Vocational Training

[puzzleman]

Has anyone out there been through vocational education with their child? What do they teach and how do they teach it? I guess I don't want to wait until my son is out of school to find out he has no way of getting a job?

[Vanessa]

I never thought about vocational training for my son, as far as the vocational school goes.
However, the school he does go to, has an adult workshop, where he could go during and after high school. He's still elementary age right now, he'll be middle school age in the fall, he'll be in the 6th grade, but the actual school he is in, teaches, actually focuses on basic living skills more than acedemics.

I think because this is what they think these students need more of. My son however does have some subjects he needs to learn and they're on his IEP, they will remain on his IEP for as long as I'm his mother. But the idea of vocational school is interesting.
I think these kids have some extraordinary skills they could really expand, and vocational school would be the thing. Hmm. I will have to look into that, when he's a high school student. Our local vocational school takes students at the 11th and 12th grade level. I think my daughter will be going there, she sounds like she wants to.
I might try it out for my son, if it's feasible. It's worth checking out, vocational school vs. the workshop.

Vanessa

[StrictNon-Confo]

If you want to ensure long-term unhappiness, raise your kids with no hopes of getting things they want, because the system says "you aren't capable of doing anything, so we aren't going to even allow you to try to get the education you want or need to even come close! After all, we're obviously wiser than you, and the only skills you need are to be a good little citizen, and how to make nice with everyone else! Your interests and long-term goals are the ones we tell you they are! What you want means nothing!"

Everyone in life needs a worthwhile purpose, and work to do, to the best of their abilities. If they have no say in the matter, their will to live and progress will greatly diminish. My older sister likely would have preferred to be taught skills she was interested in, but she had no real say in the matter. She was placed in a workshop setting at least once, but again, it wasn't the sort of work she wanted to do, but rather something others decided she could do. This is the same sort of thing as being told they can't live on their own by themselves, because they aren't capable of that, and they will always have to live where they are told to live, with whom, of which isn't likely to be any of their choice. She has this fear that sooner or later, she will be forced to live in a group home. While you may think there's nothing at all bad about that, that is not what she wants. Currently, she's living with my sister, who seems to be the most compatible amongst us for her to live with, but she has definite preferences as to where she wants to live, and it 100% certainly is not in a group home. It's fortunate she had immediate family in a position to take her in after our parents died, and hopefully things will always work out in the family for her not to be required to become fully controlled by the state, as she would absolutely hate it.

Sooner or later you and your spouse will die, and chances are high it will be before your kids, if nature and chance plays fairly. The absolutely worst thing you can do is to place arbitrary lower limits on the educational success of your children, because eventually they'll need to leave the nest, either because they want independence before you die, or you die and they have no choice. Don't merely limit them (if they are capable of more) to these workshops: these are jobs that are most likely (in many cases) to be unfulfilling, low-pay, lousy work conditions, no room for long-term advancement, and (another limiting factor on a global scale) likely to be out-sourced to other places in the world that will work for much cheaper, making them be unemployable skills entirely. Far better would be to get as much of basic academics under their belts as possible, and let them decide what they're interested in, and they will be far more capable than you might expect.

[puzzleman]

Thanks for the replys,Luke is pretty sharp when it comes to visual assembly of puzzles (puzzleman), Tonka Trucks and other easy to assemble items. My next goal is to open a small home based assembly business putting small items together in an assembly line format with no changes or interruptions in his work schedule. Luke stacks wood and has worked with bricks building a walkway (he likes to line stuff up) I will let you know how it works out.:)

[mlwear]

These are the sort of responses that I appreciate most from Strict. I had somewhat reached that same conclusion myself, but having it validated by someone who really knows gives me strength. Every year at IEP they ask what are your long term goals for your child. Especially, when they are a little older this means, will they live independently or in a group home, will they work and what sort of work will they do. My son is young now, but I always answer that I expect he will live independently with gainful employment and be happy. I explain that my son is one of the happiest people I know (no one can argue that) and that so many parents say that all they want for their child when they grow up is that they are happy. So, I tell them as long as no one messes up, we have acheived every parent's dream.
I have been told in middle school they will start steering him toward a vocation. This does worry me. How many of us knew what we wanted to do for the rest of our lives when we were 12 years old? For everyone that is time for exploration. There are things that they may be good at that they've never even tried.
I have high expectations for my son. I know I need to be realistic, too. AND that this is his life not mine and not the school system's. It will be challanging.
I believe they have calculated that my son CAN stay in high school for an extra year for vocational training exclusively. They offer many fields of study. Maybe he'll want to do that. Maybe he'll want to go to college. Some schools are better than others at providing accomodations and assistance for individuals with special needs.
Add that my older son will have more opportunities and likely an easier time of things despite his own problems and it is enough to make your head spin.
Yes, I'm rambling. It's a subject that concerns me. I'm glad it was brought up. We do need to allow our children to grow and blossom like all others. In my son's Tae Kwon Do class they tell him (and they mean it) that with focus all things are possible. We have a duty to be sure they can believe in themselves.