son had to drop out of high-school

My son, Adam, is 16 and very bright–his teacher’s have always described him as a “wiz”. Adam’s CIDP began in April of 8th grade. That year he was allowed to come in and take the required state tests and go on to high school, even though he was not well enough to attend regular classes.

Before school started in 9th grade, I met with the school nurse and the principal to discuss Adam’s limitations & come up with an IEP. I explained that he would have to miss a lot of school, and that at times he would require extra time just getting to class. I took the information that had been sent to me from this foundation in an attempt to “educate” his educators. Adam was hospitalized twice from August-December for treatments, and he also had to travel out of state for his appointments with the neurologist. Needless to say, he racked up quite a few absences!

The principal then decided that Adam should move to the Alternative School in the next town, because they would be better able to work around his absences. (this is the school where they send kids with behavior issues who cannot function in regular schools)

After a semester at this school–the principal decided Adam should do “home-bound” schooling for the remainder of the year. (Adam was frequently sick–he seems to catch everything coming and going and it takes him a long time to recover.) This basically involved the teachers giving him some chapters to read and then come in to take the state tests. He passed with flying colors and was promoted to 10th grade.

He tried going to school at the beginning of 10th grade but soon had to go back to the “home-bound” fiasco. The teachers would give him assignments with absolutely zero instruction. I asked if they could simply send him some class notes-which they said they did not have time to do. I asked if he could email them with questions, but this was also too much for them. They never had his assignments ready when I went to pick them up, and one time his entire semester’s work was “lost” by the school counselor and they actually wanted him to re-do it all.

When Adam turned 16 in May, he dropped out of school because of all this. He is now attending GED classes and will have his GED by the time school starts this fall. He is planning to get a 2-year degree in Business at our local community college-which offers on-line classes and is very open to working around his health issues. He will be able to graduate from college at the same time that his peers graduate from High School.