Homeschooling special needs kids, anyone?

[fullhouse]

Looks like I will be homeschooling our 5yo ds this fall. We did special needs public school last year and you could just tell the teachers were burning out dealing with him. He's severely OCD and speech delayed with a high anxiety level. We were going to do public again but he would be moved to a full day program for K, and given that he hates school and we don't feel he would do well full day program we are homeschooling. Scares me to death, anybody homeschool a high needs child?

 

[ams3651]

i looked into it, my son has Epilepsy, ADHD and mildly retarded. I decided I just didnt have the time, space or structure to give him what he needs. The school district we live in buses him to a neighboring district where they have a program that better suites him. He will be entering his 2nd year of "kindergarten". He also has had a behavioral support person with him all day for the last 2 years, even in headstart.

I dont know what your situation is with your school but I found I had to do alot of the leg work myself and stand up for what my son needed to have, they didnt think he needed the behavoral support and they had only met him for 5 minutes. I put in in place myself now they rave over haw great it is and he cant be without it.

 

[Chirpy]

Yup, two so far and another one coming up next year.

I have two girls with fetal alcohol issues (adopted) among other things. One has serious speech issues also and has been in speech therapy for almost four years.

I've always home schooled my special needs children. I can't imagine them in a public school, or even private school, setting. The teachers just don't know them like I do and they need much more one on one time than teachers have to give. Not to mention that they are total followers and wouldn't know how to pick the right kind of friends.

My first daughter would only be able to sit for about five minutes before having a complete melt-down when she started school. So, we'd school for four minutes and then play for 40, then school for four minutes and play again. She's 12 now and is reading two grades above her grade level!! I honestly didn't know if she would ever learn to read... she didn't learn until she was nine. We just kept plugging away and finding ways to help her learn that worked for her. She may never get spelling, it pretty much eludes her but she's working on it. Some math she understands and some she probably never will. That's all Ok, she can read and that was my goal for her when we started school.

You can do it! There are so many different curriculum out there to help with special needs children. You know him best and know how he learns best.

Good luck.

 

[fullhouse]

Quote:
We have a very good school psychologist who will not diagnose him as ASD, since he's not. Without that diagnosis from him (no one else counts to the school) we don't get specialized treatment beyond speech therapy. As "undiagnosed" he gets tossed in to a K-3 one classroom program with all the other non-ASD kids. We are on a wait list for the 5th expert we've been referred to. If he was Autistic he would be therapied to death, but OCD is pretty much unknown territory.

 

[fullhouse]

Quote:
We are a frequent meltdown house. Thank you for the words! I can't tell you how many times I have been asked if I was really sure I didn't drink when I was pregnant with him. He must behave similar to a FAS child.

 

[Melilem]

Oh its so intimidating when you first think about getting into homeschooling, but the more you read and talk to others, the more cofident you will be. You are, hands down, the best teacher for your child. I am sort of a shy person and I hate talking to people- but I felt very comfortable at the home school convention. I talked to a lot of people who were very helpful, and even met 2 women who home schooled their autistic children. I was nervous for a while, but the more I learned (on the internet, mostly) about homeschooling, the more confident I became.

 

[moodusnewchick]

To OP,
does your son have social anxiety too? he sounds a lot like the high school kids I have (private school). Check into the disorder: NLD and/or NLVD...it's Non Verbal Learning Disorder. It's not currently DSM recognized, but the research and techniques used may help provide a good home learning environment.

 

[ams3651]

Quote:
We have a very good school psychologist who will not diagnose him as ASD, since he's not. Without that diagnosis from him (no one else counts to the school) we don't get specialized treatment beyond speech therapy. As "undiagnosed" he gets tossed in to a K-3 one classroom program with all the other non-ASD kids. We are on a wait list for the 5th expert we've been referred to. If he was Autistic he would be therapied to death, but OCD is pretty much unknown territory.

if you can find an agency that does one on one behavioral support during the school day they cant refuse it. the agency does their own testing and decides the level of support needed. I found it thru our Intermediate Unit. Im not where you would find it, its called Behavioral Services. Theres no way he could focus on anything without it. My son sees a Neurodevelopmental specialist and I take his reports to everything with me, as far as Im concerned his diagnosis is the only one i care about. Im glad you like the psychologist but Ive had to literally fight to get what he needed.

editd, we dont have an autism diagnosis, its the ADHD and developmental delays that qualify him.

 

[moodusnewchick]

I do have to say that I am alarmed that the only opinion that counts is the school's psychologist. That seems like a conflict of interest to me. Unfortunately parents of children with disabilities do have to fight for what is legally your rights. OP is sounds like you like/respect the school pych. Remember who he's working for (them) and who is paying him (you); put on the gloves and start fighting!!!

 

[fullhouse]

He has no social issues really. It's all routine. Repeating cycles, having that swing, parking the car a certain way, opening the door (God help you if you don't let him open the door himself, you will pay.). I would call it almost a Young Child Bipolar Disorder with OCD.

We don't qualify for anything other than local school services due to not meting income guidelines and having only major medical coverage that doesn't cover ANYTHING but hospitalizations and that at 70% only. Our last specialist was $330 for 15 minites and a referral. We do pay privately for a certified teacher to work with him one on one every week. I do keep his records so if he's a nonfunctional adult he will have the records for SSD if needed. We are on a 8 month wait list for "the expert" at U of M. We already did "the expert" Children's Hospital.

As far as the school goes, we are part of a consortium. He went to a PPI program out of our district. Rather than give him an aide here, they bused him by himself all over hell's half acre because there is no money for an aide in K. Ofcourse there is money to drive a 10,000 pound bus back and forth and pay a driver for 3 hours, hmmm. Makes sense, right?

Now he can be put in the elementary here, in the K-3 special needs program. At first I was all for it, keeping him local, but he started getting mocked by the other kids on the playground (we live next to the school and I go over there sometimes). Also he HAS to be full day, at 5, if he goes here. I was not A-OK with that so I started investigating other programs. I was told by the other districts the school had to refer them to that program, like an HMO. If he didn't refer, ds couldn't enroll, period. So as it is I can have 10,000 diagnosis and if I am living in the consortiums area, it has to come from that districts Dr to get in. He doesn't have a diagnosis to fit any other programs, so here we are.