After years of fighting over appropriate placement for my autistic son we finally got him into a great little school, with a great teacher and he’s doing fine there (although he’d be challenged more academicly at home). The school is a small, rural public schoool that serves children K-6th. There are 2 teachers that divide 16 children between them. My older son attends the same school. The boys are only 12 months apart but the older one is with the teacher that leads the older group. She is also the school principal. We have a strained relationship because the school denied entry to our autistic son and he’s only there because we won an appeal at the county level. She has been complaining about my taking my older son out of school for neuro-psych testing because she sees it as interfering with his classwork and a waste of time since “he’s fine”(he just needs to relax a little and hurry up). She’s really going to complain when she sees the neuro-psych report. So far the Dr. has mentioned visual, spacial and sequencing problems, ADD inatentive and dysgraphia. I am sick of teachers and administrators who think they know what’s better for my children than I do. I have done a lot of homeschooling with both boys during school breaks and I suppliment their work during the school year. What I want to do is eliminate the worksheets that are designed to torture my older son and replace them with things of value. I want to take my sons to museums and other places when they aren’t crowded with other children and I want to take them skiing for weeks at a time without having to deal with school policies. I want to have my children at my side as they grow up… why should I let someone else have the privledge?
Two questions. 1) How do I convince my husband that it’s a good idea and not some wierd alternative thing? 2) What do I do if I get what I ask for?
Re: I want to homeschool!
I just realized Rainbow Resource has changed their website since I last visited. Looks like you can just request a catalog now. Also, you can view their catalog online. One of the nice things about RR is that each item has a description. Just be aware that their descriptions tend to be all positive ones!
One thing you could do is make a note of books about homeschooling in their online catalog, then see if your library has some of those books. You might find something that would appeal to your husband.
Nancy
Homeschooling Children with Autism/Asperger's
I am in my 9th year of homeschooling all 3 kids ranging from 14.75 - 10 years old. My oldest has adhd, AS & dysgraphia; my middle one has adhd, eval for AS in Feb, & LD’s; and my youngest has adhd with reading disability. I would reccommend 2 books:
“Homeschooling the child with Asperger Syndrome” by Lise Pyles
“Choosing Home Deciding to Homeschool with Asperger’s Syndrome” by Martha Kennedy Hartnett
The first book I looked at via the library and bought my own copy. It has a wealth of info what others have used with these special kids - lots of suggestions of activities, etc.
The second book I borrowed from the library, and it is a really good book about what happened to some of these special kids when put into the mainstream. This might be a good read for your husband!
Blessings,
Lisa
PS. We plan to homeschool through high school - which starts next year for us.
Try posting on the Special Needs Board at http://www.welltrainedmind.com . The ladies there can probably direct you to resources and a Yahoo! email group on homeschooling autistic children. Some of them are currently homeschooling autistic children. There have also been discussions of dysgraphia, visual-spatial perceptual problems, etc. there also.
There are many curriculum choices available to homeschoolers. One of the advantages of homeschooling is that you can hand-pick materials that are suitable for your children. A great place to start is by getting a printed catalog from Rainbow Resources. Email them for one at their website, http://www.rainbowresource.com . (Note: the catalog usually comes faster if you order something from them at the same time.)
As for convincing your husband, your best bet is to do a lot of research on the net. Chances are you will run across good material you can print out and give him. You may get suggestions from other parents on forum boards and Yahoo groups too.
Every state has one or more homeschooling associations. It’s a good idea to do a Google search on your state name in combination with homeschooling or homeschooling association to find them. Joining one can be a good way of getting information and connecting with other families.
Nancy