Answer to How can I survive mainstream high school with ASD?

I decided to post my answer to another question on quora here.

I took a course at my local community college about what makes for greatest success for students with a disability. The number one thing was self-advocacy.

No one can accommodate you, if they don’t know what your needs are.

Things that my kids needed:

• speech pragmatics — this should be huge priority, as it will help you in social situations throughout life,
• homework accommodations — They just couldn’t do the amount demanded, because school was just too draining for them and they have low energy levels. They needed down time at home. They understood the material, because they were gifted, as demonstrated by their test scores, but the teachers insisted on giving huge amounts of paperwork that was very taxing for people with the executive function issues common with ASDs.
• adaptive PE — the older one had floppy joints, which impaired his ability to participate in normal PE
• protection from bullying — the school needs to be very proactive about this. You shouldn’t have to tolerate abuse.
• counseling — learning how to cope with social situations, which will be stressful and baffling
• OT & PT The younger one needed OT for dysgraphia. The older one needed PT for torso weakness and floppy joints
• mentor — this was something that my school district wouldn’t do, but Tony Attwood recommends it, and I think it makes a huge amount of sense. This is a neurotypical kid who volunteers to accompany you and help you navigate social situations. I feel that this is particularly important at lunch.

My kids also benefited from a 12–1–1 class, but if you want to be mainstreamed, that should be your choice. Unfortunately, the 12–1–1 classes do tend to have lower academic standards, which is bad for a gifted kid.