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Background Information

S was born and raised in Scituate and is currently a high school senior. He has been on
an IEP throughout high school and diagnosed with ADHD , Executive Functioning Deficit, and
Disorder of Written Expression. S went to Scituate HS for freshman year and then moved to the
Norwell Charter School because he wasnt doing well. His parents thought he would do better in
a smaller school environment. He wasnt happy about the change and missed his friends, but
gradually adjusted, made new friends and ended up really liking the charter school. He was in
the middle of his junior year and made the decision to work hard and transfer back to Scituate
High School. I asked him why he wanted to move back and he said he didn't feel challenged at
the charter school. He was making the best grades he had ever made, but he didn't feel like he
deserved them. It wasn't challenging for him and he didn't feel like his peers valued education the
way he did. He moved back to Scituate in the middle of his junior year and has worked really
hard. He is currently taking some honors and one AP class. He has a 2.5 cumulative GPA,
scored a 1650 on his SAT, and has interest in math and technology.
Scott has accommodations to help him with his academic success. In his IEP, it is stated
that his disabilities affect his ability to learn. He is given preferential seating, teachers will
provide instruction home regarding assignments, he gets 50% extra time on assessments and is
scheduled in an Academic Strategies Class. From my observation, he seems to really enjoy
school, takes pride in his work and wants to do well.
S is a very talented singer and has a passion for theater. This is his creative outlet and a
huge part of his identity. He has performed in large singing venues and has been a part of some
of the performances around the community. He is a very outgoing and social teenage. S is

graduating this year, but doesn't have a clear direction on what he wants to do after graduation.
He said he would like to do a "Gap Year", but he is not exactly sure what that would entail.
Presentation of the Case:
S was referred to me because he has not decided what he wants to do after graduation.
His counselor thought he would be a great student for me to work with and help create a post
graduation plan. We have met three times and the session that was recorded was our third
meeting. In our previous sessions I was building a rapport with S and learning about him as a
person and what his hopes and aspirations were for the future. He said he wanted to do a "Gap
Year" and was looking at Bridgewater and UMass Lowell to potentially take classes as a non
matriculated student. He has interests in going to school for aviation and/or engineering. I
mentioned community college in our previous sessions because he could take classes without a
huge application process. Prior to our session I researched Gap Year programs and community
colleges in the area as potential post graduation programs.
Goals for S
1. Explore post graduation options

Discuss what he would like to do after college


Share information I researched about community college and Gap Year Programs
Talk about potential careers and jobs
Get parents involved in process
Create a concrete plan for after graduation

2. Help keep S on track with keeping up with his work and organization

Discuss how he was doing with his workload


Is he caught up with his assignments

Is he on track for graduation

Plan for Session


The plan for this session was to review what we discussed last week and see how he was doing
with everything. He had a significant performance at the Symphony in Boston that took him out
of school for three days. He was extremely excited about the opportunity, but knew it was going
to put him behind with his school work. I wanted to make sure he was staying on top of his work
and not falling behind. Then transition into talking about life after graduation and see if he had
given any more thought it. I wanted to use the "magic wand" question and see what he would do
if there were no limitations put on him. I also wanted to see if he had talked to his parents about
next year and what their thoughts were on everything. Lastly, I researched information on
community colleges in the area and found resources for Gap Year Programs I wanted to share.
Review of Video
I had an agenda for the session and S took it in a couple of different directions which uncovered
other issues to address such as getting proper sleep to function at full capacity. I tried to prompt
S with my questions in hopes of exploring options for after graduation.
All feedback is welcome. Some of the things that stood out to me are below.

I'm constantly moving my hands, is this too distracting or helpful? I was not aware I had

so much hand movement during conversation.


He talks about being disorganized with his binder and I offer him a suggestion for
organization and he replies "right". Should I have dug a little deeper and focused on this

more?
Lots of "ums"- too distracting!

S likes to talk and takes the conversation in many different directions, should I try to keep

him on track more?


When I presented community college, is there anything else I should of added or

explored?
Goal setting, should I have been more detailed?
I didn't write anything down just because I didn't want to interrupt the flow of our
conversation. Any thoughts?

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