School of Thought

Learning Disabilities and Transition: Life after High School

  

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Learning Disabilities and Transition: Life after High School
Erica Smith-Lleara, Upper School Co-director

 For the kid with learning disabilities or ADHD, just making it to graduation can seem impossible. “Just let him graduate!” parents pray. “Just get me out of school!” the teenager prays. But as we all discover, life after high school brings with it its own set of challenges and difficulties – LD or not. And yet, even though the challenges can be more difficult for the LD or ADHD kid, their life after high school also brings with it new opportunities to find fulfillment and success. The key to achieving this success is a combination of preparation and understanding by all parties involved – the student, the parents, and perhaps most importantly, their mentors and prospective employers.

To prepare your teenager for life after high school, CBA recommends a work experience with an understanding mentor. Each of our high school students spends three weeks at a worksite with a mentor as part of our School-To-Work program. We match students with mentors in fields that the teenager is interested in pursuing, or a field that we think the student would do well in. For those three weeks, the students do not come to school, instead, each student in grades 9 – 12 reports to their worksite for a full day. At the end of the three weeks, the students present their work products at a School-To-Work Job Fair, where they have the opportunity to show off all that they learned and produced. For more than ten years, CBA students have had the opportunity to experience four different worksites before they graduate.

Finding the right mentor is critical. CBA has discovered excellent mentors in the area who are understanding of teenagers’ needs and are open to supporting their learning. From veterinarians to car mechanics, our mentors span the career horizon.

So what makes a good mentor? The most important characteristic of a good mentor is whether they understand the language of teenagers. For example, a great mentor will know that when a teenager says “This is boring!” and stops working on a task, they may really mean “I’m confused!” or just might need a patient explanation that sometimes work is boring, but that it still needs to be done and works towards accomplishing a greater goal. A great mentor is also willing to adapt to the unique learning style (this needs to be linked to pdf that I provided) of a teenager. These mentors give students a written list of tasks instead of just listing them out loud for them to remember. They are clear and specific about instructions, and understand that mistakes will happen. Great mentors have a combination of high expectations and patient understanding.

Teenagers with LD or ADHD may take a little longer to leave the nest, but they are perfectly capable of one day taking flight and finding their own way in the world. Providing them with early, supportive experiences will give them the added strength and resilience they will need as they set off on their own.

Please submit your questions about transitioning after high school.

Introducing kids to the working world: fox43tv.com