One course less than normal like others are saying seems reasonable. 1-2 on the other hand… While the idea of easing him in to the expectations of college is appealing, I really think that would just calibrate him to that amount of work and anything more than that in future semesters would seem like a huge imposition.
He’s taking a full course load right now without any supports through school - but doing the bare minimum, and with the pandemic rules, the bare minimum has been very, very little. For example, he’s never once written anything longer than 2 pages. And that 250 word essay they were supposed to have written in class is a 2 week project full of screaming and tears.
He does test well, but has no clue how to study or even figure out what his homework is. Which reminds me that the new semester just started and he doesn’t know where to find his physics textbook or what it’s called.
He’s theoretically on the robotics team, but that’s the only activity he’s involved in and he’s barely involved in that.
The kid NEEDS supports, but because he manages to test well, and because his off-the-charts mastery of spelling and grammar are lumped into the same grade as his abysmal composition ability, his report card doesn’t raise any red flags.
I have concerns about the academic piece, but his even bigger struggles are social ones. Things like how he’s never once purchased lunch at school, and only under extreme duress has purchased a snack at a gas station - and even then, that transaction consisted of silently placing the food and cash on the counter and hoping the cashier would figure it out from there. And an unwillingness to ask someone for help unless that is explicitly their job (and sometimes not even then.) I suppose he can take a semester’s worth of ramen with him so he doesn’t starve, but that’s not really a balanced diet…
Honestly, I feel like I’ve really failed him. The last 10 years have been an endless stream of things like insurance refusing to pre-approve anything until we had an appointment and the provider refusing to make one until insurance said it was okay, and me failing to push one or the other of those to bend. So, here we are… Middle of senior year, and just getting to the point where supports and accommodations are finally on the table.