"He started questioning why things that seemed so easy for his siblings and other kids took him longer to do. This was a child who enjoyed school and wanted to succeed. It pained me to see my son feel this way."

Since the private school could not provide the expertise and services he needed at that time, we made the decision to transfer him to public school. He attended 5th grade and middle school through the public school system. Like any transition, this was an adjustment. However, we believed this was the right choice for our son to receive the services he needed. I learned about the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) process in the public school system and learned how to effectively communicate at the IEP meetings.

My son struggled in the subject of language arts, word problems in math and needed to work on socialization skills. There were days when we felt that for all the steps he took forward he would take another step back. Some days we would be up until midnight helping him with homework. And, when he would succeed and meet his goals, I had to fight to keep his accommodations during IEP meetings. I had to stress the fact that his success in school and increased self-esteem and confidence were evidence of his IEP accommodations working for him.

Things seemed to be moving forward in a positive direction in middle school, and Rey was doing well academically. However, we made another pivot after his transition meeting for high school. I asked the high school special education leader what he saw as Rey’s future educational path based on his academic performance in middle school. He said, "maybe community college would be good enough for him." His response was difficult to accept since Rey had A’s and B’s in his classes. I couldn’t understand why the teacher didn’t even consider a four year university as a possibility in my son’s future. The message I was hearing was "we're going to lower the achievement goals because he probably won't get very far anyway." It was clear to me that the public high school in our district would not provide the same level of support and services that he needed at that time.

When our son started 7th grade I started looking into possible choices for high school education. I considered both public school and private schools. I had heard a lot of great things about a specialized program for kids with learning differences at Mt. St. Joseph High School in Baltimore, MD. I remember his first day of high school like it was yesterday. I remember sitting in the car waiting for him to walk out. I was looking around and couldn’t find him. I thought, “perhaps I accidentally told him I would be at another parking lot waiting for him.” And then I saw Rey smiling and waving goodbye to new friends. At that moment I had tears in my eyes. I didn’t even recognize him. Before high school, I could always find Rey easily. He was always a little awkward in the way he walked. But today he was different. He looked confident and like one of the guys. And I was overcome with a sense of inner peace that he would be happy at this school.

"At that moment I had tears in my eyes. I didn’t even recognize him. Before high school, I could always find Rey easily. He was always a little awkward in the way he walked. But today he was different."