My son is 14 almost 15 in 9th grade. School just started and I am seriously thinking of taking him out of gym for the rest of his school years. It is just very competitive and " advanced" at this age I think. He is not into sports at all. Has anyone else done this? I asked him last night and he said that he doesnt like it when he gets teased in gym. I just can not see he taking it if that is gonna happen. I know i can not shelter him from everything but if this is something i can change. I am not even sure if they will let me change his IEP but i really dont think they would want to stop me either :rolleyes:
Really if he is not going to be into sports what is the point?

:wave:

Pull him out and put him in a class where he will feel comfortable. You shouldn't even need an IEP. Just tell the counselor that you have made your decision and you want it to go into effect immediately. You can homeschool P.E. (Without an IEP you will probably need to do this. Even if you don't need to I think it is a good idea because we all need exercise.) If you homeschool P.E. you will just need to make sure he does 3o min. of exercise a night: walking the dog, jumping on the tramp., rollerblading etc.

It is my opinion that the boys locker room is the least safe place (both physically and emotionallly) in the school.

I've had 2 kids (one NT) w/special needs do HS gym & I recommend talking to the gym teacher first before pulling your child out. See if accommodations can be made. Both your son, as well as the NT kids, have a bit to lose if you pull him out.

You want to verify that the PE program is indeed oriented towards competitive sports. In our school district, the competitiveness occurs more w/out-of-PE team sports, intramurals, that sort of thing. PE itself is more oriented to personal fitness, teaching basic rules of sports (impt even for armchair athletes), team skills (working together, not competitive), and good sportsmanship. Of course, this may vary from school district to district, however, there has generally been a swing towards personal fitness ed across the country.

I think part of the decision may depend somewhat on how high-functioning your child is. Try not to view that as a snotty comment. ALL our kids need exercise & fitness ops. IMO kids who will go on to college, etc., will benefit from some experience with teamwork & insight into competitiveness. Teamsmanship is hard for my PDD-son, but we have felt the challenge is good for him, even though it's not what he's best at.

In our son's case, we were able to have certain accommodations made re: the locker room by having PE scheduled first thing (also great if your kid is an ADD a.m. sleepyhead). That way he arrived "dressed down" for the day -- our school fortunately has relaxed requirements, any old short pants will do & our DS just wore the more fashionable, slightly longer ones. That particular accommodation was very important to our son, who had great anxiety about locker room issues.

Talking w/the PE teacher about what accommodations can be made doesn't rule out eventually deciding to opt your child out. In fact, it's possible that such a talk will confirm that decision for you. You can always do the homeschool PE, but some schools will also offer "PE fitness contracts," where the student meets periodically w/a PE teacher 1:1 to discuss fitness plan & progress (must be logged & parent-signed) -- which allows the student to get credit towards grad requirements, as well as gives a little extra social experience, working with the PE teacher.

Best wishes.

Dressing out for gym is one of the things that makes a person feel very vulnerable.

I am not a sports person, but I do believe people need physical exercise to stay mentally sharp. I was never very good at sports, but I do walk a lot and try to keep fit.

Roger Bannister, in his autiobiography, The Four Minute Mile, wrote of making choices about what sport he wanted to pursue. He chose running, because it was the easiest for him. He said that he chose running over traditional gym classes with structured exercises. He claims he never learned to touch his toes! A record setting runner probably doesn't have to! Not all of us will break a four minute mile, but we can all benefit from a physical form of exercise we enjoy. I believe walking, swimming, and bike riding are the easiest and most fun. One doesn't necessarily need to engage in team sports to derive the benefit of physical exercise.