Tips for mom considering homeschooling autistic son

[Aspasia]

My friend has an autistic son and she is struggling with school choices for him. The tuition at the school she would like to send him to is out of their reach. I suggested homeschool as an option and she's actually interested (woohoo!), but I would like to provide her with some links to resources for homeschooling autistic children.

 

I obviously intend to include a link to this board, but are there groups or special curricula or anything else you wise ladies know of?

 

ETA: Also, I wonder what you do for breaks and things. My friend said she was kind of looking forward to the break, and I can totally understand that.

Edited August 22, 2011 by infomom

[chiguirre]

There are lots of us here hsing asd kids, so it's a good resource for btdt advice. Unfortunately, there's no curriculum that will work for every autistic kid so she'll have to specify what her ds's particular strengths and weaknesses are.

 

And in my personal experience with my sons and their fellow asd kids, school is one of the worst places to gain social skills. It's very hard to get a 1 on 1 aide and inadequately supervised kids coupled with sensory overload can be a really toxic combination.

[Beauty From Ashes]

We have two with Autism and homeschool. We put our oldest in school and now know it was the worst place for him. Homeschool works so much better for him and his Autism (and it works great for our younger son). We can help him socially more than the school did (they didn't encourage, set up, or create social settings for him). We go to church, friends houses, the store, the library, to see family, and so on. He has a LOT of social training.

 

As for curriculum, this isn't a one size fits all. I thought My Father's World would work great for our older son. It was a terrible fit. It's perfect for our younger son, however. Abeka works great for our older son.

 

I understand needing the break. My husband is my respite at this time. He gives me time to just get out and be alone or to do things within the house alone. She can do it, if she desires. It's very doable.

 

I hope she will come here so we can give her more specific information based on her specific needs.

[rafiki]

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[dtsmamtj]

Evaluations: have ears checked, eyes checked (preferably by a COVD), complete physical, psycho-educational/neuropsychological exams - use these results to guide you

 

Therapies take priority: speech therapy, occupational/physical therapy, social skills training, cognitive behavioral therapy, etc.

 

Books: Autism Life Skills by Chantal Sicile-Kira and Simple Strategies that Work by Brenda Smith Myles

 

Sites: http://www.hslda.org/strugglinglearner/ and Autism Speaks has a lot of wonderful information, especially a 100 day planner for those just diagnosed to help you down the path. This is a pdf from their site with teaching ideas: http://www.autismspeaks.org/sites/default/files/documents/school-kit/general_education_and_special_area_teachers.pdf

 

Each ASD child is unique, it’s important to use their evaluations and interests to guide you in their educational planning. Also, if you step back and truly watch how they interact, when they learn best, what they prefer etc., it will provide a lot of insight.

 

For Language Arts Linguisystems, Super Duper Publications, and Great Ideas for Teaching all have specialty products for specific concepts. Therapro is a good catalog for sensory diet supplies and ideas. Right Start and Math U See are hands on, clear, able to go adjust to their pace type math programs.

 

My guy learns best by hands on, games, iPad, task/activity cards, and videos.

 

Some misc. tools we use: structured environment, anticipate problems, frontloading, clear rules & expectations, his pace, reduce writing, short sessions, allow time for processing, living out loud, errorless teaching strategies, focus on functional academic skills, right brained (VSL) instruction methods, use interesting to them materials, use short sentences when giving directions, have plan B in place before it’s needed, quality vs quantity, reward small achievements, minimal processed foods and dyes, and begin each day with 20 minutes of movement.

 

:iagree: We used our test results to structure what we used. I also set it up where after he completed a certain amount of studies he was allowed a break for a certain amount of time and then he would come back for the next set of studies.

 

T

[ClassicMom]

:iagree: We used our test results to structure what we used. I also set it up where after he completed a certain amount of studies he was allowed a break for a certain amount of time and then he would come back for the next set of studies.

 

T

 

We do this here too...lots of sensory breaks. It makes the day a bit longer but we couldn't get through the day without them.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

My son has HFA and I can tell you one thing, math u see blocks are AMAZING! I love them. He needs alot of auditory, visual/colorful items. Now, that is also a double edged sword because to much becomes a distraction. We use Horizons math with MUS blocks and I cover up the sections we are not doing with printer paper to keep his focus. It really depends on her sons needs. AAS seems to be doing great. I do copy work with him on his ETC words (hehehe, I am throwing phonics into everything I can ;)) We do MFW as a family and he likes being involved with his big sisters. He LOVES being read to.

 

But- thats my son. Find another child with HFA and everything that works for him may be complete wrong for their kid! It really depends. ASD has so many variables its hard to just recommend.

[Beauty From Ashes]

I second covering the other problems/areas on the sheet. Our son had the same issue, still does. He has even started covering things that distract him. And MUS is really great. You don't have to use the book to get a ton of benefit from the blocks.