Homeschooling a Child With Asperger's

[Guest bookwormmama]

I have been reading the threads here and have noticed a running theme... lots of people mentioning that their children are in "school". Now my daughter was recently diagnosed with Asperger's and it looks like I have at least two other children with it as well and I have homeschooled all along. I am curious if there is anyone here that is homeschooling their child[ren] with Asperger's and if so, what have you found that has or hasn't worked? Have you met any resistance with doctors, etc, and have practitioners recommended public school? I am not completely questioning my decision to homeschool {I am actually grateful for numerous reasons that I never sent my children to public school now} but I am wondering about my ability to continue to homeschool these special needs children and need all the training and resources I can get.

 

Thanks!

[Ibbygirl]

I've been homeschooling my daughter since she was 2 years old. She has Asperger's, OCD and ADHD. She went to a charter school for one year (3rd grade) because my husband thought her "issues" were socialization related. I thank God that she had been homeschooled up to that point, because she didn't learn a single thing the whole time she was in school and really just coasted on what she had already learned at home. She couldn't stay focused would come home from school in the afternoon and I when I asked her what she learned she couldn't tell me. Then there was the homework that she didn't know how to do once she got home because she had been spacing out all day in class. I had to sit down with her and re-teach her what she was supposed to be learning and this was at 4pm with trying to care for my severely Autistic son and trying to get dinner, laundry etc done. It was a nightmare. On top of that, she got bullied horribly and the principal's office were very blase about it. It was truly unacceptable. After two months my husband told me to homeschool her again the following year and he hasn't questioned me about it since then. I have no doubts that it is the right choice for her. As far as actual teaching, I let her personality and strenghts determine my curriculum choices and I use carefully selected materials to address her weaknesses. I also use a rewards system to encourage her through non-preferred activities. For example, my daughter loves reading, so I use a literature based curriculum and would use a lot of books and pull the different subjects into it, like geography, history etc. We did unit studies almost exclusively for Elementary school with a math curriculum on the side. I had what I called "the store" and I would just buy a lot of inexpensive (dollar store) type prizes and would assign them a price in "tickets". When she hated writing and didn't want to do it then they were "terrific writing tickets" when she got better at writing they just became "terrific tickets" and I would lay all the prizes out on the bed so that she could see them with their various prices. I would have like a piece of bubble gum be 5 tickets and a pinwheel be 15 things like that with things that I knew she wanted really badly at a higher price point. That encouraged her to work hard even though it was a struggle for her. It worked really well for us. Now that she is in Middle School, I still use a rewards system but it is rewarded on a weekly basis and also takes into account her behavior not just school performance. It just helps to motivate her to work through the things that are difficult for her. So that's what works for me. To sum it all up, I just let her strenghts and weaknesses determine the curriculum and approach and through trial and error I find what works and what doesn't. I hope this helps you some. :) I wish you all the best. :)

[Orthodox6]

So long as your children are stable (no violence, no debilitating meltdowns), you should be able to homeschool them very well.

 

If a child has Asperger's, please be open to enrolling him/her in what is called a "social group". This kind of therapy can help the child tremendously, and prevent future emotional hurts, social disasters, and so forth, as the child grows up and enters adulthood.

[hsmamainva]

I have two children on the autism spectrum.

 

My oldest son (15) has always been homeschooled. He's very verbal and completes his schoolwork without any arguments. He needs time to work at his own pace and struggles from time to time, especially when it comes to language arts (spelling and writing are his biggest struggles). He leans toward the Asperger's end of the diagnosis.

 

My youngest daughter (7) has been in public school since she was 3. We homeschooled her for part of this school year before returning her to school in March. She's very intense and high-need, and leans toward the moderate side of autism. Academically, she's on target for her age and grade, but she's the type of child that I can't leave alone for a minute or she's into something. This made it very difficult to homeschool my other children. She's doing very well in school, earns A's and B's, and is very social. Every summer, I contemplate keeping her home with my other children, but...she would require so much of my time and attention that it would impact their learning.

 

The difference comes down to this -- and this is how it's been from the time he was young -- when I call him down to the school table, he comes and does his work .. usually with quite a bit of one-on-one assistance. When his schoolwork is over, he runs off to play. It used to be with blocks and Legos .. now it's with the computer and video games. :) With my youngest daughter, she would come to the school table and complete her work, but she wouldn't go off and play! She'd cling to my leg and whine, or she'd be running the water in the sink...digging in the cat's litter box...stuffing things down the toilet...pulling all the books off of my bookshelf...turning the tap on the hot water heater...etc., etc., etc.

 

As long as your Asperger's son doesn't make you want to climb a wall, I don't see where homeschooling would cause any issues! ;)

[Misty]

All of my children have Asperger's and the co-morbid conditions that go along with it. We have homeschooled since the beginning, before we knew anything about it. I am so thankful for that decision!

 

You might want to join one of the yahoo groups for parents who homeschool their Aspies. There are two of them... The secular one is called ASYouLikeIt and the Christian one is called Homeschooling Aspies.

 

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/asyoulikeit/

 

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/HomeschoolingAspies/

[Jennefer@SSA]

Homeschooling an Aspie here too. We started homeschooling 4 years ago and just had the "official" dx this past December. I am so very thankful for homeschooling. It has been a great thing for him as he also has very severe ADHD. Our dev. pedi did really encourage us to try ps as have several well-meaning friends. I just smile and move right along. :001_smile:

[Mesa]

I homeschool my Aspie who also has ADHD and short term memory loss. When I got his ASD diagnosis my dr told me to continue homeschooling him (the dr had always been anti homeschooling prior to the dx.) because public school would "chew him up and spit him out."

It's tough most days I wont lie, but my son does his best and is learning by leaps and bounds. I havent found a schedule that fits him yet, and I need to tweak my curriculum choices a bit. All in all it's totally worth it. (I have to remind myself daily.)

I believe in a traditional school setting my son would be behind academically. Since he's at home he gets one on one attention and as much curriculum tailoring as possible. He's now above grade level in most areas. I'm so proud of him.

[Guest bookwormmama]

Thanks everyone for the great responses!! I so appreciate this! It has made me feel like I am not alone here in wanting to homeschool my daughters and children with special needs. Many people out there seem to think that I can't or shouldn't since I'm not a professional but I know that a public school setting would NOT be helpful!

I do have some questions in responses to some of your answers..

 

1. What is a social group? How do I find one? Is there a specific kind of social group for kids with Asperger's or are you talking about any kind of social group?

 

2. What curriculum, ways of homeschooling, have you found to be helpful for your Asperger's child? What hasn't worked? Have you been able to use the classical method with an Asperger's child and if so, how?

 

Thanks everyone!

[Orthodox6]

We have not yet used a social group, but are starting to locate one. Friends have used one, and recommend them.

 

Here is a description of one such group:

http://www.aspergeradults.ca/socialGroup.html

 

And a general description of some groups:

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=MaaYSoFKsvoC&pg=PA239&lpg=PA239&dq=%22social+group%22+Aspergers&source=bl&ots=de40YMZ4sy&sig=g0GHOv1poRt3kjCCA7CrIDp86ds&hl=en&ei=nXgqStHqL82MtgfwnKGwCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8

 

What the children/teens gain from these groups includes how to "read" social cues which most people learn naturally via exposure but which these children/teens don't respond to -- or don't respond to in the "customary, expected" ways. Very young children might, for example, be taught how to "read" different kinds of facial expressions. Older children might learn, for example, how to interpret body language, such as "I'm ready for a change of subject, this has gone on long enough."

 

My Asperger's son attends a specialized day school, so receives all this during the course of each routine school day, as well as during the "therapy groups" built into the school program.

 

I need a group for dd, however. She does not have Asperger's, but does have social anxieties and "glitches" to overcome.

[Misty]

When I got his ASD diagnosis my dr told me to continue homeschooling him (the dr had always been anti homeschooling prior to the dx.) because public school would "chew him up and spit him out."

 

My daughter's psychologist also told us that it's a good thing we homeschool. She told me my daughter would not be able to function in a public school setting.

 

Of course, there are doctors who will press you to put them in school. They have opinions just like everyone else, but that doesn't make them right just because they're doctors.

[chiguirre]

We've had great success hsing our hfa son. We do send our mfa son to a private ABA program because his needs are just too intense for hsing and the school is much easier (and cheaper) than running a home program. HFA ds has really blossomed this year. I think a bit of this is maturity and a lot of it is a social skills group he joined. He's much easier to school because his ability to self-regulate has sky-rocketed. He's also very happy to have a social network of his own where he is not unusual.

[elise1mds]

I'll be starting to HS my son this fall. He's not *officially* AS, but he is PDD-NOS as well as ADHD. He also has anxiety and dysgraphia, so sending him even to a private school like we did this last year wound up being very hard on him and, by default, the entire family. He's very excited about getting to come home, and I'm already active with several friends that he made at the private school as well as through my stay-at-home mom's group and a homeschooling group I just joined. He also wants to join Cub Scouts this fall. I'm not about to say no to him when it comes to social events, and I know there will be some very very challenging days ahead, but in the end, it'll be the best for him. I also have very supportive friends and doctors!

[Ibbygirl]

Thanks everyone for the great responses!! I so appreciate this! It has made me feel like I am not alone here in wanting to homeschool my daughters and children with special needs. Many people out there seem to think that I can't or shouldn't since I'm not a professional but I know that a public school setting would NOT be helpful!

I do have some questions in responses to some of your answers..

 

1. What is a social group? How do I find one? Is there a specific kind of social group for kids with Asperger's or are you talking about any kind of social group?

 

2. What curriculum, ways of homeschooling, have you found to be helpful for your Asperger's child? What hasn't worked? Have you been able to use the classical method with an Asperger's child and if so, how?

 

Thanks everyone!

 

CARD also provides groups for Austism spectrum kids. My daughter's Aspie groug is called STARS. They are a free resource to families.

 

http://www.centerforautism.com/About/CARD_Locations.asp

[gaz-mom]

Hello,

I'm brand new to Classical Education, although we've been homeschooling since the beginning (we have a soon-to-be 4th grader, and a soon-to-be 1st grader). Our 1st grader was diagnosed with "symptoms of PDD-NOS" on his 5th birthday, and I have some questions regarding the Classical method and him (he's 6.5 now).

I spoke with the director of our homeschool last month (of our ISP) and she advised that I back wayyyy off on his academics and just buy a K workbook from Wal*Mart (with phonics and math) and have him do as many pages as he wants, and then read to him LOTS. And that's all. (I had been pushing him too hard and he shuts down when he gets frustrated and he was getting very frustrated) That approach has been working really well, but the Classical Education thoery obviously requires a lot more.

Do I really need to do all the subjects with him in 1st grade? What about having him listen in to History, and do math, and phonics/grammar/writing (he has awesome fine motor skills and loves to write, and is reading well above his grade level, but I've never taught him phonics)? I'm also thinking of buying the Song School Latin which I know he would really enjoy, but requiring him to memorize something from a music CD does not work.

Another question--his auditory skills are low, and he has a VERY difficult time memorizing things from music CDs (unless he can read along), and learning anything auditory, actually. Does this affect anything with the Classical method, or do I just work with his strengths/weaknesses like I would with any other curriculum?

 

Thanks for any advice!

[Dobela]

Hello,

I'm brand new to Classical Education, although we've been homeschooling since the beginning (we have a soon-to-be 4th grader, and a soon-to-be 1st grader). Our 1st grader was diagnosed with "symptoms of PDD-NOS" on his 5th birthday, and I have some questions regarding the Classical method and him (he's 6.5 now).

I spoke with the director of our homeschool last month (of our ISP) and she advised that I back wayyyy off on his academics and just buy a K workbook from Wal*Mart (with phonics and math) and have him do as many pages as he wants, and then read to him LOTS. And that's all. (I had been pushing him too hard and he shuts down when he gets frustrated and he was getting very frustrated) That approach has been working really well, but the Classical Education thoery obviously requires a lot more.

Do I really need to do all the subjects with him in 1st grade? What about having him listen in to History, and do math, and phonics/grammar/writing (he has awesome fine motor skills and loves to write, and is reading well above his grade level, but I've never taught him phonics)? I'm also thinking of buying the Song School Latin which I know he would really enjoy, but requiring him to memorize something from a music CD does not work.

Another question--his auditory skills are low, and he has a VERY difficult time memorizing things from music CDs (unless he can read along), and learning anything auditory, actually. Does this affect anything with the Classical method, or do I just work with his strengths/weaknesses like I would with any other curriculum?

 

Thanks for any advice!

ONe of the best things I did for myself and my son was scale back to just basics in 1st grade. We still struggled and still are "behind" but it was the best decision I made early on at signs of difficulty. I only did math and reading. Some days it took all day just to do those 2. I decided that unless he could do math and could read, it didn't matter how much science and social studies I poked into him.It took 18 months before I could start regularly adding in new subjects-and then because I began occupational therapy and later vision therapy. While I would love to follow the classical method, it doesn't quite fit our family.

 

By backing off and only focusing on math and reading, I really reduced my stress and my feelings of failure - which I had been unspokenly been passing on to my child.

[8filltheheart]

Hello,

I'm brand new to Classical Education, although we've been homeschooling since the beginning (we have a soon-to-be 4th grader, and a soon-to-be 1st grader). Our 1st grader was diagnosed with "symptoms of PDD-NOS" on his 5th birthday, and I have some questions regarding the Classical method and him (he's 6.5 now).

I spoke with the director of our homeschool last month (of our ISP) and she advised that I back wayyyy off on his academics and just buy a K workbook from Wal*Mart (with phonics and math) and have him do as many pages as he wants, and then read to him LOTS. And that's all. (I had been pushing him too hard and he shuts down when he gets frustrated and he was getting very frustrated) That approach has been working really well, but the Classical Education thoery obviously requires a lot more.

Do I really need to do all the subjects with him in 1st grade? What about having him listen in to History, and do math, and phonics/grammar/writing (he has awesome fine motor skills and loves to write, and is reading well above his grade level, but I've never taught him phonics)? I'm also thinking of buying the Song School Latin which I know he would really enjoy, but requiring him to memorize something from a music CD does not work.

Another question--his auditory skills are low, and he has a VERY difficult time memorizing things from music CDs (unless he can read along), and learning anything auditory, actually. Does this affect anything with the Classical method, or do I just work with his strengths/weaknesses like I would with any other curriculum?

 

Thanks for any advice!

 

Take this with a grain of salt b/c I am a minimalist in K-2 anyway with all of my children (phonics, handwriting, reading, math, and nature studies), so my I completely agree with the advice you were given. (FWIW, WTM is only one "take" on classical education. If you research traditional classical education such as was received by people like St. Augustine, you would find that they weren't formally educated prior to ages 7-9, if not later).

 

But one of the realities I have had to deal with is my 17yos. He is extremely intelligent. But, and this the issue, he hyper focuses on his interests and he cannot self-direct "big picture tasks." He can complete anything given to him when he is given specific directions as to what needs to be done and what he needs to do. But he can not intuitively do what obviously needs to be done without that direction.

 

A few yrs ago his therapist said something to me that nearly knocked the wind out of me. We were trying to make the best decisions we could for him academically. The therapist looked at me and said, "It really doesn't matter what he knows intellectually if he can't function. You have your priorities wrong."

 

Whoa.....that really made me step back and look at reality. He was completely right, but b/c ds was so intelligent I was always concerned with his academics. Not that the other things didn't matter, but it was a challenge to me to let go of the academics and focus on other social/work/life type skills.

 

I think as a mom that is focused on teaching/education in order for my kids to be able to succeed in college and career, I really needed the dose of reality that we didn't have a balanced focus for a special needs child.

[DawnM]

After watching a segment on Autism on a TV special, I am beyond convinced that a typical public school setting is NOT the place for any Asperger's kid.

 

They intervied an Aspie in his 20s and he said that ps high school was sheer torture and even now he can't think about it without getting upset. He is now a computer engineer I think and says he has found a whole lot of friends who are all more like he is and he wishes he hadn't had to endure the taunting of students who were cruel. I cried watching it~!

 

The only way I would put my oldest into school is if I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he would have a positive experience, would not be picked on, would get the academic help he would need, and could make friends and be nurtured. So far, I have found no place that fits that bill.

 

I am a former public high school counselor so I dare anyone to challenge me on the homeschooling issue! I have seen it all in ps and it can be a nightmare for many kids.

 

Dawn

[SheilaZ]

My two middle sons have Asperger's and a few other lables. They have always been homeschooled and I started homeschooling before they became school aged or were diagnosed.

 

Their doctors and therapists have always been very supportive of them being homeschooled. Their developmental Ped once wrote that she felt that public school was a better setting for AS children but had to admit that I provided a superior learning environment for my sons and that their social skills had flourished as a result. :D

I know that they would not have been successful in a school environment.

They have graduated from Occupational therapy after almost 5 years of therapy but they still have speech therapy at school twice a week. (At one point they each had 5 hours of speech and OT a week.)

 

As far as social outlets, both boys are in Scouts and play sports. We have a lot of children in the neighborhood and they don't have any trouble playing with others. I do use a book using pictures to teach social skills to children on the spectrum. I spend a lot of time explaining what the expected behavior is and try to nip all tantrums in the bud. I don't get to relax much.

 

I have always had the philosophy that it was my job to prepare my children for a world that expected them to behave in a certain way while trying not to crush their very interesting spirits. It's been a fine line to walk. I try to encourage their gifts while trying to curtail the unwanted behavior. I've been told that by other AS moms that I am too tough on the boys. I'll admit that I am. But they have made huge progress over the years and most people don't even know that the boys are on the spectrum unless I bring it up.

 

One mistake I have made was assuming that my AS children could not use the same materials as my NT son. After struggling through Easy Grammar and Abeka English, my 4th grade AS son has really enjoyed Rod and Staff English 4 this year. I thought the writing would be too much for him but hasn't had any problems at all. As a result, his syntax, speech, and self-esteem has improved over the year. And he enjoys diagramming.

 

All of my children like have a list of daily work. That helps them see exactly what will be reuired of them and keeps the grumbling to a minimum. It also helps them learn to work independently. I make sure that directions are understood and I will rewrite mulitstep directions if needed.

 

My two have weaknesses in spelling and reading due to speech issues so those are areas we work on. Alphabetizing has been the key for spelling and we do a lot of oral reading to check reading and comprehension.

 

My younger son also has global dyspraxia and apraxia of speech. Learning to read has been very hard for him. All the mistakes he made learning to speak, we're repeating while he learns to read. And the reading work throws his motor skills off. Explode the Code is great for him. He's enjoyed First language lessons and he LOVES Story of the World.

[nheitz]

 

A few yrs ago his therapist said something to me that nearly knocked the wind out of me. We were trying to make the best decisions we could for him academically. The therapist looked at me and said, "It really doesn't matter what he knows intellectually if he can't function. You have your priorities wrong."

 

Whoa.....that really made me step back and look at reality. He was completely right, but b/c ds was so intelligent I was always concerned with his academics. Not that the other things didn't matter, but it was a challenge to me to let go of the academics and focus on other social/work/life type skills.

 

I think as a mom that is focused on teaching/education in order for my kids to be able to succeed in college and career, I really needed the dose of reality that we didn't have a balanced focus for a special needs child.

 

I really needed to hear this. I have been homeschooling my 10 yo gifted AS son since he was 3 and I always worry about whether or not I am teaching him enough academically. I have to remind myself that his learning daily living/functioning skills is just as important, if not more so than academics.

 

Noelle

 

10 yo son

7 yo son

[armywife70]

I am so glad to have found this forum! Our 14yr just got diagnosed with Asperger's. We have been homeschooling since he was in 3rd grade, but I constantly run into troubles. DH and I seriously considered putting him in ps, but his dev. psychologists told us no way! She said we would do more harm than good to him.

 

So this has begun our dilemma. We have tried BJU, Sonlight, Rod and Staff, SOS, and lots of others inbetween. He is at the lower level of the IQ spectrum and we still have to do more testing and all that good stuff. He also has ADD. Our main problem is that he will start something and seem to get it with no problem, but then a couple days later...he has completely forgotten it!! I have had to back him up every couple of years and start all from the beginning to get him back where he needs to be, just for him to forget again. He is at that point again now.

 

Are we losing our minds? He is so forgetful and he can only do 2 tasks at a time. I do try to keep him on a schedule as much as possible as it helps him a ton.

 

DH and I have come to the conclusion that we need to just only focus on living skills and maybe get him a 4th grade math book and have him do that every year (since he forgets anyways) to keep him fresh in his basic math and maybe read a book for a few minutes everyday. Also, we want to work with him more with his speech and social skills.

 

Does this sound like we are going to be hurting more than helping him? We are so at a loss with all of this, as for all these years we have gone from Dr to Dr and they just look and say well yes he has speech problems, well yes he is very low IQ, well yes he is a little odd..but there is really nothing wrong with your child. Now that we have a Dr that is actually helping and listening..we are like where do we go from here!

 

I am sorry if this is so jumbled. I am so excited to hear your opinions!!

[Dobela]

I am so glad to have found this forum! Our 14yr just got diagnosed with Asperger's. We have been homeschooling since he was in 3rd grade, but I constantly run into troubles. DH and I seriously considered putting him in ps, but his dev. psychologists told us no way! She said we would do more harm than good to him.

 

So this has begun our dilemma. We have tried BJU, Sonlight, Rod and Staff, SOS, and lots of others inbetween. He is at the lower level of the IQ spectrum and we still have to do more testing and all that good stuff. He also has ADD. Our main problem is that he will start something and seem to get it with no problem, but then a couple days later...he has completely forgotten it!! I have had to back him up every couple of years and start all from the beginning to get him back where he needs to be, just for him to forget again. He is at that point again now.

 

Are we losing our minds? He is so forgetful and he can only do 2 tasks at a time. I do try to keep him on a schedule as much as possible as it helps him a ton.

 

DH and I have come to the conclusion that we need to just only focus on living skills and maybe get him a 4th grade math book and have him do that every year (since he forgets anyways) to keep him fresh in his basic math and maybe read a book for a few minutes everyday. Also, we want to work with him more with his speech and social skills.

 

Does this sound like we are going to be hurting more than helping him? We are so at a loss with all of this, as for all these years we have gone from Dr to Dr and they just look and say well yes he has speech problems, well yes he is very low IQ, well yes he is a little odd..but there is really nothing wrong with your child. Now that we have a Dr that is actually helping and listening..we are like where do we go from here!

 

I am sorry if this is so jumbled. I am so excited to hear your opinions!!

If your child was in public school at this point and in special services, you would be most likely making the decision to place him in job training or social training rather than in a college or academic focused series of classes in the jr high years. I don't see why focusing on self care and independent living shouldn't be the focus as you homeschool. I would work with your state group or HSLDA to make sure you have documentation ou need in case of future problems.

 

I don't know if it is Aspergers, but my brother (with Aspergers/autism) is very forgetful as well. When last tested a couple of years ago, he had the vocabulary of a college student when reading written material(like matching words to definitions) but only spoke using the correct vocab of a 1st grader. Oh he would throw in some big words, but he often used them at the wrong time or place in a confusing way. When his actual memory was tested, we were told that if we gave him a list of 5 things to do, he might remember 2 in the wrong order. It can be very frustrating!

[armywife70]

Thank you so much for replying!

 

DH and I just got a Dr's appt scheduled so that we could start getting all the proper paperwork in line for DS. I thank you for reminding me that I also need to be in contact with HSLDA to make sure that we get everything that we need!

 

I guess DH and I always saw the academic as the main homeschooling. Living skills were just something that was natural, but we never focused on it as actual curriculum. Whereas with DS we know that we have gone about it all wrong and should have made our focus on living skills and not academics. The hard thing for us was that every Dr kept saying there was nothing wrong and we were crazy so when we would try to keep him on task with where he would be normally (always increasing in knowledge and abilities academically). And of course it would leave me frazzled at the end of every school year because he hadn't retained it or we needed to back him up. But at the same time he needed to be able to pass the standardized testing that is required in GA.

 

Our DS also is REALLY low in vocabulary. Our 6 yr old speaks better and has better word usage than DS with asperger's. It makes it very difficult for him with writing, because he writes like he talks. We have tried getting him into speech with the school district (ins won't cover speech if school age because the school does it for free), but they only want to work on pronunciation and he doesn't need that. They also wanted to work on his handwriting...not his word placement, but his actual handwriting. It's not the best, but totally readable. We were pretty unhappy with that. So we pulled him.

 

I will be calling HSLDA today and see what they recommend as far as documentation for our state. Thanks again!

[Dobela]

HSLDA has a section of their website dedicated to struggling learners. My favorite page about documentation is http://www.hslda.org/strugglinglearner/sn_TwoSteps.asp .

 

It sounds like your son could benefit from occupational therapy if he has handwriting issues. Have you ever had a referral for that?

 

My son doesn't have Aspergers but has qualified for other services. When our insurance didn't pay, the OT told us to apply for Medicaid based on disability and need. With our reports and the need for therapies, he did qualify and it pays what our insurance doesn't. It took a year for them to get thru the paperwork initially though :001_huh: . I hated the idea of signing up for Medicaid, but it has been a lifesaver as far as getting him therapy. We could have never afforded it otherwise. Plus, it has given us the freedom to use private providers for the therapies and not depend on the less than friendly school district.

 

Edited to add: Can I also recommend that you start looking even further in the future for your son? My brother is in his 30s and my parents never made any real plans for trusts or what will happen when they can't assist all the time. He has finally qualified for disability which will allow him to work in sheltered programs and give him more independent living opportunities, plus insurance that they can afford for him. They had never pursued a disability label because they could provide for him (live at home) and allow him to work in their business. It wasn't until they retired that they discovered he couldn't move into any other program or job because they had not pursued disability or setup any trusts.

Edited June 16, 2009 by Dobela

[Niffercoo]

I am so glad to have found this forum! Our 14yr just got diagnosed with Asperger's. We have been homeschooling since he was in 3rd grade, but I constantly run into troubles. DH and I seriously considered putting him in ps, but his dev. psychologists told us no way! She said we would do more harm than good to him.

 

 

 

Hi! I'm not a regular on the board but your post caught my attention. It's rare to see another mom of an Aspie with a lower IQ! My son was diagnosed when he was 10, and he just turned 13 last month. It's a struggle academically. SUCH a struggle. His younger sister passed him up a couple of years ago.

 

My son will some days wake up and not remember how to do math he did the day before. It's really freaky. On those days, I just sit with him, and we do it together as if he had never seen it before. It's frustrating for him, too.

 

I have to go get some things done, but feel free to send me a PM or email!

[armywife70]

Thank you for the link! DH and I actually were thinking about his future a few months before he was diagnosed. We had just simply come to the conclusion that even if the dr's weren't going to diagnose him, that there was something wrong and he wasn't going to be able to do the things we thought he was. DH has been thinking about looking into group homes for when he is older. That way he will *feel* like he is out on his own, but still with some one to guide him and be there. I (and maybe it's my motherly side) am not to sure about that. There is nothing wrong with it, just I guess I feel like he needs to be with us.

 

Also, that is a great idea about the medicaid. I appreciate all of your advice!!

[TheTwinsMom1]

Hi,

 

We are new to the forums and homeschooling. I have special needs twins. They are 7. My boy has PDD-NOS, Bipolar, and ADHD, and anxiety. My girlie has ADHD, bad anxiety, and a "classic Learning Disability"

 

They started PS when they were 3 in the early childhood programs, they did fine all the way until we started 1st grade.

 

My poor little guy just could not handle all the sensory input being in school all day entails. He started having trouble in school, disrupting the class, hiding under desks. He quickly learned that getting in trouble means getting sent home so you know how Autism kids can be, he caught onto that and ran with with so far he was removed from his school and placed into alternative placement school.

 

After fighting with the special ed people for two months, and them basically admitting our district was not set up for kids like my Boy very well, we pulled both twins out and started home schooling.

 

My son's love of learning has returned, and he is happy to learn again. He was so sad while in PS, it made me want to cry. No longer is he getting in trouble daily for things he can no help.

 

If they want to sit on the dinner table to do math, who cares, they are learning. If they need to work five minutes on task, and then take a five minute break, who cares. If they want to jump up and down while calling out their spelling words, who cares? I sure don't.

 

Removing my children from a square world (school's and their routines) and let them be the circles they are, has been the best thing we have ever done.

 

We just learned the hard way how most schools are not set up to deal with kids who do not sit still, can't follow crazy routines, and who need more one on one help and we removed them from a place that was making their life hell.

 

It's nice to see other parents here who are going through the same thing. We were happy to hear our doctors agree that homeschool is the best thing for them, of course we got the lecture about socialization LOL.