Hi there,
I'm really hoping that someone can help.
My son is 16 and for the last 3 years we have homeschooled him as he was struggling so much in mainstream school. He has thrived at home as the pressure was taken off him and we could work at a pace that suited him and on a one to one basis.
We put his GCSEs back a year, so this year he is hoping to do a Maths, Chemistry and Physics iGCSE and is having ongoing tutoring to work towards this.
He is a very clever lad and exceptionally smart when it comes to Maths and science, as a lot of autistic kids are, however he has always struggled with English and particularly any kind of writing. He would never be able to write an essay and any work he does is always with the minimum amount of writing he can get away with.
Now that he is 16 and knowing he was entering year 12 and required to stay in education, we have spent the last few months searching for some form of further education for him, something like an online course that he can do at his own pace, to learn a skill that would help him in the future when it comes to getting a job. But everything I am finding, requires large amounts of coursework or essays which he simply couldn't do. I am getting so stressed and so confused by it all... hence finally thinking to ask on this community. :)
He learns amazing well and is so so clever but to put the information onto paper is another story.
Can anyone help?
Are there courses out there that cater for our autistic children and adults?
His interests are Maths, Chemistry, Physics, animation, computer coding, design, problem solving, things along those routes.
He does 5-6 hours of his iGCSE work a week across 2-3 days (depending how he is coping), so I am looking for something to work alongside that. Something he could do at his own pace on the other days.
And as a separate question... is there anything around where autistic teens can get work experience?
Thanks so much for your help! I look forward to hearing your valuable input.
Kindest regards,
Hayley