Special Needs and Learning Disabilities

[Cyllya]

This isn't relevant to me yet, but I want to be prepared for the future, and my curiosity is nagging me in the meantime.

One concern against homeschooling I sometimes see is that a homeschooled child is less likely to be around adults (such as school staff) who are around tons and tons of children, and therefore special needs, disabilities, or delays might go unnoticed. Personally, I don't think I'll be around a lot of kids, so it's definitely a concern for. So what can a homeschooling parent do to be alert to these kinds of potential problems? Does it matter if you're unschooling or doing unschooling-like delayed academics? Is there are giant checklist somewhere?

I have symptoms of SPD and inattentive-type ADHD, but I've never been evaluated, even though I went to school as a kid.... They didn't cause me problems with school, but they are sure causing me problems now. It sucks. I definitely want to spare my kids this trouble.

[Stephenie]

I think parents usually know when something is up. My kids have never been in school, but I know my son has Asperger's, SPD and ADHD and my daughter has SPD. Regular visits with the ped and paying attention to their struggles is all it really took for me, but there are several checklists available online by age, I know pbs has several.