Junior High and the Mainstreamed Special Needs Child

My biological son is high functioning autistic and has been mainstreamed (with an in-class aide) for two years. This year, he is a fifth grader and is doing well with the assistance of the in class aide Jerrett is by no means unintelligent or lagging behind his other classmates ֖ he has always been on the A honor roll and is enrolled in some advanced classes for math and sciencehe has a very high IQ and this shows in his interactions with other kids. Most of JerrettŒs issues are social he is, for lack of a better word, socially ineptօsomething common in gifted children as well as autistic children. Its something weve worked on for some time Җ but improvement is just slow in coming. I am concerned about his upcoming transition to Junior High School. This past summer, at his last IEP review, they suggested that we work on transitioning the aide out of the classroom so that Jerrett can become more self-sufficient in anticipation for his move to Junior High. Frankly, I am scared to death! Like I said above, this isnt an educational aide, Jerrett has no issues with his school work and maintains an A average in all of his classes, even his sixth grade level math and science classes҅however, this aide has been invaluable to Jerrett during his difficult times. He doesnt transition well to new tasks Җ he is a projectsӔ kinda guy he likes to do one thing and do it to completion, and that֒s a problem in the classroom. Does anyone here have a Junior High school student who has an aide? How do they cope with class changes and other kids? In his current setting, the aide is in place for Jerrett, but she aides all of the students and the teacher so its not outwardly apparent to everyone that he is ֓Jerretts AideҔ although, everyone pretty much knows. I assume, if he has an aide in Junior High, he wont have the luxury of ғsecrecy to protect him from the kids evil commentsԅ I just want Jerrett to be successful. He gets so bored with school already if they were to transition him back to the ֓special education classroom Ԗ that would be devastating, but I just dont think he has what it will take to make the transition to Junior high, changing classes and having to do it all without the support of his aide. Any advice on how I can support him and prepare him for this upcoming challenge? Jerrett is very sensitive and doesnҒt do well in social situations and I worry so much!