Hugs, take a deep breath; you’re doing a great job!! It’s hard as a parent to watch them struggle academically, but even more so socially and emotionally. One thing that really helped DD with skills was theater class, especially the improv activities. It forced her out of her routine and comfort zone in a fun way. She was a swimmer (great sport for an autistic teen); we originally put her in it for physical therapy, but she quickly found it helped things like her anxiety and adhd, so she kept doing it. She’s a robotics kid, but theater really helped with her speaking and conversation skills like answering people, making eye contact, using “appropriate” facial expressions. Her part time/summer jobs have always been teaching swim lessons or being a camp counselor. She found it much easier to practice communication skills with kids; they don’t mind her info dumping about Marvel, Anime or gaming. It was really good practice for her. She still practices all phone calls with me before she makes them; she creates a script to follow each time. Same with emails to profs or admins, she often sends them to me to review and discuss how she could improve, especially the tone. Her writing can come across curt or angry, even though that was not her intent. They’ve gotten much better over the years. The thing that worked the best for her was me walking her through each new encounter, letting her do it her self the next few times with me reachable by phone. She had to practice everything from calling to make doctor’s appointments to calling the police. She still calls me EVERY time she pulls up to a gas pump before she gets out of the car to ask if she runs her card as debit or credit. She’s been driving for 4 years 
Does he have a 504 or IEP, ask them about creating a transition plan, which spells out steps to help him take over things like managing his email accounts (he needs to do this himself, if he doesn’t already), filling out his own forms, advocating for himself and his accommodations with teachers. See if they have an academic coach and an EF coach if he has an IEP. If he’s 9n a 504, check for references from your school’s SPED teacher. Once he’s in college, you won’t be able to communicate with professors (with some exceptions at certainschools), and he will be responsible for providing his ADA accommodations to professors and advocating for himself when they forget or aren’t as cooperative. The transition plan should work on those skills to prepare him for next fall. What school/major is he considering? DD is MechE; her lab assignments are frequently 10+ page pages, so writing skills have been crucial. She specifically chose a school with a strong writing center; she also uses the paid premium version of Grammarly with plagiarism check. It’s been a life-saver in college. Since interview skills are not her strongest, she also wanted a school with a strong, well known career center.
Feel free to reach out with any questions, happy to help brainstorm ideas.
5 Likes