the IEP without the public school (and I think they would, but I need to talk to the principal), then I want to ditch the social skills and let the IEP go away. Is the public school allowed to say that we have to accept something like social skills in order to have the IEP?