Those of you who have a child with special needs, mental health issues, learning or physical disabilities know how hard it is for that child to earn a high school degree. There are countless road blocks, problems, run ins with teachers over homework etc. Providing Charles with the support to finish high school was so difficult and expensive, it was a full time job in and of itself.
We enlisted the help of an educational consultant, Martha Kolbe who has since passed away. I would highly recommend that step. While we ultimately had to choose a boarding school, there are often choices within your area that would help your child. These consultants often know of small home schooling groups that take on children with challenges as well as middle and high schools that were not on your radar at all.
Charles was very intelligent but sleeping issues, anxiety and depression, and ultimately drug abuse later on, made finding a school a monumental challenge. But he got it done at the age of 19 and he got a high school degree from Wasatch Academy.
This sounds really silly. But I was glad I was able to put that he graduated from high school in his obituary. It meant something to have helped him accomplish it.
