Anyone homeschooling a special needs child?

[Beck]

I wasn't sure how to phrase my subject line, because I believe that all children develop on their own timetable, and homeschooling allows parents to tune in to their child's needs. That said, ds is developmentally delayed. I was once told that you know a homeschooled child is learning, just as you knew a child was learning when they were toddlers. Well, I don't know how much ds is learning.

He is 3 years old and has scattered skills. He can write letter like figures and tell you some of the letters in his name, but if you ask his name he can't tell you that. His speach is his weakest area, both receptive and expressive. He is being investigated for Proteus Syndrome, which affects him physically and mentally.

So, not sure what I'm asking. Does anyone have any inspirational stories of homeschooling a special needs child? What were the biggest challenges and how did you overcome them? Did you feel more pressure than others to use public schools?

Thanks for reading!

[khrisday]

I don't know how inspiring at this point in the evening, but I am most definately homeschooling a child with special needs. The school was not thrilled with the idea, but I wasn't too thrilled with their ideas either. When my son was younger, we really didn't know how severely he would be affected mentally, but he sure has proven that he can do much more than the doctors thought.

[Linda in Arizona]

When my older DD was 3 she had multiple delays and was a very odd child. She is now 6 and is totally caught up. Every kid is different, so I don't know how much of her story will help you

Ali had a hearing problem, but we didn't realize it until she was 2. She had surgery at 2 1/2 and her hearing has been fine since then. She had speech and langugage delays. She also had gross motor and fine motor delays, and she has a sensory integration disorder.

I read everything I could find about learning, early childhood education, etc. so that I could make the best decisions for her. One of my favorite books is "Your Child's Growing Mind" by Jane Healy.

Ali had private speech therapy and I decided to forgo other therapies for her and instead enrolled her in regular classes like swiming, creative movement etc.. Only you can decide what is best for your child.

I don't know anything about Proteus Syndrome. At 3, nothing is set in stone. My DD qualified for the special preschool at 3, but now would be toward the top of her class.

I think that the hardest thing was to not compare with with other kids her age, or to let people make me feel like it was my fault she was behind. You would not believe the people that will insinuate that the reason a child has special needs is because they don't go to preschool!!!!!

[Kanga Mom]

We are. OUr daughter is 15, nonverbal, profoundly retarded, doesn't write anything, doesn't read anything, can sort by colors but not very successfully with shapes, is still in a diaper at night, still has 'accidents' in the daytime, etc.

She joined our family when she was 5, almost 6. Milestones are few and far between, but we still have them.

She had been in school for three years when we got her. The school was really miffed with us for homeschooling. They'd been trying to teach her three signs for three years- we taught her fifty in three months and were very excite. But that was it. This seems to have been her plateau.

She thrives on routine, affection, familiarity, regular household tasks. I quit trying to teach her to say her colors (sign) because we got nowhere for three years and it's really more practical for her to be able to drink from a cup or set the table or put her dirty clothes away.
I've collected a few links to websites that may help others. Some are very Christian in content, because we are Christians, so it's not a problem to us. Maybe something here will be useful or encouraging to you.
One of my favorite favorite favorite books to read is "When Slow is Fast Enough" I think by a Dr. Goodman, but I could be wrong about the author. The book is itself is gentle, sweet and suited to an unschooling atmosphere as well as more formal programs.

http://www.angelfire.com/journal/Cha...cialNeeds.html
content rich collection of articles, comments, and letters from
parents with special needs children. Includes an article
on writing your own IEP (it's at the bottom of the page)



Nat'l Challenged Homeschoolers Assoc (NATHHAN),
http://www.nathhan.com/

At Our Own Pace, c/o Jean Kulczyk, 102 Willow Dr, Waukegan IL 60087;
847-662-5432 (newsletter for homeschooling families with special
needs)

Nat'l Handicapped Homeschoolers Assoc, 814 Shavertown Rd, Boothwyn PA
19061; 215-459-2035



http://homeschoolcentral.com/special.htm
a page of links to websites and organizations that specialize in
special needs.

http://www.inspirit.com.au/unschooli...cialneeds.html
Resources for unschooling children with special needs - ADD/ADHD -
Autism - Blind/Vision-Impaired - CAP: Central Auditory Processing
Disorder - Downs' Syndrome - Dyslexia - Gifted - Hard of
Hearing/Deaf - Speech & Language Disorders

http://eho.org/learning_disabilities.htm
The Eclectic Homeschool list of resources for learning disabilities
and special needs

Homeschooling Children with Special Needs

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8259/special.html
More links

http://homeschoolcentral.com/special.htm
MOre useful links

http://www.helmonline.com/pages/res/...ingStyles.html
And more links

Popcorn & Peanuts Learning Differences Resources
http://homepage.bushnell.net/~peanuts/learningd.html
More links

http://www.bayshoreeducational.com/special.html
Primarily LD

Special Needs - A to Z Home's Cool Homeschooling
http://www.gomilpitas.com/homeschool...ecialneeds.htm

Homeschooling ADD and ADHD - Attention Deficit Disorder
http://homeschooling.about.com/educa...ng/msubADD.htm

Homeschooling Children with Special Needs
http://cdaffy.tripod.com/needs.html
More links

http://christianhomeschoolers.com/hs/needs.shtml
I ran out of internet time waiting for this one to load.


Kanga

[CerridwenLorelei]

I am ..

PDDNOS mild form child

[Lotusmama]

My son has Tourette's Syndrome (as do I) and is mildly OCD. It's not much of a problem outside of public school/large group settings. He also has Sensory Integration Dysfunction, highly oversensitive to some things, like sounds, under to others, like pain. Homeschooling is the best thing possible for him. We tried ps for 3 years, non stop problems. Nothing that happens at home can compare to how awful those years were.

Ali

[CerridwenLorelei]

I just read your post a little more thoroughly

I don't know about Proteus syndrome so can't help there
but the delays..
It took two years but my son can now write his first name at the age of 6.
He is now doing Saxon math and Phonics first grade. But it was a long road to get to this point.
oh yes we got the pressure from a developmental ped who threatened to charge me with educational neglect if I didn't enroll him in public preschool after telling me she supported homeschoolers
Luckily our ped is great and told her to back off and she had no clue..
I wouldn't be too worried about a three year old not writing just a whole lot but that is just me
maybe he feels more comfortable with writing or saying the letters of his name than his whole name?
One of my biggest challenges was to quit listening to everyone tell me where he *should* be on certain things and let him go at his own pace..
To adjust curriculum to HIM instead of HIM to curriculum
Right now he would be at mid high K level ...after not being even verbal etc
HTH some

[apmomto4]

I'm homeschooling an autistic child.

His name is Jonathan and he's 8. When he was first diagnosed, they wanted to send him to a special residential school, where he'd come home on weekends. We declined.

He also has sensory integration issues and language difficulties, on top of his autism.

School would send him through the roof. Talk about distracting and overwhelming!!

We have a very relaxed approach to schooling in our home. They do have a math curriculum (my hubby insisted on this *one* thing!), but for everything else, it's what they're interested in studying and the rate they want to learn it. Jonathan wanted to learn how to read -- he announced this after Christmas -- so I paid $30 for the Alpha Phonics book and he's almost finished with the book!!!! He's on Lesson 101 of 128 and you should hear him read!!!! (He'll be 9 in May, so it's taken quite awhile for us, but we're getting there!)

I wholeheartedly belive in homeschooling special needs children!!! All children learn at their own pace and in their own way -- that's certainly even more true for special needs children!

Kelly - mama to 4 (Elizabeth 11, Jonathan 8, Matthew 3, Kathryn 14 months)

[Bestbirths]

I am too

I have homeschooled my 14 year old son with Multiple chemical sensitivity from kindergarten. He is totally bedridden, yet he has made great accomplishments in his education. He scores at the top 2% of the nation and is in the John's Hopkin's program. He hasn't been out of bed in a year, (and we have had to bathe him). The very sad thing is that in a better climate he can function out of bed and live a semi normal life. We had relocated to Montana and built a special house for him, and he could go places and he wasn't bedridden. We lost the home though, and had to relocate to Kansas City, where his health had deteriorated greatly over the past three years. It will take us years to regroup enough to relocate again which is so sad for Shawn.

He is looking forward to attending the John's Hopkin's summer program (its like a college class/camp/held at a real university and he gets to stay in dorms with other kids). He is able to get out of bed and function there on some level (he gets a lot of help from the staff-they go overboard with accomodating him, we are very fortunate there, and its the same staff as last year, so I don't have to re educate a whole new group. ) He functions so well because the location of the campus is UCSC which is in Santa Cruz, California. It is situated right on the mountains and the beach. It is hard to comprehend the difference that safe housing can make in the life of someone with chemical sensitivity, but really it is the difference between a meaningful life and a torturous existance.

I also have another special needs child who I am homeschooling, my daughter Megan is ten and still not reading very well. I unschool, so I am trying to take it in stride. But sometimes I feel like a ping pong ball, Shawn read at a 6th grade level when he was five, Megan is doing beginning readers with lots of difficulty at age 10. We have really run the gammut. I don't stress spelling with her at all, just phonics. I never say anything to Megan about not reading yet. I don't make a big deal of it. This summer I was going to focus on reading to her (which is hard because she doesn't like reading, books, etc.). We have been reading Your Big Backyard Magazines together, she will read some, then I will read some. Plus, I found some nature readers from Christian liberty Press that we have enjoyed reading together. When she came to me once recently, upset about not reading, I of course told her the story of Abraham Lincoln (who, if I remember right-didn't read till a late age), then I just told her that some of us were readers and some of of are doers, and I thought that she was going to be the type of person to DO things. I am a bookworm, I have read about lots of things, Midwifery being a prime example, but I have never really gone out there and done it. Shawn reads lots of books, but never gets out of bed. Megan is the type of girl who doesn't read about soccer, she goes out an PLAYS soccer. I told her she wouldn't be the one to read about climbing the mountain, she is going to be the girl who is too busy Climbing the mountain. With that she said, "like this?" and she shimmied up the door jam as she giggled. She can climb the door Jam to the ceiling.

[heartmama]

Ds is 7 and has had several open heart surgeries to correct congenital heart defects. We homeschool.

[Momsteader]

<<Does anyone have any inspirational stories of homeschooling a special needs child?>>

I don't know how inspirational...but..we do homeschool our 6.5 yo son who was dx with Asperger's. He is high functioning, and very much so in the home setting. His biggest challenges have remained socially, so not in school....he does pretty darn good!

<<What were the biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?>>

For us, not doing school, lets him develop his social skills at his own pace and with people who know him and love him for who he is, and don't care what he isn't. I think in school he would be a target for bullying, and be miserable. He doesn't understand teasing at all!

<< Did you feel more pressure than others to use public schools?>>

Yes, I felt a lot of pressure! That if I toss him in 'sink or swim', he'll just HAVE to develop social skills. NOT!!!! I think that would be the most detrimental thing to have done to him!

[mlia]

We had planned to homeschool before we knew of Salem's heart problems. So we will carry forward but we have some time before that all starts.

[snyderjoint]

You know, it really sucks that alot of schools don't have it together when it comes to Special Needs kids. I have Spina Bifida, and have always gone to public school, but we've had our battles with certain issues. You have to be on top of everything and fight for exactly what you want or it doesn't happen. It's just such a shame parents, doctors, and teachers are constantly telling children with special needs to be treated like any other kid and do normal activities. But, it doesn't always work that way. It just seems contradicting to me that, we want our children to be normal as possible and we can't even send them to school.