Graduation not necessarily the top priority

Conventional wisdom links high school graduation with later success. Therefore, we bombard students with messages like "stay in school" and spend millions on dropout prevention. These are fine programs, enriching the students' school experiences.  Many dropout prevention programs undoubtedly plant seeds that eventually sprout later in life, even if the person does drop out.

High school graduation may contribute to lifelong happiness all other things being equal, but when a student has a serious, life-threatening illness, high school graduation takes a back seat to
becoming healthier (at least temporarily).  

If you were fifteen years old and had a potentially lethal illness that impaired school performance and lowered your quality of life, would graduation really be your top priority? It sure wouldn't be mine! Getting well -- or at least stabilizing the illness -- would be. Stabilizing the illness helps the individual ultimately graduate from high school, although perhaps later than healthy peers. To try to do it while the illness is unstable is simply frustrating and inefficient.

My goal with such a teen would be to occupy him or her with enough school work to keep the love of learning alive without needless pressure to achieve. Motivation for achievement comes from within.

Additionally, I think the top educational priorities for such a student are to:

1. Study only subjects of intense interest, hopefully incorporating multiple disciplines and practicing necessary academic skills.
2. Learn about the illness, how to cope with symptoms, communicate effectively with treatment providers and manage treatment.
3. Learn strategies to self-monitor learning and educational progress.
4. Develop relationships with self-selected, supportive peers and adults to weave a safety-net of caring and knowledge. This group might have periodic, facilitated meetings along the lines of Judith Snow's Circles of Friends in the developmental disabilities world. 

These strategies apply to all illnesses, including mental illnesses (shhhh . . . mustn't talk about them . . . .)

For teens with mood and anxiety disorders the goal of almost all decisions is to stop or avoid the pain. Sitting in a classroom does nothing to stop the pain. Unfortunately, many will stop the pain by killing themselves (NCCP: Adolescent Mental Health in the United States). Far more will try, or will distract themselves by cutting and by abusing drugs.