Do things get better in Junior High???

[Guest guest]

I am pleased that the teacher was aware enough to pick up

what was going on and then issue consequences.

My daughter is in 7th grade this year. I remember

being very worried last year at this time but looking forward to a bigger pool

of potential friends since she had none. My daughter was also looking

forward to feeling more grown up. this is what I did to smooth the

transition.

I phoned the middle school and made an appointment with her

future counselor. I went in to meet with him in may/early june to

introduce myself tell him about my daughter (aspie and ocd) and asked if her

and I could come back before school starts in the fall to get her schedule,

walk thru her schedule and meet all her teachers. he said that would be fine.

Over the summer, I prepared a one page summary outlining my daughters

challenges and what the teachers could do to help. I kept this info to a

minimum so it wouldn’t be too much for them to read and I attached her

IEP. I made 7 sets, one for each of her teachers. Then in

august, 1 day before school started, my daughter and I went to meet the

counselor. He reviewed her school schedule and made changes to the

teachers he felt would better work with my daughter and then he thoughtfully

ran thru the paths she would walk between classes. We were concerned she

would be overwhelmed with the transitioning and crowds but he gave her some

tips and short cuts she could take, so equipped with this info, her and i

walked the walk she would take the next day, starting with her home room and 1st

period and so on. As we went into each room, we were able to meet the

teacher and I gave them each the outline with the iep attached. I also

told them what was on the summary and punctuated the items of particular

concern. The teachers were very receptive and I got all the email

addresses that day so we could stay in touch. One teacher even thanked me

for the heads up, stating that they don’t usually get the iep until 2

weeks into school. I was especially concerned with PE because my daughter

cannot stand regular shoes on her feet (she wears crocs) and she cannot hurry

if her life depended on it. the pe teacher was very understanding giving

her extra time if she needed it and watched out to make sure she was included

when teams were picked. She got off to an excellent start and was

able to tolerate the noise and the crowded halls and to my surprise PE. I

have had to send emails if a problem occurred but for the most part, the

teachers have been great. It’s been a good year for my daughter, I am

really proud how well she acclimated. However, she really likes to feel

grown up and is willing to push her limits to do this, so she was motivated.

Boy I was very wordy. Hope it helps, good luck to you

and your daughter.

Regards, melody k.