Reply #34: the trouble with the private school option [View All]

[mopinko]

is that they are not required to provide any real help for him.
your son sounds like my older 2, sorta rolled together. i concur on the recommendation to get ddr. it is strenuous exercise disguised as a video game. worth every dime.
my son's shyness is what led us to homeschool for 8 years. he is super smart, but too shy to survive that stuff. he did eventually go to school, but dropped out as a junior. there were other things that added to that.
my daughter is bipolar, and when she went to school, she ended up at 4 schools in 4 years, including a catholic girls high school. same thing- puking, crying, eventually hanging out with bad kids, drinking, smoking dope, bad grades, you name it.
anyway- we ended up having to enroll her in the local public school, then filing for an iep that included therapeutic day school. since she had been hospitalized, had a diagnosis of a major mental illness, and because we had tried so many things that did not work, we were granted. she is very, very happy at her school. getting nearly straight a's.
your kid is entitled to help from the schools. we had a consultation with a lawyer who specializes in special ed issues. he gave us a free consultation, and it helped us immensely.
this is their website.
http://www.whittedcleary.com/
they are in illinois, but this stuff is all federal law. they are nice people, and might be able to suggest someone in california, if you called.