The Bittersweet Transition: Preparing Your Teen for Life After High School

Whether they felt breathtakingly fast or maddeningly slow, your child’s teen years will eventually come to an end — which means she’ll most likely choose to go to college or decide to pursue a career right away. If she has ADHD or a learning disability, an IEP during the last years of high school can make this scary process easier. Here’s how.

Most parents begin the process of transitioning their child to college or life after high school long before graduation day. Some start as early as middle school.

For parents of a young child with a learning disability — including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) — especially one recently diagnosed, looking so far into the future may seem an impossible feat, especially when his or her present problems are so overwhelming.

In the years following my daughter Allegra’s diagnosis, I was weighed down by all the doctor’s appointments, tutors, school meetings, and, most of all, by the realization that my child’s life had taken a drastic and unexpected turn. I went through the same phases of denial and anger and sorrow we all experience, and I could barely think about the coming year, much less a future far down the road...FULL ARTICLE