Special Needs Child and Homeschooling

Hi Kelly
I have 4 kids I have homeschooled all thier lives.
Go to the FHE website and you will get lots of help with links for special needs and homeschooling.

Dear Kelly,

If you live in MO, try to find a like-minded homeschooling friend who can, by law, also homeschool up to 4 children from one other family. This may be your best option as you are working fulltime. I homeschool our son, age almost 13, who has Asperger's, fetal alcohol and various other diagnoses because he, also, cannot attend a public school as they are now set up. We also attend a homeschool coop once a week all day which has been very accommodating. I homeschooled all five of my other children also for personal reasons, but for John it is a necessity. Finding childcare which is appropriate for your son while you work and then homechooling him in the off hours (it only takes 3 hours a day which is longer than the actual educational time in the public schools!) is another option, if you can find someone you and your son trust and can work with.

Good luck to you and your son! Public schools are definitely NOT set up for our kids!!

M. in Anderson, MO

Hi Kelly, I homeschool my kids and it's great! They get the one on one time that they need and the grasp the subjects better than they would in a traditional classroom setting. I worked in a latchkey program breifly and found that if you have a boy that has a lot of energy or is in any way disruptive (even just once or twice) the teacher is wanting you to put your child on some kind of medication. Maybe all schools aren't like that but the ones around me are. Anyway I said that to say this--homeschooling is probably the best thing for any child especially one with special needs. You know your child, you know how he likes to learn about things and you know how to handle him because he is comfortable with you. I can imagine that homechooling as a single parent would be tough but you can make it work. One great thing about homeschooling is that it is very flexible--you don't have to do it 8am-3pm. You can get it done in a couple of hours (all subjects). You can do it in the evening if you have to--my daughter and I did it in the evening one year without any problems. Get involved with a group alot of them have co-ops to help you out and all of them are filled with moms just like you who want better for their kids. Go to this website to find out laws from your state concerning homeschool hslda.org. If you have any more questions I would be happy to talk to you about it more! My email is ____@____.com bless!

Are you in the Blue Springs or Lee's Summit district? I know that several years ago Lee's Summit had an Autism "unit" so to speak in it's special ed dept. Perhaps you could petition to change districts?
Otherwise, if you are considering homeschooling, you might want to check out the online charter or virtual schools. These are public schools, however the child is educated at home. You are assigned a teacher with whom you communicate via phone or email. If the child is on an IEP she still receives services. They provide the computer and the textbooks. The best part... the lesson plans are already done. It's worth checking into. My son is Aspergers and we used the online charter schools with him for several years.

Have you worked with anyone at The Rainbow Center in Blue Springs ( http://www.rainbow-center.org ) or at The Joshua Center ( http://www.joshuacenter.com/ )? I would think that you could find some constructive support and even an advocate for your son at either or both places. Good Luck!

My 3rd daughter was never diagnosed. But symptom wise, she was hyper, easily distracted, thought just about anything was funny and laughed a lot, she was described as crazy many times by so many people. She even put herself through a window because running across the floor and throwing herself into things was something she'd do without any warning. She somehow managed not to get hurt that often but she caused me a lot of anxiety.

We managed to homeschool from preschool to the 4th grade. She started school in the 5th grade and did great. But in the 6-8th grades she was punished constantly for talking too much. She's a senior in highschool now and things have gotten much better.

Homeschooling is wonderful when the kids are on board with it. But if they don't really like to learn and are uncooperative it can be very hard. I do believe it's possible for you to homeschool. But you have to find someone that can care for your son when you are working that understands his needs. Then when you are at home you will have to be committed to sitting with him and going through the work he's doing when you are gone. I taught my girls they needed to be mostly responsible for getting their work done. But when they were confused about the work or just tired of having to work so hard they would lie and say their work was done when it wasn't. When I couldn't help them because I didn't understand what they were doing, I had to hire a college aged student to come in and tutor them in math. I paid 10 dollars per hour for 2 hours per week. It was well worth it.

In our case we had other girls that helped keep her on track. What hours do you work and who would be with your son when you are working?

I think it's worth a try. But I don't know your son or how hard it is to be with him all day. I know my daughter sure could push my buttons a LOT!

Suzi

That is horrible! I am a parent of a special needs child and that is very upsetting as if we are taking steps backwards instead of forward. I don't know the first thing about homeschooling but I know there are more resources and options out there we just need to research them. What district is this? I have some teacher resources that was given to me from a speech pathologist on autism if you would like those. Just send me a message

My son has a mess of problems including PDD. He has been at Southview for a year now. It has done wonders. As far as home school, I wouldn't even try it myself. I don't think it would take long before I would be overwhelmed and useless to my son.

Call MPACT (http://www.ptimpact.com/) and get an advocate involved. This is a free service in Missouri. Have you checked out any of the private schools in the area (Partners in Behavorial Milestones has a school)? It is within your child's rights to get private school paid for through the district if they can not serve him. I used to work for PBM and the majority of the kids there were paid for by the school district. Send me a message if you have any other questions or if I can help you more.

I am a parent of a young adult with developmental issues. I also work for the Institute for Human Development at UMKC, where there is located a program (within the Family Support Division) called Sharing Our Strengths. This program matches up parents of children with developmental disabilities that have questions, concerns etc. with experienced mentor parents. We have parents of children with disabilites who do homeschool their children, and can discuss with you their experiences, things that you need to consider, etc. Please call Stacie Williams, Sharing Our Strengths Coordinator, at ###-###-#### for assistance if you are interested in securing a mentor to discuss the experince of homeschooling a child with developmental disabilities. Also, a second prgram available for your use can place information about specific disabilites or related topics in your hands at not cost. I have available a packet of information geared to this specific topic of homeschooling children with developmental disabilities. I would also be happy to get this information to you. If you are interested, you cancall me at ###-###-####. Sincerely, J. Hatfield-Callen

Hi Kelly,

I'm so sorry for the way your son has been treated. I was homeschooled until highschool and loved it! I have some learning disabilities and homeschooling really helped me to get grounded and ready for public school. My mom was able to find my strengths and weeknesses and taught me to work with then. I got the best of both worlds :o)

Please let me know if you decide to keep him home and need some books or if you just want extra books for extra encouragement for him.

Good Luck!
S.
____@____.com
www.ubah.com/w2474

Good Morning Kelly, I wouldn't stop talking. Go to the School Board if nothing else. Home schooling can be done for special needs children but it is sometimes twice as hard. I loved it with our two sons yrs ago. ADD, ADHD.

The Teachers that are punishing him for his problems should go to sensitivity Training. Geemonee Christmas. To have Autism and Tourettes is a double whammy for anyone let alone a precious child who can not control either one.

They passed our son's on also, so when they were in 6-8th gr we took them out had them tested and started them both back with 4th gr ACE.. Accellerated Christian Educ. They had so many learning gaps it wasn't funny.

Keep fighting for your son, Kelly, if we don't no one else will
God Bless you
K. Nana of 5

go to www.lifehappins.com and talk to andrea; her son has tourettes and she's all over stuff like that. good luck! and check out homeschooling co-ops; maybe they can help on days you can't miss work.

Hi Kelly,
My sister in law has some information for you. They have an Autistic son also. He is 18 and Graduated last year and she took on the school board in St Charles. So please email me at ____@____.com and I will forward you the information she sent me.