question about Albany High modifications plus alternatives
Hello,
My teenager is a freshman at Albany high with high functioning autism, adhd, depression, & anxiety. The sensory overload (smells, sounds, etc), disengaged students and lecture style approach of teachers, and the overall rigid, traditional, approach to education is exacerbating things and contributing to a dangerous mental health state. They get A's (but those are rapidly dropping as they simply can't get to school some days) and are bored, and have some learning challenges like processing speed. They did not qualify for an IEP (grades too good) but did get 504 accomodations (difficult to get albany teachers to follow the 504). My child says they don't want to be handed things on a silver platter i.e. a private school and feels a need to "prove" they can stay/make it at Albany High, but at the same time hates/dreads it. They are very social and are slowly making friends, after going to a smaller private school for a few years before Albany High. They are curious and engaged, teachers note they are one out of about 3-4 kids out of a 31 kid class who actually comments and talks in class.
Has anyone been able to navigate through Albany High using things like Tilden prep, community college classes, some other creative approaches/strategies to make Albany High work for a kid like this? Could you share advice/tips/experience/hope or, alternatively, if and when you left and how that went?
Keep in mind, my teenager has a private occupational therapist, therapist, and math tutor plus a Kaiser psychiatrist, and mental health staff at Albany high have been good (they still got very anxious/depressed).
Option 2: Look at Millenium High School or Maybeck, (they have dismissed Ordina Academy, Tilden Prep, Fusion Academy, Holden as too small). STEM is important (they want to be an engineer). My teenager doesn't like these options because 1) too small and mostly private 2) doesn't want to be in a school where everyone is struggling and special needs (their interpretation, not mine). They have had some experience being around mentally ill people that was very scary and might have fears related to that. 3) feels they have to learn now how to deal with everyhing in a "normal" setting or else they will fail in the world as an adult.
They are incredibly adept at masking, overcompensating, and passing and it is exhausting them and they are white knuckling it. They have managed to maintain a real academic curiosity but I fear that it is going away since lecture style, rigid teaching vs discussion and engagement is not a good fit for them.
Help, thoughts, advice, perspective on those options/schools/approaches? I have to do this anonymously but would love to talk to people also if they are willing and have something to share.
Parent Replies
Hi--My daughter attended Albany High with mental health special needs. I have a couple of thoughts: (1) I don't think that having high grades automatically disqualifies your kid from having an IEP. I recommend talking to an education attorney (Deborah Jacobson felt like a lifeline to me when we were in the depths of navigating this situation). Paying for a couple of hours of attorney time was very worth it in my case. (2) my kid ended up attending Albany High part time and taking some classes at Tilden Prep. The school was able to schedule her classes in a way that made this possible. Tilden Prep was great in many ways, but of course lacks the large "normal" school setting. Making a schedule that is a hybrid of the two was great in our case.
I have lots of thoughts as a parent of two kids currently at AHS, both with differing types & intensities of mental health challenges from each other but perhaps some overlap with how you describe your child's.
To your point about the lecture style of teaching: My 9th grader has lots of uninspiring teachers this year as did my older child when they were in 9th grade. My sense is that the more engaging teachers end up focused on the 11th & 12th grades. Not exclusively (this is not the place to name names but there are some very good teachers in the mix at all grade levels), but call it a trend line. My freshman who attended private middle school has also noted the chaos & disengagement in some classes. While I think some of that is due to the contrast between small private school classes and big public school classes, I also know my older child does not see it in their classes since honors/AP classes start in 11th. It may be that you and your child just didn't know what to expect from the public high school experience and classrooms with a range of abilities and engagement.
To your point about getting teachers to follow the 504, we've also experienced this with the one of my kids who has one, but that kid will also absolutely not raise it with the teacher or self-advocate in any way, so it's a bit frustrating. I think the teachers need constant reminding and examples.
I have encouraged both my kids to take advantage of the S3 space but both seem to think there's some stigma involved there. I have thought about emailing the counseling team to encourage them to reconvene the group of "new kids" that they convened once or twice at the start of the year. Some (probably most, including mine) are still working on finding their place at AHS but extracurriculers help a lot.
All that said, you note once that your child "hates/dreads" school and has school avoidance. Would this change at another school? What do their support team professionals say about the options? Does your child like any aspect of school? Can they drop a class at the semester (to go down to 6, assuming they started off with 7) and gain some breathing room? Are they spending lunchtime at club meetings (for social interaction) or in the library (for peace & quiet)? What happens if you don't listen to the school avoidance and just make them go?
I definitely feel for you and your child. I'm glad you are seeing positives from the mental health team at the school which I'm also really happy they have. AHS is on the small side of big public schools and as such in some ways has the worst of both worlds - it can feel a bit impersonal or clique-y, there are some less-inspiring teachers, and there certainly are some disengaged students. On the positive side, and why I'm happy my neurodiverse kids are there, is that there are some fantastic teachers, it does become a community a couple years in even for the more introverted students, and it's in the sweet spot for size IMHO - big enough to find a new friend group if needed, small enough to have personal relationships with teachers and counselors if you make any effort at all. A bigger high school feels like too much and a smaller high school would worry me that they wouldn't find friends.
Unfortunately due to privacy concerns, it is hard to connect about these things but there is a group called Albany Disability Squad you might look into if you haven't already, particularly on the 504 stuff.
Ooooh, your message brought me back. My Albany High daugher ended up going to three (four?) different high schools over her time -- Albany to Tilden, then to Holden, then back to Tilden where she graduated. It was brutal.
I will offer a few thoughts that are sometimes hard to figure out in the hurly burly:
Best of luck to you!
My daughter entered AHS midway through 10th grade and is now an 11th grader. She also had a rocky start to HS before AHS. Now, she has found AHS counselors, teachers and students to generally be engaging, caring, and accommodating. My daughter also said that she did not want accommodations (she has a 504 but doesn't use it -- I use it to encourage teachers to communicate early with me if/when there are any concerns). With the support of her counselor, we built it supports into her schedule with classes: 1) Homework lab -- they have a couple of different types, depending on level of needs. 2) while not a first gen college student (to-be), also had her in AVID class to help with executive functioning (staying on track with grades, study skills etc), and 3) she has finally put into practice using teachers' office hours. She also has monthly check-ins with her counselor. It helped us to request at the beginning of the year a follow up meeting with counselor, just with parent and counselor, to freely express concerns, preferences, and questions, without having to select what is said in front of my daughter. Her counselor is very adept at then knowing what to offer my daughter, in a way that my daughter could hear.