Did you have an IEP/ILP in school?

[SRSAutistic]

Please reply to this thread. I am from the US. In the US, the special education services are known as an IEP. In the UK, the special education services are known as an ILP.

As I am a high-functioning autistic, I had an IEP from preschool to high school. An IEP is given for students who have a disability (Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, ADHD, dyslexia, Tourette's Syndrome, etc). In university, there are accommodations for students like me through Disability Student Services. Remember, autism is not a disability, it is a different ability.

As I will be going to University of California, Irvine (UCI) in September 2022, I will have accommodations that will help me in university (extra time on assignments/tests, separate setting to reduce distractions, access to class notes, etc). I used these accommodations in high school.

I have slow handwriting, and most of the time, I could not finish tests within the time limit. Thankfully, since I had an IEP, I was given extra time for tests, and this helped.

Did you have an IEP/ILP in school?

 

[Leo Zed]

In grade school, I had to take annual standardized exams. I would score 98-99th percentile in mathematics, but I would score in the single digits percentile on the verbal section. So when it came time for reading and English class, I would be pulled out of class and met with a specialist - a special ed teacher. Some years I would have to go to summer school. During my college years (after having been diagnosed with ADD), I worked with the Disability Support Services. Sometimes I had a tutor, but mostly I was given extra time to complete an exam in a distraction-free environment. I didn’t really need the extra time, but a distraction-free environment was essential.

 

[Luca]

I had an IEP in school but I don’t think it was that helpful, because I feel like it made teachers pre-judge me.

In college I had a disability accommodation form that said I have to use a tablet or a computer to do assignments because I have difficulty with handwriting.
Most professors ignored this and forced me to handwrite everything, which really stressed me out.

My experience has been that a lot of schools and colleges don’t really care about helping disabled students and we’re just “a burden.” That might not be everyone’s experience but that’s how I was treated in school, kindergarten through college level. But I also grew up in a notoriously corrupt local education system that has a reputation for being ableist.

 

[Isadoorian]

I'm Canadian and had an IEP in School.

From what I remember, when I was in Elementary (grade school), I used a rubber grip on my pens & pencils, and had a slantboard to help me from not hunching over (didn't really work, as I'd do it anyway when I stopped using it). I was also allowed to use my laptop for writing most assignments as my hand would get sore/tired after some time (which still happens today).

In High School, some tests/exams were simplified for me, or I could even take them in a separate room; I was able to get some As and Bs in some classes which was a first, seeing as I was always a C/C+ kid. I honestly still feel Imposter Syndrome about that, as I feel I "didn't earn them legitimately".

I was also exempt from taking my End-of-Year Provincial Exams, which was a god send.
The only time I regret not asking for help, was when I had a 30-page Portfolio to do for my Law 12 class, and I meant to ask our teacher if I could do half of it for full marks as it was so daunting, but also because we had so much other school work being piled on us, though I didn't because I didn't feel it'd be fair to my fellow class mates.

My overall grade was a C-, which hurt a bit but I didn't really mind, as I took the class purely out of curiosity.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

My youngest son had this through, public and high school, finished college graduated as an electro-mechancal technologist. Now gainfully employed.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

In school from the 50s through 70s, I was neither diagnosed or helped. People expected me to be normal. My deficits were primarily social.

 

[AutisticMilly]

I did have an IEP, but since I was diagnosed so late, I only had it when I was in the 11th-12th grade. I always wondered what the outcome would’ve been like if I had gotten it when I was younger.

 

[Qoyote]

Sometimes I wish I was born a little earlier so I could live in "the good old days", then I remember "oh yeah, I'm autistic and bi..."

Had an IEP until I was 14, 504 through high school. Today there's a program at my college that offers autistic students planning/mental health meetings and a room to hang out and study. I've gotten a lot more independent this year thanks to them, more of a self-starter.

I had a communications class my first semester where I got accomodations under the table because the professor's daughter had a disability and she was sympathetic. Other than that I have been offered accomodations on assignments/tests but do not use them. That might change when we (probably) go back to in-person tests this semester.

 

[Tom]

I don't think IEPs had been invented yet, back then.

 

[Crossbreed]

My ASD2 & 3 kids had IEPs and were not in regular classes.
My (one recognized) ASD1 son had a "504 plan." That is, he was in regular classes, but they lightened his homework load and gave him more time for timed tests. He was allowed to take more advanced math classes at the same time.

He did not seek out such accommodations at his university. He graduated this year, but it may have lowered his GPA somewhat.

 

[Ken]

No, I did not, and I think I’m glad I didn’t. Not because I think such programs are not good, but because I can’t imagine it being good at the school I went to. In fact, the school I went to had no clue about autism or any such condition. The term Autism was completely unknown, not just to the school, but within the community. The school was not friendly to anyone with any form of disability or difference.

This made school life for me a living hell, but I think that if there was any sort of special education service in that environment it would likely have be worse. I suffered almost continuous bullying, but the bullies were not other students – they were the teachers and school officials.

 

[Au Naturel]

Please reply to this thread. I am from the US. In the US, the special education services are known as an IEP. In the UK, the special education services are known as an ILP.

As I am a high-functioning autistic, I had an IEP from preschool to high school. An IEP is given for students who have a disability (Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, ADHD, dyslexia, Tourette's Syndrome, etc). In university, there are accommodations for students like me through Disability Student Services. Remember, autism is not a disability, it is a different ability.

As I will be going to University of California, Irvine (UCI) in September 2022, I will have accommodations that will help me in university (extra time on assignments/tests, separate setting to reduce distractions, access to class notes, etc). I used these accommodations in high school.

I have slow handwriting, and most of the time, I could not finish tests within the time limit. Thankfully, since I had an IEP, I was given extra time for tests, and this helped.

Did you have an IEP/ILP in school?

They did not exist back then and there.

 

[Qoyote]

For the record most states have 1-4 colleges that have a program like the one I'm in. It's way more common than it was 10 years ago but not universal.

 

[Stuttermabolur]

My university has something of the sort, but as I haven't been diagnosed (which is a requirement), I never used it. I know an autistic guy who gets extra time on tests, as well as several people with ADHD/dyslexia and it sounds nice. I have only actively ran out of time during a test once or twice, but I was almost always there for the whole three hours (most often along with the same 2-3 students) when most people left at 2-2.5 hours and tend not to have time to revise my answers at the end. The main problem with extended test time is that since a lot of the students using it have anxiety issues or are doing badly, students sometimes burst into tears or give off noise, something I never experienced taking tests with the rest of the students in my class.

 

[Andrew206]

I had an IEP in school. I had it until the 12th grade, when the special education team felt that putting me in mainstream classes would be best.

 

[Twitch]

I was classified as "Emotionally Disturbed" in school. It was the 70's and 80's. Because I liked to write on walls (verse mostly) and the teachers and administrators HATED MY GUTS for being "difficult and argumentative" I got shipped to a school for "behavioral problems" (i.e. criminals) which led to all manner of fun for me. Kudos educational system!

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

You sound like my youngest son, I had to put a plan together for him, got him through college.

 

[Outdated]

The same as many older people here, there was no general knowledge of things like autism when I was growing up. I also grew up in a very unforgiving and demanding world where being different was unacceptable.

I have often wondered how my life might have turned out if I'd received a little assistance, or more importantly, just a little understanding and consideration.

Through pure bull headedness and blind belligerence I cut out a pretty adventurous and happy life for myself so I wonder what might have been different and what might have stayed the same. Wether or not I could have managed a better life is debatable, I've had a fat time.

 

[Todd]

Please reply to this thread. I am from the US. In the US, the special education services are known as an IEP. In the UK, the special education services are known as an ILP.

As I am a high-functioning autistic, I had an IEP from preschool to high school. An IEP is given for students who have a disability (Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, ADHD, dyslexia, Tourette's Syndrome, etc). In university, there are accommodations for students like me through Disability Student Services. Remember, autism is not a disability, it is a different ability.

As I will be going to University of California, Irvine (UCI) in September 2022, I will have accommodations that will help me in university (extra time on assignments/tests, separate setting to reduce distractions, access to class notes, etc). I used these accommodations in high school.

I have slow handwriting, and most of the time, I could not finish tests within the time limit. Thankfully, since I had an IEP, I was given extra time for tests, and this helped.

Did you have an IEP/ILP in school?

I'm an Australian who finished public high school in 97. There was no recognition that I existed. Grown ups would either notice nothing and assume I was fine, or notice some effort in my thinking and speaking and assume I was lying or otherwise up to no good. Either way whatever was always my fault. I was not fine, or disingenuous. I was a terrified child who desperately needed help he couldn't possibly ask for. I really am happy that there are some measures in place now to help people like us, but it's hard not to resent it not being there when I needed it. It sounds like you have a nice trajectory in life, so good on you for that
I have most definitely been 'disabled' by the condition. I'm trying to change this only now....

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

Yes and the psychologist hired by the school district wrote down a lot of lies and misinformation about me in the paper stating that I needed IEP. She suggested that I might have had Asperger’s but didn’t suggest that I get tested. The IEP testing was done before my sophomore year of high school. I wasn’t even tested for Asperger’s until my senior year. I could have benefited much better if the testing was done two years earlier. And on top of that, she blamed me being bullied and even being sexually assaulted for months and me being afraid of it happening and doing things to avoid it by saying in the paper that it was all “of [his] own doing.” What? Was I supposed to enjoy constantly being violated by a classmate for months? I even told her that I didn’t feel safe and she said that was my fault too even though that should have been major red flags that something was definitely wrong and that it needed to be looked into further. She acted like I was making up me saying that I didn’t feel safe because of the bullying and that I insisted on sitting near the teacher assigned to lunch duty in the cafeteria because it was the only way the bullies wouldn’t throw literal garbage and food at me. And the one time I stood up to a bully, it was made out to look like I yelled at the girl for no reason at all. And she called me lazy and stubborn when I got frustrated during the testing and had to quit because my brain became overloaded and I couldn’t function anymore without needing to scream and stopping was the only thing I could physically do in that situation because the only other option was to have a major meltdown with screaming and crying fits. I was overwhelmed and having trouble thinking properly which is a sign of Asperger’s and the psychologist obviously knew the signs because she said it was possible that I might have Asperger’s because there were signs of it but then moved on to how lazy I was and that I was always “lying” to teachers when I told them that I was being bothered by certain classmates and that I “blame all his mistakes on his classmates.” But a lot of the time it was their fault because they’d kept distracting me in class and keep pestering me and sometimes even keep throw things directly at my head and call me names and mock me and call me that extremely offensive nickname they came up for me. Yet this was still of “all [my] own doing.”