Trying to Decide to Homeschool or Not

[Guest mhl92]

I have been a big fan of The Well Trained Mind for a long time, but could never implement it with my first child who has ODD (oppositional defiance disorder, not to mention ADHD, dysgraphia, dyslexia, visual processing issues, auditory processing issues, blah blah blah you know the drill), our family therapist said I would be crazy to attempt it with him. My second son has a formal diagnosis of Autism and verbal apraxia. Currently he is in a private school with other 4 year olds receiving speech and language and OT. He is doing well there but drop off is horrible, the screaming for me just rips my heart out every time. He will be turning 5 in Dec. but dealing with him behaviorially is like a traditional 2 1/2 yr old. We have tantruming, kicking and screaming, the usual typical 2 yr old stuff, except he is 4. Is anyone having success homeschooling their Autistic child? Is it possible? Am I crazy for thinking I can take this on? I cannot continue to pay private school tuition and therapy. And Public School is not an option. Some advice is welcome. If it helps, I live in Miami, FL if anyone knows of some homeschoolers that I can talk to.

[Mom2J112903]

My son has an HFA, Anxiety, SPD and *possible* early on-set bi-polar dx but honestly now that we are *really* watching him and learning more about him he is more SPD than anything else.

 

We will be starting our Homeschooling adventure very soon :) J has the rest of this week at his Parachoial School and then graduates from K Monday morning.

 

We decided to homeschool J for a few reasons and yes, one of those reasons was because he is a "spectrum kid". You can look at my old posts and see how we have came to our decision for J.

[chiguirre]

Is anyone having success homeschooling their Autistic child? Is it possible? Am I crazy for thinking I can take this on? I cannot continue to pay private school tuition and therapy. And Public School is not an option. Some advice is welcome. If it helps, I live in Miami, FL if anyone knows of some homeschoolers that I can talk to.

 

Sure, lots of us hs spectrum kids. That said, you'll have to gauge how feasible it is to hs this particular child. I hs my HFA ds, but my MFA ds attends a private school. I couldn't handle hsing my oldest and I've never attempted it. Ds 2 is hard to hs, but it is doable. You'll have at least as much screaming as you currently do, but hopefully it will get better over the years.

[sbgrace]

I'm homeschooling my spectrum kid but every kid is different, every family is different, etc. so of course what's best for us isn't best for everyone.

 

Do you want to homeschool? If it's a case of want to vs. have to (I can't tell from your post) I'd encourage you to try it and see how it goes. What have you lost if it isn't a right fit? My biggest hesitation would be the apraxia. Would you be able to do private speech therapy for the apraxia or a plan to handle the speech?

 

You said public isn't an option and you can't afford to continue private. That doesn't leave any options! :grouphug: So I'm wondering if it's desire to homeschool or no options? You said you can't afford to keep doing the private school. Would that be the best option if you could afford it? If so does he receive SSI or disability already (that could help pay perhaps)?

[Guest mhl92]

We pay for private therapy (twice a week for speech and twice a week for ot) that coupled with private pre k, private 4th grade for the other kid as well as a math tutor and languages tutor we are racking up quite a bill. I would like to try homeschooling my little guy. If I could get him to listen. If he stays in the private setting, he would be going into PreK. I was going to attempt a condensed version over the summer to see how it goes along with keeping the therapies. Just nervous I guess. I guess because he is spectrum I feel more weight about the decision than if he was a nuero typical child. I will keep reading the forums and give the summer and my nerves the summer to evaluate the course. Fingers crossed that all goes well!;) Thanks again for all of the comments, I really appreciate them.

[Ottakee]

We pay for private therapy (twice a week for speech and twice a week for ot) that coupled with private pre k, private 4th grade for the other kid as well as a math tutor and languages tutor we are racking up quite a bill. I would like to try homeschooling my little guy. If I could get him to listen. If he stays in the private setting, he would be going into PreK. I was going to attempt a condensed version over the summer to see how it goes along with keeping the therapies. Just nervous I guess. I guess because he is spectrum I feel more weight about the decision than if he was a nuero typical child. I will keep reading the forums and give the summer and my nerves the summer to evaluate the course. Fingers crossed that all goes well!;) Thanks again for all of the comments, I really appreciate them.

 

Now sure how your state works but in some states, kids can get Speech, OT, PT, etc. at the private school paid through the public school funding. That might really help off-set your costs. Another option would be to just bring him in for therapy at the public school as a walk in if that is an option.

 

I would say that you need to evaluate where you get your most "bang" for your buck so to speak. Is it in the private therapy? The private school? the other tutoring?

 

Homeschooling can be done but you will have to decide if it is the best option for your child and family.