Update:
This week I spoke to the directors of 2 highly respected transition/sped support programs imbedded at colleges as well as an admissions officer at a LD dedicated college. All indicated that they are adept enough at reading evals that no special testing would be necessary. All were adamant that we should not try to determine accommodations in advance but instead provide enough information that they can brainstorm on their end and make appropriate recommendations. One suggested we include a Speech and Language Eval and a report from her Sensory OT program. With the sensory info they said DD could qualify not only for a single dorm room at no extra expense but also they could tweak her schedule to assure she was assigned classes in rooms that are carpeted since background noise can be such an issue for her. I assume this is all because these are such specialized programs and doubt we would get this level of individualization from a more mainstream college accommodations office.
I also finally heard from a sped placement specialist. By the time she called I had made a dent in figuring things out so probably not worth the expense now. I also discussed in detail with our sped math specialist and came up with a possible plan. Since DD is so far ahead on her HS credits we may have her try a community college course concurrently in the fall - hoping to find a light course that she would take just for enjoyment. Assuming she’s able to adjust to the larger, more chaotic environment look at doing either hybrid (1-1 classes at Fusion Academy and CC classes) or just CC classes for the spring. Have her take a math class this way with the sped math teacher continuing to work with her so he can translate the coursework for her if she has difficultly. Hopefully this could cover her core math requirement.
With all these conversations I realized that DD may not have the luxury of choosing a course of study that aligns with her interest. Yes she wants to attend film school but if she needs this level of support from a college with a transition program she will have to select from the majors they offer rather than doing a traditional college search and applying to the best programs. I also noted that many of the majors these colleges offer will have extra math requirements beyond the core requirement. (ie Statistics, Business Math, etc). So yes we can probably get her through college but not yet convinced she can do it the way she (and most students) hope.
We had an IEP meeting at the end of the week (delayed from spring due to Covid shut down) and we discussed doing MAPP futures planning. I have never heard of this. Any input would be appreciated. They plan to hire outside people to do it as they realized DD is too complex for in district folks to adequately address her needs. The way it was explained to me everyone who works with DD brainstorm and come up with ideas for moving forward. She does interest inventories and a report is generated which outlines both her considerable strengths and all the obstacles she faces. Potential careers and areas of study should be identified as well as generating a list of possible schools and programs to look at. Sounds great and just what I was hoping to hire someone to do for us. But of course things that sound too good to be true usually are. Any and all insights are welcome.
Some of the specialized programs indicate that they can be funded by districts which was a pleasant surprise. I had heard our local CC had a transition program that districts fund but IEP team leader did not feel it’s appropriate for DD - said it’s geared more towards lower functioning students. My consultant pointed out that there are 4 parts to transition planning, though, and while DD has knocked the academic piece out of the park the other 3 still need to be addressed. (Self advocacy, vocation and social if I recall correctly) so it’s possible one of the year long transition programs I spoke to could be appropriate. Again, any and all input gratefully accepted.
As spaghetti pointed out above district sped head honcho said the transitional eval doesn’t have to focus on identifying DD’s various disabilities - we have a pretty good understanding of those. She is also putting out feelers trying to identify the right evaluator. She agrees we need someone who is sophisticated and experienced enough to really get DD. So still looking for more names if you have them. District prefers we stay in state but is not requiring it.
As always thanks in advance for any and all input!
