Can I repeat TY in secondary school at age 18 due to my unique circumstances

cantthinkofausername1

I'm autistic and I am 17 years old (will turn 18 in June) and currently in 5th year in secondary school, I am possibly developmentally and emotionally behind and delayed for my chronogical age (around 3 years behind, want to know from a doctor or physchologist) due to autism, prolonged social isolation (as I don't have any family other than my mum and had a very lonely upbringing and had no life outside of school till like 1 year ago when I joined a youth club), 2 years of covid lockdowns and restrictions, and past severe bullying in 2nd year (in 3rd year I was scared to talk to other kids in my class because of what happened in 2nd year),

I didn't feel like I lived a post covid life till the second half of 2022/beginning of 2023 (when I started TY) due to this (I was 16 and missed out alot of my formative teenage years due to the circumstances above because of this making me developmentally much younger), My life between Early 2020 and Summer/Autumn 2022 was like groundhog day to me, I also have abnormal development for my age is well like delayed developmental milestones, my isolated upbringing and covid also impacted my development even more as well (this is my Reddit post of my delayed developmental milestones https://www.reddit.com/r/autism/s/6vXiRIOF02)

I also worry about missing out on my teenage years due to my circumstances and developmental delays. I have very little experience compared to somebody my chronogical age, Im more inline with a typical 14-15 year old. I would like to repeat two years in school (as in starting TY again from September 2024) and stay in school for an extra two years to allow me to catch up in development and would like to delay adulthood (such as responsibilities and having to grow up and living an adult lifestyle) by a few years to allow me to have more time to live my teenage and adolescent years as I've only started feeling and living like a teenager since age 16 (I'm also quite immature for my chronogical age).

I also sometimes struggle with the work in 5th year due to the higher difficulty level and I barely study and sometumes get into trouble for not doing homework. (I also do not care about being 18 in TY if that happens because my chronogical age isnt revelant to me in terms of experience and developmental level) I also don't care and mind being much older doing the Leaving Cert either (I'll be turning 21 in that June) if I were to be held back two years in school as this would enable me to have a longer adolescence lifestyle (by staying in school) and a delayed adulthood. (As people develop at different rates so I don't mind being much older as the age difference wouldn't be any noticeable anyway between me and the other classmates in my repeated class given my emotional developmental delays and my circumstances)

I also was appointed a councillor since January but I wasnt able to see her too much due to circumstances (like school trips, school being closed such as for teacher training and sometimes the councillor was out sick)

cantthinkofausername1

Not to mention my secondary school is an educate together (no uniform), there is already students that are older than the typical age in a school year in my school due to other circumstances, theres a guy whos 20 in 6th year because of past homeschooling and he also did TY at age 18 with the same class (and hes friends with some of them), there is also a girl whos 19 in 6th year going to be 20 in June doing leaving cert (she repeated a year)

Larbre34

You're obviously very mature and intelligent and self-aware, and your vocabulary is far beyond what I would expect for really any person of your age, irrespective of neuro-divergence.

TY is a vocational and occupational break in the secondary cycle, which in itself may have contributed to the interruption of the academic stream, and in your own particular case may have been more impactful than for a student without additional needs.

I don't think repeating TY would do you any good at all, and would probably amplify some harm.

I think what you desire is to get those years back which all school students lost, and thats not really possible. I suspect you are well capable of the curriculum, but would benefit from a modified environment and learning support through which to learn it, rather than going back two whole years, or even one, in your schooling.

Really this school emphasis on the Leaving Cert annoys me, as if it will somehow be the end of your journey. You're going to flourish once out of the confines of a rigid mainstream education system and into a third level programme that suits your needs and wants and desires.

spurious

I don't think TY at 18 would really be feasible.

There is at least one adult only Leaving Cert college that I know of (Pearse College in Crumlin in Dublin) which might suit.

Doing the LC at 21 or older is not uncommon at all.

If it's a maturity or socialisation issue, there is always the possibility of self-development through volunteering somewhere and coming back to education later on. There is no great rush to do the LC, if ever. There are many different paths into higher education.