Every so often, usually after advocating within the public school system, I contemplate home-schooling my 12 year old son with Autism. I go through the same process, of listing the pros and cons as I see them, each time I consider taking the plunge and educating him myself. This time, I have decided to seek out your opinions and advice!
My oldest son is now 14, diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, and does very well in a public school setting that provides him modified curriculum and extra academic support. During elementary school, however, I pulled him from public school and opted to educate him at home.
His self-esteem was very low, his anxiety very high, and his learning style and rate did not keep pace with his peers. I didn’t know it then, but his challenges were due to having Asperger Syndrome. So, in reality, I have home-schooled a child with special needs. The difference is that my son with Autism has needs I believe could be challenging to meet without extensive planning and a large team of support.
While there are a few local home-schooling groups, there are not many children with special needs being educated at home and, as of my last inquiry, zero children with classic autism are being home-schooled locally, and this is raises my biggest concern – I know I need support from people who understand first-hand. So, where else can I find this? Online support is certainly helpful, but having someone to talk with face to face is what I’m looking for.
What about socialization opportunities? For various reasons, some related to autism and some not, my son has limited chances to build a social and recreational life. I take comfort in knowing that he is around children all day at school, participates in small and large group activities and walks home with other children after-school. How do I provide similar opportunities, on a consistent basis, so he has the opportunity to build long-term relationships?
There is a long list of other questions that come to mind such as: what curriculum is best and how do parents handle therapy?
I know this is a controversial topic and a very personal decision. I support and empower parents to make whatever decision is ultimately best for them, their child and entire family, and a decision of this magnitude is no exception! This is why your input and opinion is of so much value to me and other parents in similar situations.
Tell me what you think, what you know or what you believe about home-schooling a child with autism.
P.S. There is already a lot of great discussion going on in the forum about similar topics – join in on the conversations about IEP’s or Home-schooling!
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