One year at a Catholic Montessori. Age 4.

Four years of public school. Age 5-8

Four years of private school. Age 9-12

Three months of high school and the rest of the year in homeschool. Age 13.

One year of a college for young students that combined college and high school material. Age 14.

Three years of some combination of no school, institution school, and special ed. Age 15-17

One year of community college. Age 18.

A month or two of university in a college for atypical students. Made it to class two or three times ever. Age 19.

My actual education?  Mostly stuff I figured out by doing it or reading outside of school. I’ve close to instantly forgotten nearly everything school tried to teach me. The things I remember about school have nothing to do with the curriculum and everything to do with the lessons we were taught without anyone saying:  What it means to be autistic among mostly nonautistic kids, middle class among rich kids, kid dominated by adults, kid declared gifted who was nothing like the other “gifted” kids, shoved into harder and harder classes because people thought I was bored when really I was struggling to comprehend, trying to look like I understood the words pouring out of the teacher’s mouth when I couldn’t at all, special ed high school student who’s been to college, and on and on. Those are the lessons that I really learned in school, rather than just briefly memorizing and then forgetting.  I learn from life, not from lesson plans.

More detail on these experiences is scattered throughout my blog.