Thanks so much for all the feedback. I know the only reason I have been able to advocate so successfully for my DD is all the support, information and "been there done that" advice I've gotten here over the past 7 years. You have all been life changing. Please accept my very sincere thanks.
I looked at my district's graduation requirements and as several of you said they require 23 credits to graduate spread out as follows:
English 4 (1 in American Literature or American Studies)
Social Science 3 (1 in American History and .5 in Civics)
Math 3
Science 3 (1 in Biology)
PE 1.5
CTE (Career and Technical Ed) .5
Fine Arts 1
Health .5
Electives 6.5
So this would work out to a rough average of 6 credits per year for 4 years. With her processing and LD issues I just don't think this level of output is a reasonable expectation for her, especially as she reaches higher levels of classes.
A few interesting things I have taken note of:
1. Foreign Language: Due to her language based learning disabilities she would be eligible for an exemption. However I don't see foreign language on the list of graduation requirements. I can only assume there was a recent change and they would now be included as electives. DD is determined to try to learn a language and is scheduled to start French in the fall. I had thought ASL would be her best bet but she is not interested and there was a clear personality mismatch between her and the ASL teacher at the private when they tried working together this spring. I had heard Spanish would likely be easier for a dyslexic kid to pick up but when she met the Spanish and French teachers she had a very strong preference for working with the French teacher. The fact that she wants to someday move to France and her true goal is to learn Haitian Creole might have had something to do with this too... Anyway I'm not convinced a traditional foreign language is going to be successful. A recent effort with a learn French phrases audio cd was a dismal failure. I'm guessing her auditory processing and speech issues will combine with her LD issues to make this very hard. I'm eager for any words of wisdom. If there is any chance of success I'm hoping the 1-1 format increases the possibility...
2. Math: After years of searching I finally located the elusive Special Ed Math Teacher and he is fabulous! Our district paid for him to work 1-1 with DD each week and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Its only been a bit over a year since numbers started having any meaning for DD. We had been told she had a good understanding of high level concepts and once she moved past the basic mechanics of elementary math she would take off. (Similar to her high level comprehension being different from her agonizingly slow learning to decode.) This year we saw that in action. We started focusing on "Consumer Math" - my goal was for her to be able to buy a candy bar without getting ripped off. The special ed math guy quickly discovered that she has quite the knack for algebra. Apparently she intuitively understands certain concepts and he had her doing the same work he was doing with his community college students. He and the district have both been clear that the requirement is 3 years of math - not specific math courses. She may get 3 years of consumer math or 3 years of algebra. Basically they are just going to call it "DD math". The private doesn't want to touch her math so she will happily keep working with this math magician and I will be thrilled for her to develop whatever skills he can get her to attain. She and I are both hoping math does what reading did and all come together at some point. If it doesn't, though, I am confident that working with this special ed math specialist is giving her the best possible chance of success.
3. English: As it has been explained to me she needs 4 years of English but that doesn't translate to English 9, 10, 11 and 12. According to the private's course catalogue she has already completed what they call 9, 10 and 11. This fall she can focus on what they call English 12. THEN for high school credits she can take ANY 4 credits in English. Because of the 1-1 model she can have complete autonomy in designing what she wants. ie Shakespeare, Historical Fiction, Mysteries, etc. Classes that might otherwise count as electives can be used to fill her English requirement. She just needs one credit to be in American Literature (or American Studies whatever that means...)
The 1-1 private is a chain of schools that has been discussed on the boards in the past. It is a sensory friendly environment and makes it possible to totally individualize each student's classes. DD can't do handwritten work. Period. Our AT specialist has worked with their staff to get them up to speed on how DD needs to learn. She won't be doing torturous handwritten homework. (I learned A TON from your DS's experience polarbear about how difficult this can make things...) Basically she will be taking the same classes either way but as a 9th grader the classes count for credit, as an 8th grader they won't.
This past semester she worked with the AT specialist on developing "a process". DD puts in WAY too many hours on each project - its common for her to spend 10 hours or more on something another student would do in 20 or 30 minutes. The AT specialist continues to stress streamlining her process, working "smarter not harder" and finding alternate ways to show her knowledge. This will remain in effect moving forward as they wean DD off to less direct work with the AT consultant. The school program also includes what they call "homework café" with a teacher who monitors and supports. The idea is that all school work is done in their building but DD prefers to bring it home so she can work on it at her own pace.
So yes the goal is to give her more time to complete the number of needed classes because the amount of work needed will simply take her so much longer than an NT kid (or one with fewer extra E's...) I appreciate the hopeful tone of expecting huge growth during her high school years. She is already extremely mature and thoughtful. It is interesting to consider if her neurological development will continue to mature over the next years. That would be awesome. She has learned over the past year or so to simply accept her unique neurology as a fact rather than something to be embarrassed by. In fact the screen saver on her district issued iPad is the quote "Yes I having learning disabilities. No I am not stupid."
Interesting point about whether she will be automatically exited upon 23 credits. Maybe one way around that is for her to keep one of the required courses, ie American Literature, US History, Civics or Biology until the end. That way they cant exit her early because she wont have completed the specific courses she needs even if she has somehow earned 23 credits. Good thing to keep in mind - thank you.
Every year since qualifying for OOD our school district has offered ESY. We have always declined because DD has needed her summers to escape from the stress of inappropriate school environments, focus on the thing she enjoys and just relax. This past year was different. No school stress to escape from. Maybe moving forward she will find something she wants to do for school credit - I guess I can't rule that out any more. And I suppose she could find an online class she would want to do. But right now I'm thinking the 1-1 personalized program is as good as we can hope to find.
And college - until a year or 2 ago I didn't see how it could be possible. Then her dyslexia intervention kicked in. Then she got rock solid AT support which gives her the ability to find work arounds. And of course we found the amazing special ed math guy. She still can't really function in a large, over stimulating environment. However as part of the TAG program this past year they had the kids do college planning. I'm not really sure why but each kid had to identify 3 target schools, determine a major, figure out course schedules and how to pay for it all. DD came up with attending a college in Vermont specifically for students with language based learning disabilities and then going on to film school. For the first time it all seems achievable.
Does any of this detail change any of your input? My hope (although DD's could differ) is for her to take a low enough coursed load to not become overwhelmed, graduate at expected time and then take a gap year that should match up with DH's next sabbatical. A year to travel as a family before she heads off on her own.
I just hope I'm not being naïve and giving the district some mechanism I'm not seeing for pulling her IEP or not paying for the private and services. I'm hopeful that 4 years from now we will feel her speech and AT support has come as far as would be possible and any services she could potentially give up if she were somehow able to carry a higher course load wont matter all that much.
As always happy to hear any thoughts or input.
