What do you wish schooling could offer SN pre-teens/teens to enable a smoother transition into adulthood?

[Emmasuz1978]

Hi All,

I am asking for parents viewpoints at the moment in order to get an idea about what is missing from the education and support that children with SEN get in todays schools or has been missing from our education and teaching system for years. I am intrested in hearing honest and frank views from parents who have children or young adults with learning disabilities, emotional or behavioural needs etc in order to understand what do these children actually need to learn about in order for them to be able to live in the world as independently as possible.

As we are all aware our education system has become one of targets and funding which undermines the real needs of our children. I work as a Youth worker and Tutor with NEET (not in education, employment or training) young people aged 16-19 who may have disengaged from education and learning due to various reasons and from the stories i hear i understand where they are coming from. I have also worked for years with children and young people and adults with varying disabilities and have had an idea for an exciting project to hopefully work through some of these support issues in order to develop a targeted support service.

So in a dream world what do you wish your child could be taught so that the transition from schooling to adulthood was not so hard. my ideas so far are:

1. Travel Training
   
2. Money management
   
3. dealing with emotions
   
4. Communication
   
5. Social Skills
   
   my list is much bigger but these are just a few of my ideas from my experience so hearing from parents would give me a valuable view as in my eyes your are the experts.
   
   So if this thread has interested you i really look forward to reading your replies
   
   A big thank you
   
   Emmasuz1978

[HRHShoesytwoesy]

why do you ask?

[myra]

this varys school to school in transition. i work in special ed. and was 14 years working with 16/19 year olds all with quite severe learning disabilities,and assosiated problems in ther transition to adulthood . for the last 2 years i am working in the same age group but with young folk who for various reasons/disabilities are not able to do college/work placements.

at first there was very little other than a day at college a week , but over the years and a lot of hard work we managed to get blocks at college and a day release at a local agricultural college/garden workshop.
we also managed to persuade a whole host of local companies to do work experience fo us this worked very well till about 4 years ago, when a lot of the placements began to dry up and lately cut backs in the funding to college has cut them down to a few hours one day a week and the gardens have been closed down all together due to the reccession.

i am glad that i dont have anybody at that age now as i am in close contact with the staff doing what i had done all and its getting worse.
my own son now 36 never had the oppertunities when he was that age and would not have been able due to his disabilities. thats my reasoning behind working with the group i nw work with specialising in lifeskills.

myra

[charlie06]

Err, services that actually do what they say they will, transitions processes that are effective and actually take place, adult services to actually provide services or else there's nothing to transit to.


The future for my son aged 18 looks bleak.

[crissamae]

Have you guys heard about The White Mountain School? Its a great school for teens with ADHD..
Description: The school also provides support for students that have ADD/ADHD, learning differences, and learning disabilities. Academic support is also made available for students who need the extra help in coping with their coursework. Students are taught learning skills such as effective notes-taking techniques and self-advocacy.
PLUS: Its on a awesome location and College Preparatory school..