homeschooling children with Autism
Susan Wiltbank
Hi All,
I have a question for those of you who unschool children with Autism. My SIL is thinking of pulling her daughter Faith(5) from school to homeschool her. Right now her and her brotherEdward (3), both diagnosed, go to a school set up for children with "special needs". They go to school and therapy 5 days a week and have improved a lot. Sam is concerned that they will push Faith through to Kindergarten even though she is not ready. You also have to understand that both kids are non-verbal and do very little sign language. This doesn't mean that they don't communicate to us what they want, they just do it differently. Sam is concerned that Faith and Edward won't get the community based services that they need, and is worried that she won't be able to help Faith improve. Understandably, Sam wants her kids to be able to lead as "normal" a life as possible and has fought to get all of the services that they have now. Sam is naturally not an organized/schedule type person and has been doing her very best to keep to a schedule for both of her kids. When Faith's routine gets disrupted she gets very aggitated, Edward usually just goes with it. So, do any of you unschool your children who are non-verbal and have Autism and Sensory Integration Issues? If you do, can you please give me an insight to your day. I'm sure this would help ease my SIL's mind and help her to decide if this is the right choice for her and her family.
Thanks,
Susie
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I have a question for those of you who unschool children with Autism. My SIL is thinking of pulling her daughter Faith(5) from school to homeschool her. Right now her and her brotherEdward (3), both diagnosed, go to a school set up for children with "special needs". They go to school and therapy 5 days a week and have improved a lot. Sam is concerned that they will push Faith through to Kindergarten even though she is not ready. You also have to understand that both kids are non-verbal and do very little sign language. This doesn't mean that they don't communicate to us what they want, they just do it differently. Sam is concerned that Faith and Edward won't get the community based services that they need, and is worried that she won't be able to help Faith improve. Understandably, Sam wants her kids to be able to lead as "normal" a life as possible and has fought to get all of the services that they have now. Sam is naturally not an organized/schedule type person and has been doing her very best to keep to a schedule for both of her kids. When Faith's routine gets disrupted she gets very aggitated, Edward usually just goes with it. So, do any of you unschool your children who are non-verbal and have Autism and Sensory Integration Issues? If you do, can you please give me an insight to your day. I'm sure this would help ease my SIL's mind and help her to decide if this is the right choice for her and her family.
Thanks,
Susie
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Michelle Thedaker
Susie,
My eldest son Drew, who is now 8.5, is Autistic. Although he is now very
verbal, he didn't get the hang of spoken language until around 3-3.5 years.
We used a great deal of sign language with him, as well as written language
(he was able to read by 2, which made communication easier for sure!). Drew
was enrolled in public school for preschool, which was a special education
program specifically for Autistic kids. Although I had planned to
homeschool in some form, and had made that choice long before the children
were born, I felt that the services he received via the district (for free)
were needful, so we went that route. As it turns out, the preschool
environment was fantastic, he much enjoyed it and the adults involved were
all very loving and tuned in to the kiddos there. Just as your sister
fears, however, he was "pushed through" to Kindergarten at 5 and he was
*not* ready. In hindsight, I should have brought him home at that point.
Instead I allowed them to enroll him in a special ed K class. What a
disaster! It was partly that he wasn't ready, partly the horrible school he
was in (different from the preK school). We stuck it out (mostly because of
DH's not being ready to embrace homeschooling) until March, when a situation
dangerous to Drew finally woke me fully and I brought him home.
For the first year or so I tried so hard to provide Drew with a strict
routine, which he seemed to need. Looking back, I think that was because in
his preK class *they* had a very strict routine for the kids. Coupled with
most Autie's needs to have zero surprises in their life, this had reallly
conditioned Drew to expect rigid regularity. As it turns out, we did not
have a rigid home life outside of his school experience, and he did okay
with that, so not sure what I was thinking! Anyway, we used a strict
curriculum for 1st and 2nd grade, although by 2nd we were already falling
off the boat, so to speak. I realized that Drew could roll with the punches
much more and truly enjoyed being in charge of his own time. He does need a
lot of help to get in touch with his mental and emotional state in order to
change tracks, even when he wants to in order to do something wonderful
(like leaving a video game in order to go to Disneyland for the day), but
that's how it goes with him.
As far as services, Drew was receiving scanty services by K, and I honestly
did most of the work with him at home during the course of our regular day,
so we didn't miss the "formal" ones when they were gone. I *really* don't
miss the ABA therapy - I always felt that one was like training a dog, it
gives me the creeps! I do think these kids need help to adjust within our
world, but looking back at so many of the therapies Drew had, they were very
involved in FIXING him and making him NORMAL. Which I never have agreed
with. Of course I want him to lead a full and joyful life, but I don't need
to fix him. He's not broken, he's just different. That attitude switch
(when fully embraced) was a huge step forward in how I interacted with my
son.
I laugh now when people say to me, "You homeschool your kids, and one is
Autistic!? I just wouldn't have the energy to deal with that!" I tell them
that I don't have the energy - emotional especially! - to deal with a school
system who doesn't value my kids for Who They Are. IEP meetings, notes from
the teacher every day, stressed out kids who are biting their fingers (not
nails, fingers!) down to bleeding (at 5!!). Homeschooling takes a ton of
energy, but at least I see that we are all HAPPY and HEALTHY and WHOLE at
the end of the exhausting day. Sweet payoff, IMO. :-)
Shell
_____
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Susan Wiltbank
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 7:33 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] homeschooling children with Autism
Hi All,
I have a question for those of you who unschool children with Autism. My SIL
is thinking of pulling her daughter Faith(5) from school to homeschool her.
Right now her and her brotherEdward (3), both diagnosed, go to a school set
up for children with "special needs". They go to school and therapy 5 days a
week and have improved a lot. Sam is concerned that they will push Faith
through to Kindergarten even though she is not ready. You also have to
understand that both kids are non-verbal and do very little sign language.
This doesn't mean that they don't communicate to us what they want, they
just do it differently. Sam is concerned that Faith and Edward won't get the
community based services that they need, and is worried that she won't be
able to help Faith improve. Understandably, Sam wants her kids to be able to
lead as "normal" a life as possible and has fought to get all of the
services that they have now. Sam is naturally not an organized/schedule type
person and has been doing her very best to keep to a schedule for both of
her kids. When Faith's routine gets disrupted she gets very aggitated,
Edward usually just goes with it. So, do any of you unschool your children
who are non-verbal and have Autism and Sensory Integration Issues? If you
do, can you please give me an insight to your day. I'm sure this would help
ease my SIL's mind and help her to decide if this is the right choice for
her and her family.
Thanks,
Susie
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
My eldest son Drew, who is now 8.5, is Autistic. Although he is now very
verbal, he didn't get the hang of spoken language until around 3-3.5 years.
We used a great deal of sign language with him, as well as written language
(he was able to read by 2, which made communication easier for sure!). Drew
was enrolled in public school for preschool, which was a special education
program specifically for Autistic kids. Although I had planned to
homeschool in some form, and had made that choice long before the children
were born, I felt that the services he received via the district (for free)
were needful, so we went that route. As it turns out, the preschool
environment was fantastic, he much enjoyed it and the adults involved were
all very loving and tuned in to the kiddos there. Just as your sister
fears, however, he was "pushed through" to Kindergarten at 5 and he was
*not* ready. In hindsight, I should have brought him home at that point.
Instead I allowed them to enroll him in a special ed K class. What a
disaster! It was partly that he wasn't ready, partly the horrible school he
was in (different from the preK school). We stuck it out (mostly because of
DH's not being ready to embrace homeschooling) until March, when a situation
dangerous to Drew finally woke me fully and I brought him home.
For the first year or so I tried so hard to provide Drew with a strict
routine, which he seemed to need. Looking back, I think that was because in
his preK class *they* had a very strict routine for the kids. Coupled with
most Autie's needs to have zero surprises in their life, this had reallly
conditioned Drew to expect rigid regularity. As it turns out, we did not
have a rigid home life outside of his school experience, and he did okay
with that, so not sure what I was thinking! Anyway, we used a strict
curriculum for 1st and 2nd grade, although by 2nd we were already falling
off the boat, so to speak. I realized that Drew could roll with the punches
much more and truly enjoyed being in charge of his own time. He does need a
lot of help to get in touch with his mental and emotional state in order to
change tracks, even when he wants to in order to do something wonderful
(like leaving a video game in order to go to Disneyland for the day), but
that's how it goes with him.
As far as services, Drew was receiving scanty services by K, and I honestly
did most of the work with him at home during the course of our regular day,
so we didn't miss the "formal" ones when they were gone. I *really* don't
miss the ABA therapy - I always felt that one was like training a dog, it
gives me the creeps! I do think these kids need help to adjust within our
world, but looking back at so many of the therapies Drew had, they were very
involved in FIXING him and making him NORMAL. Which I never have agreed
with. Of course I want him to lead a full and joyful life, but I don't need
to fix him. He's not broken, he's just different. That attitude switch
(when fully embraced) was a huge step forward in how I interacted with my
son.
I laugh now when people say to me, "You homeschool your kids, and one is
Autistic!? I just wouldn't have the energy to deal with that!" I tell them
that I don't have the energy - emotional especially! - to deal with a school
system who doesn't value my kids for Who They Are. IEP meetings, notes from
the teacher every day, stressed out kids who are biting their fingers (not
nails, fingers!) down to bleeding (at 5!!). Homeschooling takes a ton of
energy, but at least I see that we are all HAPPY and HEALTHY and WHOLE at
the end of the exhausting day. Sweet payoff, IMO. :-)
Shell
_____
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Susan Wiltbank
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 7:33 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] homeschooling children with Autism
Hi All,
I have a question for those of you who unschool children with Autism. My SIL
is thinking of pulling her daughter Faith(5) from school to homeschool her.
Right now her and her brotherEdward (3), both diagnosed, go to a school set
up for children with "special needs". They go to school and therapy 5 days a
week and have improved a lot. Sam is concerned that they will push Faith
through to Kindergarten even though she is not ready. You also have to
understand that both kids are non-verbal and do very little sign language.
This doesn't mean that they don't communicate to us what they want, they
just do it differently. Sam is concerned that Faith and Edward won't get the
community based services that they need, and is worried that she won't be
able to help Faith improve. Understandably, Sam wants her kids to be able to
lead as "normal" a life as possible and has fought to get all of the
services that they have now. Sam is naturally not an organized/schedule type
person and has been doing her very best to keep to a schedule for both of
her kids. When Faith's routine gets disrupted she gets very aggitated,
Edward usually just goes with it. So, do any of you unschool your children
who are non-verbal and have Autism and Sensory Integration Issues? If you
do, can you please give me an insight to your day. I'm sure this would help
ease my SIL's mind and help her to decide if this is the right choice for
her and her family.
Thanks,
Susie
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
BRIAN POLIKOWSKY
I am sure Melissa will pipe in *hint * hint but here is he blog:
http://360.yahoo.com/profile-hyl4g088bqoucMCa.Bn_Rchv
She has kids with autism and I hve met them and they are awesome.
Alex
Susan Wiltbank <mommyswork2@...> wrote:
Hi All,
I have a question for those of you who unschool children with Autism. My SIL is thinking of pulling her daughter Faith(5) from school to homeschool her. Right now her and her brotherEdward (3), both diagnosed, go to a school set up for children with "special needs". They go to school and therapy 5 days a week and have improved a lot. Sam is concerned that they will push Faith through to Kindergarten even though she is not ready. You also have to understand that both kids are non-verbal and do very little sign language. This doesn't mean that they don't communicate to us what they want, they just do it differently. Sam is concerned that Faith and Edward won't get the community based services that they need, and is worried that she won't be able to help Faith improve. Understandably, Sam wants her kids to be able to lead as "normal" a life as possible and has fought to get all of the services that they have now. Sam is naturally not an organized/schedule type person and has
been doing her very best to keep to a schedule for both of her kids. When Faith's routine gets disrupted she gets very aggitated, Edward usually just goes with it. So, do any of you unschool your children who are non-verbal and have Autism and Sensory Integration Issues? If you do, can you please give me an insight to your day. I'm sure this would help ease my SIL's mind and help her to decide if this is the right choice for her and her family.
Thanks,
Susie
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
http://360.yahoo.com/profile-hyl4g088bqoucMCa.Bn_Rchv
She has kids with autism and I hve met them and they are awesome.
Alex
Susan Wiltbank <mommyswork2@...> wrote:
Hi All,
I have a question for those of you who unschool children with Autism. My SIL is thinking of pulling her daughter Faith(5) from school to homeschool her. Right now her and her brotherEdward (3), both diagnosed, go to a school set up for children with "special needs". They go to school and therapy 5 days a week and have improved a lot. Sam is concerned that they will push Faith through to Kindergarten even though she is not ready. You also have to understand that both kids are non-verbal and do very little sign language. This doesn't mean that they don't communicate to us what they want, they just do it differently. Sam is concerned that Faith and Edward won't get the community based services that they need, and is worried that she won't be able to help Faith improve. Understandably, Sam wants her kids to be able to lead as "normal" a life as possible and has fought to get all of the services that they have now. Sam is naturally not an organized/schedule type person and has
been doing her very best to keep to a schedule for both of her kids. When Faith's routine gets disrupted she gets very aggitated, Edward usually just goes with it. So, do any of you unschool your children who are non-verbal and have Autism and Sensory Integration Issues? If you do, can you please give me an insight to your day. I'm sure this would help ease my SIL's mind and help her to decide if this is the right choice for her and her family.
Thanks,
Susie
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Melissa Gray
Thanks Alex! If you go to the URL that Alex supplied, there is a tag
cloud. Autism is a pretty big one, if you click on that it will show
you the ones that are tagged as autism related. Of course, I tend to
forget about that, but here's my blog entry about when we started
unschooling. I think i called it homeschooling since we hadn't outed
to the family yet
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-hyl4g088bqoucMCa.Bn_Rchv?p=30
Melissa
Mom to Joshua, Breanna, Emily, Rachel, Samuel, Daniel and Avari
Wife to Zane
blog me at
http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma
cloud. Autism is a pretty big one, if you click on that it will show
you the ones that are tagged as autism related. Of course, I tend to
forget about that, but here's my blog entry about when we started
unschooling. I think i called it homeschooling since we hadn't outed
to the family yet
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-hyl4g088bqoucMCa.Bn_Rchv?p=30
Melissa
Mom to Joshua, Breanna, Emily, Rachel, Samuel, Daniel and Avari
Wife to Zane
blog me at
http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma
On Jan 27, 2008, at 11:03 AM, BRIAN POLIKOWSKY wrote:
> I am sure Melissa will pipe in *hint * hint but here is he blog:
> http://360.yahoo.com/profile-hyl4g088bqoucMCa.Bn_Rchv
>
> She has kids with autism and I hve met them and they are awesome.
> Alex
>
> Susan Wiltbank <mommyswork2@...> wrote:
> Hi All,
> I have a question for those of you who unschool children with
> Autism. My SIL is thinking of pulling her daughter Faith(5) from
> school to homeschool her. Right now her and her brotherEdward (3),
> both diagnosed, go to a school set up for children with "special
> needs". They go to school and therapy 5 days a week and have
> improved a lot. Sam is concerned that they will push Faith through
> to Kindergarten even though she is not ready. You also have to
> understand that both kids are non-verbal and do very little sign
> language. This doesn't mean that they don't communicate to us what
> they want, they just do it differently. Sam is concerned that Faith
> and Edward won't get the community based services that they need,
> and is worried that she won't be able to help Faith improve.
> Understandably, Sam wants her kids to be able to lead as "normal" a
> life as possible and has fought to get all of the services that
> they have now. Sam is naturally not an organized/schedule type
> person and has
> been doing her very best to keep to a schedule for both of her
> kids. When Faith's routine gets disrupted she gets very aggitated,
> Edward usually just goes with it. So, do any of you unschool your
> children who are non-verbal and have Autism and Sensory Integration
> Issues? If you do, can you please give me an insight to your day.
> I'm sure this would help ease my SIL's mind and help her to decide
> if this is the right choice for her and her family.
> Thanks,
> Susie
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Melissa Gray
I do. I am limited in time right now, we're getting ready for a
basketball game (go OU!)
However, I will definitely reply later in detail, or I could go
offlist if you like.
Unschooling has been a lifesaver for both of my kids with autism, as
well as my other children.
Melissa
Mom to Joshua, Breanna, Emily, Rachel, Samuel, Daniel and Avari
Wife to Zane
blog me at
http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma
basketball game (go OU!)
However, I will definitely reply later in detail, or I could go
offlist if you like.
Unschooling has been a lifesaver for both of my kids with autism, as
well as my other children.
Melissa
Mom to Joshua, Breanna, Emily, Rachel, Samuel, Daniel and Avari
Wife to Zane
blog me at
http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma
On Jan 27, 2008, at 9:32 AM, Susan Wiltbank wrote:
> Hi All,
> I have a question for those of you who unschool children with
> Autism. My SIL is thinking of pulling her daughter Faith(5) from
> school to homeschool her. Right now her and her brotherEdward (3),
> both diagnosed, go to a school set up for children with "special
> needs". They go to school and therapy 5 days a week and have
> improved a lot. Sam is concerned that they will push Faith through
> to Kindergarten even though she is not ready. You also have to
> understand that both kids are non-verbal and do very little sign
> language. This doesn't mean that they don't communicate to us what
> they want, they just do it differently. Sam is concerned that Faith
> and Edward won't get the community based services that they need,
> and is worried that she won't be able to help Faith improve.
> Understandably, Sam wants her kids to be able to lead as "normal" a
> life as possible and has fought to get all of the services that
> they have now. Sam is naturally not an organized/schedule type
> person and has been doing her very best to keep to a schedule for
> both of her kids. When Faith's routine gets disrupted she gets very
> aggitated, Edward usually just goes with it. So, do any of you
> unschool your children who are non-verbal and have Autism and
> Sensory Integration Issues? If you do, can you please give me an
> insight to your day. I'm sure this would help ease my SIL's mind
> and help her to decide if this is the right choice for her and her
> family.
> Thanks,
> Susie
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Michelle Thedaker
Susie,
I don't recall the "ah ha!" moment of realizing Drew could read, but we used
one of those Magna Doodles to communicate with him for a long time and it
was awesome. Although he understood spoken words, SEEING them was much more
effective, so we wrote down a lot of instructions, i.e. "put on shoes" or
"leaving for the store", etc. When it was verbal the words didn't stick as
well for him, as opposed to them being seen. Once we started signing to
him, that also helped because it is another form of visual language. I
occaisionally still use sign with him now if he is having an especially
unfocused moment.
I understand the head banging, Drew used to do that also to the point where
he would bleed. Ouch. It sounds like both kiddos are having sensory
overload and just don't have a healthy way of expressing it. I would guess
(just a guess since I don't know them nor have I seen their school
environments) that stress is playing a big part in the overload issues.
Once Drew was brought home and could just BE, many of his stims (head
banging, nail bitting, head shaking) slowly went away. He has always
enjoyed oral stimulation, so we've kept a supply of chewy tubes
(http://www.chewytubes.com/chewytubes/chewytubes.php) around for him to chew
on when he's stressed or feeling overloaded. We do a lot of swinging,
rocking, deep pressure, used to do a lot of brushing with a sensory brush,
etc. As he has matured, he doesn't need as much of this input, or he does
for himself in those areas.
The "experts" want us to believe that school and formal therapy is the #1
best place for our kids to be, but I disagree. Home is a wonderful,
healthy, stress-free place for autie kids and they thrive there. It does
take a large amount of energy and creative thinking to make it work, but IMO
it is SO much better than the insanity we dealt with in the school system.
Hope that helps!
Shell
_____
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Susan Wiltbank
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 2:23 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [unschoolingbasics] homeschooling children with Autism
Shell,
Thank you so much for your insight. My niece rocks herself violently, she
cracks her head on the floor. My nephew is a bitter, he doesn't bite himself
only others. I also believe that they don't need to be "fixed", they are
perfect. They live with us, which might make unschooling them easier. One
question I have for you is, how did you know he was reading before he
started talking? I ask this because my niece has always had a fascination of
books. She will come into the house grab an encyclopedia and start "reading"
it. My nephew has recently started opening books and "speaking" out loud as
he looks at them. He just started doing this last week. Thanks for your help
it is really appreciated.
Susie
I don't recall the "ah ha!" moment of realizing Drew could read, but we used
one of those Magna Doodles to communicate with him for a long time and it
was awesome. Although he understood spoken words, SEEING them was much more
effective, so we wrote down a lot of instructions, i.e. "put on shoes" or
"leaving for the store", etc. When it was verbal the words didn't stick as
well for him, as opposed to them being seen. Once we started signing to
him, that also helped because it is another form of visual language. I
occaisionally still use sign with him now if he is having an especially
unfocused moment.
I understand the head banging, Drew used to do that also to the point where
he would bleed. Ouch. It sounds like both kiddos are having sensory
overload and just don't have a healthy way of expressing it. I would guess
(just a guess since I don't know them nor have I seen their school
environments) that stress is playing a big part in the overload issues.
Once Drew was brought home and could just BE, many of his stims (head
banging, nail bitting, head shaking) slowly went away. He has always
enjoyed oral stimulation, so we've kept a supply of chewy tubes
(http://www.chewytubes.com/chewytubes/chewytubes.php) around for him to chew
on when he's stressed or feeling overloaded. We do a lot of swinging,
rocking, deep pressure, used to do a lot of brushing with a sensory brush,
etc. As he has matured, he doesn't need as much of this input, or he does
for himself in those areas.
The "experts" want us to believe that school and formal therapy is the #1
best place for our kids to be, but I disagree. Home is a wonderful,
healthy, stress-free place for autie kids and they thrive there. It does
take a large amount of energy and creative thinking to make it work, but IMO
it is SO much better than the insanity we dealt with in the school system.
Hope that helps!
Shell
_____
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Susan Wiltbank
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 2:23 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [unschoolingbasics] homeschooling children with Autism
Shell,
Thank you so much for your insight. My niece rocks herself violently, she
cracks her head on the floor. My nephew is a bitter, he doesn't bite himself
only others. I also believe that they don't need to be "fixed", they are
perfect. They live with us, which might make unschooling them easier. One
question I have for you is, how did you know he was reading before he
started talking? I ask this because my niece has always had a fascination of
books. She will come into the house grab an encyclopedia and start "reading"
it. My nephew has recently started opening books and "speaking" out loud as
he looks at them. He just started doing this last week. Thanks for your help
it is really appreciated.
Susie
----- Original Message -----
From: Michelle Thedaker<mailto:pamperedthed@
<mailto:pamperedthed%40yahoo.com> yahoo.com>
To: unschoolingbasics@ <mailto:unschoolingbasics%40yahoogroups.com>
yahoogroups.com<mailto:unschoolingbasics@
<mailto:unschoolingbasics%40yahoogroups.com> yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 8:08 AM
Subject: RE: [unschoolingbasics] homeschooling children with Autism
Susie,
My eldest son Drew, who is now 8.5, is Autistic. Although he is now very
verbal, he didn't get the hang of spoken language until around 3-3.5 years.
We used a great deal of sign language with him, as well as written language
(he was able to read by 2, which made communication easier for sure!). Drew
was enrolled in public school for preschool, which was a special education
program specifically for Autistic kids. Although I had planned to
homeschool in some form, and had made that choice long before the children
were born, I felt that the services he received via the district (for free)
were needful, so we went that route. As it turns out, the preschool
environment was fantastic, he much enjoyed it and the adults involved were
all very loving and tuned in to the kiddos there. Just as your sister
fears, however, he was "pushed through" to Kindergarten at 5 and he was
*not* ready. In hindsight, I should have brought him home at that point.
Instead I allowed them to enroll him in a special ed K class. What a
disaster! It was partly that he wasn't ready, partly the horrible school he
was in (different from the preK school). We stuck it out (mostly because of
DH's not being ready to embrace homeschooling) until March, when a situation
dangerous to Drew finally woke me fully and I brought him home.
For the first year or so I tried so hard to provide Drew with a strict
routine, which he seemed to need. Looking back, I think that was because in
his preK class *they* had a very strict routine for the kids. Coupled with
most Autie's needs to have zero surprises in their life, this had reallly
conditioned Drew to expect rigid regularity. As it turns out, we did not
have a rigid home life outside of his school experience, and he did okay
with that, so not sure what I was thinking! Anyway, we used a strict
curriculum for 1st and 2nd grade, although by 2nd we were already falling
off the boat, so to speak. I realized that Drew could roll with the punches
much more and truly enjoyed being in charge of his own time. He does need a
lot of help to get in touch with his mental and emotional state in order to
change tracks, even when he wants to in order to do something wonderful
(like leaving a video game in order to go to Disneyland for the day), but
that's how it goes with him.
As far as services, Drew was receiving scanty services by K, and I honestly
did most of the work with him at home during the course of our regular day,
so we didn't miss the "formal" ones when they were gone. I *really* don't
miss the ABA therapy - I always felt that one was like training a dog, it
gives me the creeps! I do think these kids need help to adjust within our
world, but looking back at so many of the therapies Drew had, they were very
involved in FIXING him and making him NORMAL. Which I never have agreed
with. Of course I want him to lead a full and joyful life, but I don't need
to fix him. He's not broken, he's just different. That attitude switch
(when fully embraced) was a huge step forward in how I interacted with my
son.
I laugh now when people say to me, "You homeschool your kids, and one is
Autistic!? I just wouldn't have the energy to deal with that!" I tell them
that I don't have the energy - emotional especially! - to deal with a school
system who doesn't value my kids for Who They Are. IEP meetings, notes from
the teacher every day, stressed out kids who are biting their fingers (not
nails, fingers!) down to bleeding (at 5!!). Homeschooling takes a ton of
energy, but at least I see that we are all HAPPY and HEALTHY and WHOLE at
the end of the exhausting day. Sweet payoff, IMO. :-)
Shell
_____
From: unschoolingbasics@ <mailto:unschoolingbasics%40yahoogroups.com>
yahoogroups.com<mailto:unschoolingbasics%40yahoogroups.com>
[mailto:unschoolingbasics@ <mailto:unschoolingbasics%40yahoogroups.com>
yahoogroups.com<mailto:unschoolingbasics%40yahoogroups.com>] On Behalf Of
Susan Wiltbank
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 7:33 AM
To: unschoolingbasics@ <mailto:unschoolingbasics%40yahoogroups.com>
yahoogroups.com<mailto:unschoolingbasics%40yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] homeschooling children with Autism
Hi All,
I have a question for those of you who unschool children with Autism. My SIL
is thinking of pulling her daughter Faith(5) from school to homeschool her.
Right now her and her brotherEdward (3), both diagnosed, go to a school set
up for children with "special needs". They go to school and therapy 5 days a
week and have improved a lot. Sam is concerned that they will push Faith
through to Kindergarten even though she is not ready. You also have to
understand that both kids are non-verbal and do very little sign language.
This doesn't mean that they don't communicate to us what they want, they
just do it differently. Sam is concerned that Faith and Edward won't get the
community based services that they need, and is worried that she won't be
able to help Faith improve. Understandably, Sam wants her kids to be able to
lead as "normal" a life as possible and has fought to get all of the
services that they have now. Sam is naturally not an organized/schedule type
person and has been doing her very best to keep to a schedule for both of
her kids. When Faith's routine gets disrupted she gets very aggitated,
Edward usually just goes with it. So, do any of you unschool your children
who are non-verbal and have Autism and Sensory Integration Issues? If you
do, can you please give me an insight to your day. I'm sure this would help
ease my SIL's mind and help her to decide if this is the right choice for
her and her family.
Thanks,
Susie
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Susan Wiltbank
Thank you so much. If you would rather reply offlist that would be great, either way works for me :0). I'm just trying to ease my SIL's mind, they are on the go everyday from 7am-4:30pm when they get home from therapy. Faith and Edward have both been in school since they were 1.5, that just seems like so much time away from their Mom. Not to mention how mentally and physically draining it is on all 3 of them.
Susie
Susie
----- Original Message -----
From: Melissa Gray<mailto:autismhelp@...>
To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 10:09 AM
Subject: Re: [unschoolingbasics] homeschooling children with Autism
I do. I am limited in time right now, we're getting ready for a
basketball game (go OU!)
However, I will definitely reply later in detail, or I could go
offlist if you like.
Unschooling has been a lifesaver for both of my kids with autism, as
well as my other children.
Melissa
Mom to Joshua, Breanna, Emily, Rachel, Samuel, Daniel and Avari
Wife to Zane
blog me at
http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma<http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma>
On Jan 27, 2008, at 9:32 AM, Susan Wiltbank wrote:
> Hi All,
> I have a question for those of you who unschool children with
> Autism. My SIL is thinking of pulling her daughter Faith(5) from
> school to homeschool her. Right now her and her brotherEdward (3),
> both diagnosed, go to a school set up for children with "special
> needs". They go to school and therapy 5 days a week and have
> improved a lot. Sam is concerned that they will push Faith through
> to Kindergarten even though she is not ready. You also have to
> understand that both kids are non-verbal and do very little sign
> language. This doesn't mean that they don't communicate to us what
> they want, they just do it differently. Sam is concerned that Faith
> and Edward won't get the community based services that they need,
> and is worried that she won't be able to help Faith improve.
> Understandably, Sam wants her kids to be able to lead as "normal" a
> life as possible and has fought to get all of the services that
> they have now. Sam is naturally not an organized/schedule type
> person and has been doing her very best to keep to a schedule for
> both of her kids. When Faith's routine gets disrupted she gets very
> aggitated, Edward usually just goes with it. So, do any of you
> unschool your children who are non-verbal and have Autism and
> Sensory Integration Issues? If you do, can you please give me an
> insight to your day. I'm sure this would help ease my SIL's mind
> and help her to decide if this is the right choice for her and her
> family.
> Thanks,
> Susie
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Susan Wiltbank
Shell,
Thank you so much for your insight. My niece rocks herself violently, she cracks her head on the floor. My nephew is a bitter, he doesn't bite himself only others. I also believe that they don't need to be "fixed", they are perfect. They live with us, which might make unschooling them easier. One question I have for you is, how did you know he was reading before he started talking? I ask this because my niece has always had a fascination of books. She will come into the house grab an encyclopedia and start "reading" it. My nephew has recently started opening books and "speaking" out loud as he looks at them. He just started doing this last week. Thanks for your help it is really appreciated.
Susie
Thank you so much for your insight. My niece rocks herself violently, she cracks her head on the floor. My nephew is a bitter, he doesn't bite himself only others. I also believe that they don't need to be "fixed", they are perfect. They live with us, which might make unschooling them easier. One question I have for you is, how did you know he was reading before he started talking? I ask this because my niece has always had a fascination of books. She will come into the house grab an encyclopedia and start "reading" it. My nephew has recently started opening books and "speaking" out loud as he looks at them. He just started doing this last week. Thanks for your help it is really appreciated.
Susie
----- Original Message -----
From: Michelle Thedaker<mailto:pamperedthed@...>
To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 8:08 AM
Subject: RE: [unschoolingbasics] homeschooling children with Autism
Susie,
My eldest son Drew, who is now 8.5, is Autistic. Although he is now very
verbal, he didn't get the hang of spoken language until around 3-3.5 years.
We used a great deal of sign language with him, as well as written language
(he was able to read by 2, which made communication easier for sure!). Drew
was enrolled in public school for preschool, which was a special education
program specifically for Autistic kids. Although I had planned to
homeschool in some form, and had made that choice long before the children
were born, I felt that the services he received via the district (for free)
were needful, so we went that route. As it turns out, the preschool
environment was fantastic, he much enjoyed it and the adults involved were
all very loving and tuned in to the kiddos there. Just as your sister
fears, however, he was "pushed through" to Kindergarten at 5 and he was
*not* ready. In hindsight, I should have brought him home at that point.
Instead I allowed them to enroll him in a special ed K class. What a
disaster! It was partly that he wasn't ready, partly the horrible school he
was in (different from the preK school). We stuck it out (mostly because of
DH's not being ready to embrace homeschooling) until March, when a situation
dangerous to Drew finally woke me fully and I brought him home.
For the first year or so I tried so hard to provide Drew with a strict
routine, which he seemed to need. Looking back, I think that was because in
his preK class *they* had a very strict routine for the kids. Coupled with
most Autie's needs to have zero surprises in their life, this had reallly
conditioned Drew to expect rigid regularity. As it turns out, we did not
have a rigid home life outside of his school experience, and he did okay
with that, so not sure what I was thinking! Anyway, we used a strict
curriculum for 1st and 2nd grade, although by 2nd we were already falling
off the boat, so to speak. I realized that Drew could roll with the punches
much more and truly enjoyed being in charge of his own time. He does need a
lot of help to get in touch with his mental and emotional state in order to
change tracks, even when he wants to in order to do something wonderful
(like leaving a video game in order to go to Disneyland for the day), but
that's how it goes with him.
As far as services, Drew was receiving scanty services by K, and I honestly
did most of the work with him at home during the course of our regular day,
so we didn't miss the "formal" ones when they were gone. I *really* don't
miss the ABA therapy - I always felt that one was like training a dog, it
gives me the creeps! I do think these kids need help to adjust within our
world, but looking back at so many of the therapies Drew had, they were very
involved in FIXING him and making him NORMAL. Which I never have agreed
with. Of course I want him to lead a full and joyful life, but I don't need
to fix him. He's not broken, he's just different. That attitude switch
(when fully embraced) was a huge step forward in how I interacted with my
son.
I laugh now when people say to me, "You homeschool your kids, and one is
Autistic!? I just wouldn't have the energy to deal with that!" I tell them
that I don't have the energy - emotional especially! - to deal with a school
system who doesn't value my kids for Who They Are. IEP meetings, notes from
the teacher every day, stressed out kids who are biting their fingers (not
nails, fingers!) down to bleeding (at 5!!). Homeschooling takes a ton of
energy, but at least I see that we are all HAPPY and HEALTHY and WHOLE at
the end of the exhausting day. Sweet payoff, IMO. :-)
Shell
_____
From: [email protected]<mailto:unschoolingbasics%40yahoogroups.com>
[mailto:[email protected]<mailto:unschoolingbasics%40yahoogroups.com>] On Behalf Of Susan Wiltbank
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 7:33 AM
To: [email protected]<mailto:unschoolingbasics%40yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] homeschooling children with Autism
Hi All,
I have a question for those of you who unschool children with Autism. My SIL
is thinking of pulling her daughter Faith(5) from school to homeschool her.
Right now her and her brotherEdward (3), both diagnosed, go to a school set
up for children with "special needs". They go to school and therapy 5 days a
week and have improved a lot. Sam is concerned that they will push Faith
through to Kindergarten even though she is not ready. You also have to
understand that both kids are non-verbal and do very little sign language.
This doesn't mean that they don't communicate to us what they want, they
just do it differently. Sam is concerned that Faith and Edward won't get the
community based services that they need, and is worried that she won't be
able to help Faith improve. Understandably, Sam wants her kids to be able to
lead as "normal" a life as possible and has fought to get all of the
services that they have now. Sam is naturally not an organized/schedule type
person and has been doing her very best to keep to a schedule for both of
her kids. When Faith's routine gets disrupted she gets very aggitated,
Edward usually just goes with it. So, do any of you unschool your children
who are non-verbal and have Autism and Sensory Integration Issues? If you
do, can you please give me an insight to your day. I'm sure this would help
ease my SIL's mind and help her to decide if this is the right choice for
her and her family.
Thanks,
Susie
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
guideforthree
IDEA (Individuals with disabilities education act) states that the
school district must provide services to all children residing in
their district (or attending private school in their district). This
applies to both public and private schooled children (In most states,
homeschool is considered private school). Some school districts will
try to deny this, while others are actively seeking out homeschooled
children who need services. Troup County in GA is one of the
counties that is actively seeking children.
That being said, if one feels a child needs services, and the child
has a documented disability, the district must provide the services.
How cooperative they are varies.
By our own choice, our son stopped receiving services (speech and OT)
when we withdrew him. Most of his stimming disappeared when we
withdrew him. Apparently the stress of the school environment was
causing the problem. Also, I am able to contol his sensory diet - No
flourescent lights, no noisy classroom, etc.
I can also address his language needs more efficiently now. He has
been verbal since about 3 yrs (he's 7 now), but he has word recall
problems. After several months of work, he is finally able to recall
that his bendy part is called an elbow. Because I am here and paying
attention, I can supply the words he can't recall. In order to do
this I have to have a conversation with him or listen to the
conversations he has with others. This is something that his
teachers and therapists (and he had really great ones) just couldn't
do enough of in a classroom.
I also want to stress that my boy does not need to be fixed. HE IS
NOT BROKEN. My job is simply to provide him with the information he
needs to make sense of his world, and to be mindful and observant of
those times when he is not able to cope with his environment, so that
he can live a happy and full life. Which, coincidentally, is the
same thing I do for my two "typical" children.
I also have to add, I recently allowed my 7yo Aspie to go to the
local library under the supervision of of his older brother, thanks
to encouragement from Kelly Lovejoy. I was worried he might have a
meltdown, and I wouldn't be there. She pointed out that I was only a
phone call away. The boys went and the there were no problems.
Thanks Kelly.
tina
school district must provide services to all children residing in
their district (or attending private school in their district). This
applies to both public and private schooled children (In most states,
homeschool is considered private school). Some school districts will
try to deny this, while others are actively seeking out homeschooled
children who need services. Troup County in GA is one of the
counties that is actively seeking children.
That being said, if one feels a child needs services, and the child
has a documented disability, the district must provide the services.
How cooperative they are varies.
By our own choice, our son stopped receiving services (speech and OT)
when we withdrew him. Most of his stimming disappeared when we
withdrew him. Apparently the stress of the school environment was
causing the problem. Also, I am able to contol his sensory diet - No
flourescent lights, no noisy classroom, etc.
I can also address his language needs more efficiently now. He has
been verbal since about 3 yrs (he's 7 now), but he has word recall
problems. After several months of work, he is finally able to recall
that his bendy part is called an elbow. Because I am here and paying
attention, I can supply the words he can't recall. In order to do
this I have to have a conversation with him or listen to the
conversations he has with others. This is something that his
teachers and therapists (and he had really great ones) just couldn't
do enough of in a classroom.
I also want to stress that my boy does not need to be fixed. HE IS
NOT BROKEN. My job is simply to provide him with the information he
needs to make sense of his world, and to be mindful and observant of
those times when he is not able to cope with his environment, so that
he can live a happy and full life. Which, coincidentally, is the
same thing I do for my two "typical" children.
I also have to add, I recently allowed my 7yo Aspie to go to the
local library under the supervision of of his older brother, thanks
to encouragement from Kelly Lovejoy. I was worried he might have a
meltdown, and I wouldn't be there. She pointed out that I was only a
phone call away. The boys went and the there were no problems.
Thanks Kelly.
tina
Melissa Gray
Actually, under the law, to be considered for homebound services, one
must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the school cannot provide an
appropriate placement setting for the child. Homeschooling is not
covered by IDEA.
It can be done, and as you say, some schools jump all over it because
it means that they can still get full funding for the child, while
not having to pay for most services that would be required for a
seven hour day. Many schools will let you take it to due process,
however, which is a long and time consuming. If you can show that
they are not making progress at school, pull them out, provide
private therapy, you could go to due process for reimbursement.
As Tina said, school environment is most of the problem. You'll also
find that 1) schools do not provide enough services as it is and that
2) most of the therapists are not well trained and the therapy is
either minimally helpful or sometimes even damaging. That was
certainly our case. My oldest son had severe issues in the classroom,
that the school would not address. We finally got it placed into an
IEP and then, the school didn't follow it. My daughter, who is
severely autistic, had been in school since three (receiving services
since two) The therapists did not know how to teach a child. Most of
the time she would get maybe three hours of therapy a week. Most of
that time was spent following a cookie cutter program that is not
functional for autistic children. Usually about February they'd
figure that out and just be stumped.
Preschool programs often appear beneficial to those with
disabilities. However, once the child ages out of the program, it's
even more difficult to find appropriate services (because in
preschool it's built into the program, older grades it is a pull-out
program) We had an excellent kindergarden year, because I had
designed a program from scratch and the school followed it. The
teacher was excellent and we had a one-on-one aid. Without all of
that, it would have been a disaster. As it was in first grade! We
still had the aid, but she wasn't trained. The teacher was out of
control. The students were out of control. The school districts psych
fought with me all year about the fine line between appropriate
services and creating a crutch.
Melissa
Mom to Joshua, Breanna, Emily, Rachel, Samuel, Daniel and Avari
Wife to Zane
blog me at
http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma
must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the school cannot provide an
appropriate placement setting for the child. Homeschooling is not
covered by IDEA.
It can be done, and as you say, some schools jump all over it because
it means that they can still get full funding for the child, while
not having to pay for most services that would be required for a
seven hour day. Many schools will let you take it to due process,
however, which is a long and time consuming. If you can show that
they are not making progress at school, pull them out, provide
private therapy, you could go to due process for reimbursement.
As Tina said, school environment is most of the problem. You'll also
find that 1) schools do not provide enough services as it is and that
2) most of the therapists are not well trained and the therapy is
either minimally helpful or sometimes even damaging. That was
certainly our case. My oldest son had severe issues in the classroom,
that the school would not address. We finally got it placed into an
IEP and then, the school didn't follow it. My daughter, who is
severely autistic, had been in school since three (receiving services
since two) The therapists did not know how to teach a child. Most of
the time she would get maybe three hours of therapy a week. Most of
that time was spent following a cookie cutter program that is not
functional for autistic children. Usually about February they'd
figure that out and just be stumped.
Preschool programs often appear beneficial to those with
disabilities. However, once the child ages out of the program, it's
even more difficult to find appropriate services (because in
preschool it's built into the program, older grades it is a pull-out
program) We had an excellent kindergarden year, because I had
designed a program from scratch and the school followed it. The
teacher was excellent and we had a one-on-one aid. Without all of
that, it would have been a disaster. As it was in first grade! We
still had the aid, but she wasn't trained. The teacher was out of
control. The students were out of control. The school districts psych
fought with me all year about the fine line between appropriate
services and creating a crutch.
Melissa
Mom to Joshua, Breanna, Emily, Rachel, Samuel, Daniel and Avari
Wife to Zane
blog me at
http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma
On Jan 27, 2008, at 6:55 PM, guideforthree wrote:
> IDEA (Individuals with disabilities education act) states that the
> school district must provide services to all children residing in
> their district (or attending private school in their district). This
> applies to both public and private schooled children (In most states,
> homeschool is considered private school). Some school districts will
> try to deny this, while others are actively seeking out homeschooled
> children who need services. Troup County in GA is one of the
> counties that is actively seeking children.
>
> That being said, if one feels a child needs services, and the child
> has a documented disability, the district must provide the services.
> How cooperative they are varies.
>
> By our own choice, our son stopped receiving services (speech and OT)
> when we withdrew him. Most of his stimming disappeared when we
> withdrew him. Apparently the stress of the school environment was
> causing the problem. Also, I am able to contol his sensory diet - No
> flourescent lights, no noisy classroom, etc.
>
> I can also address his language needs more efficiently now. He has
> been verbal since about 3 yrs (he's 7 now), but he has word recall
> problems. After several months of work, he is finally able to recall
> that his bendy part is called an elbow. Because I am here and paying
> attention, I can supply the words he can't recall. In order to do
> this I have to have a conversation with him or listen to the
> conversations he has with others. This is something that his
> teachers and therapists (and he had really great ones) just couldn't
> do enough of in a classroom.
>
> I also want to stress that my boy does not need to be fixed. HE IS
> NOT BROKEN. My job is simply to provide him with the information he
> needs to make sense of his world, and to be mindful and observant of
> those times when he is not able to cope with his environment, so that
> he can live a happy and full life. Which, coincidentally, is the
> same thing I do for my two "typical" children.
>
> I also have to add, I recently allowed my 7yo Aspie to go to the
> local library under the supervision of of his older brother, thanks
> to encouragement from Kelly Lovejoy. I was worried he might have a
> meltdown, and I wouldn't be there. She pointed out that I was only a
> phone call away. The boys went and the there were no problems.
> Thanks Kelly.
>
> tina
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Susan Wiltbank
Thank you for sharing this with me Tina. If you don't mind I'm going to forward this to my SIL. I'm sure she will be really interested in the IDEA's Act, if just might ease her mind to know that they can still be there if she gets overwhelmed. I personally think that homeschooling both of her kids would benefit all of them, but I'm biased :0).
Thanks again all of you,
Susie
Thanks again all of you,
Susie
----- Original Message -----
From: guideforthree<mailto:guideforthree@...>
To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 4:55 PM
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re: homeschooling children with Autism
IDEA (Individuals with disabilities education act) states that the
school district must provide services to all children residing in
their district (or attending private school in their district). This
applies to both public and private schooled children (In most states,
homeschool is considered private school). Some school districts will
try to deny this, while others are actively seeking out homeschooled
children who need services. Troup County in GA is one of the
counties that is actively seeking children.
That being said, if one feels a child needs services, and the child
has a documented disability, the district must provide the services.
How cooperative they are varies.
By our own choice, our son stopped receiving services (speech and OT)
when we withdrew him. Most of his stimming disappeared when we
withdrew him. Apparently the stress of the school environment was
causing the problem. Also, I am able to contol his sensory diet - No
flourescent lights, no noisy classroom, etc.
I can also address his language needs more efficiently now. He has
been verbal since about 3 yrs (he's 7 now), but he has word recall
problems. After several months of work, he is finally able to recall
that his bendy part is called an elbow. Because I am here and paying
attention, I can supply the words he can't recall. In order to do
this I have to have a conversation with him or listen to the
conversations he has with others. This is something that his
teachers and therapists (and he had really great ones) just couldn't
do enough of in a classroom.
I also want to stress that my boy does not need to be fixed. HE IS
NOT BROKEN. My job is simply to provide him with the information he
needs to make sense of his world, and to be mindful and observant of
those times when he is not able to cope with his environment, so that
he can live a happy and full life. Which, coincidentally, is the
same thing I do for my two "typical" children.
I also have to add, I recently allowed my 7yo Aspie to go to the
local library under the supervision of of his older brother, thanks
to encouragement from Kelly Lovejoy. I was worried he might have a
meltdown, and I wouldn't be there. She pointed out that I was only a
phone call away. The boys went and the there were no problems.
Thanks Kelly.
tina
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Susan Wiltbank
Wow, it seems I have a lot of research to do in order to help her. I really appreciate all of this. It seems that people are trying to pressure her to make a decision, she thought she had until May. I told her to take her time, that way she knows what is right in her heart. I will also tell her to look into IDEA, find out how her family will fall into it.
Thanks so much,
Susie
Thanks so much,
Susie
----- Original Message -----
From: Melissa Gray<mailto:autismhelp@...>
To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2008 8:54 AM
Subject: Re: [unschoolingbasics] Re: homeschooling children with Autism
Actually, under the law, to be considered for homebound services, one
must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the school cannot provide an
appropriate placement setting for the child. Homeschooling is not
covered by IDEA.
It can be done, and as you say, some schools jump all over it because
it means that they can still get full funding for the child, while
not having to pay for most services that would be required for a
seven hour day. Many schools will let you take it to due process,
however, which is a long and time consuming. If you can show that
they are not making progress at school, pull them out, provide
private therapy, you could go to due process for reimbursement.
As Tina said, school environment is most of the problem. You'll also
find that 1) schools do not provide enough services as it is and that
2) most of the therapists are not well trained and the therapy is
either minimally helpful or sometimes even damaging. That was
certainly our case. My oldest son had severe issues in the classroom,
that the school would not address. We finally got it placed into an
IEP and then, the school didn't follow it. My daughter, who is
severely autistic, had been in school since three (receiving services
since two) The therapists did not know how to teach a child. Most of
the time she would get maybe three hours of therapy a week. Most of
that time was spent following a cookie cutter program that is not
functional for autistic children. Usually about February they'd
figure that out and just be stumped.
Preschool programs often appear beneficial to those with
disabilities. However, once the child ages out of the program, it's
even more difficult to find appropriate services (because in
preschool it's built into the program, older grades it is a pull-out
program) We had an excellent kindergarden year, because I had
designed a program from scratch and the school followed it. The
teacher was excellent and we had a one-on-one aid. Without all of
that, it would have been a disaster. As it was in first grade! We
still had the aid, but she wasn't trained. The teacher was out of
control. The students were out of control. The school districts psych
fought with me all year about the fine line between appropriate
services and creating a crutch.
Melissa
Mom to Joshua, Breanna, Emily, Rachel, Samuel, Daniel and Avari
Wife to Zane
blog me at
http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma<http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma>
On Jan 27, 2008, at 6:55 PM, guideforthree wrote:
> IDEA (Individuals with disabilities education act) states that the
> school district must provide services to all children residing in
> their district (or attending private school in their district). This
> applies to both public and private schooled children (In most states,
> homeschool is considered private school). Some school districts will
> try to deny this, while others are actively seeking out homeschooled
> children who need services. Troup County in GA is one of the
> counties that is actively seeking children.
>
> That being said, if one feels a child needs services, and the child
> has a documented disability, the district must provide the services.
> How cooperative they are varies.
>
> By our own choice, our son stopped receiving services (speech and OT)
> when we withdrew him. Most of his stimming disappeared when we
> withdrew him. Apparently the stress of the school environment was
> causing the problem. Also, I am able to contol his sensory diet - No
> flourescent lights, no noisy classroom, etc.
>
> I can also address his language needs more efficiently now. He has
> been verbal since about 3 yrs (he's 7 now), but he has word recall
> problems. After several months of work, he is finally able to recall
> that his bendy part is called an elbow. Because I am here and paying
> attention, I can supply the words he can't recall. In order to do
> this I have to have a conversation with him or listen to the
> conversations he has with others. This is something that his
> teachers and therapists (and he had really great ones) just couldn't
> do enough of in a classroom.
>
> I also want to stress that my boy does not need to be fixed. HE IS
> NOT BROKEN. My job is simply to provide him with the information he
> needs to make sense of his world, and to be mindful and observant of
> those times when he is not able to cope with his environment, so that
> he can live a happy and full life. Which, coincidentally, is the
> same thing I do for my two "typical" children.
>
> I also have to add, I recently allowed my 7yo Aspie to go to the
> local library under the supervision of of his older brother, thanks
> to encouragement from Kelly Lovejoy. I was worried he might have a
> meltdown, and I wouldn't be there. She pointed out that I was only a
> phone call away. The boys went and the there were no problems.
> Thanks Kelly.
>
> tina
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Kasey Frazier
Good website..
www.dotolearn.com
We used this site alot in preparing our son for
unschooling/homeschool. He is now very happy and loving the
unschooling "routine".. LOL
He has tought himself to read and loves math. He is also very good
with other kids now,, as long as it is on his terms.
He was in the system for a while and he did great in pre-school then
when K came about it was terrible. He came home with a black eye one
time and then with ring worm that was it for me. I pulled him out. He
was verbal at this point. He became verbal again at about 4yrs old.
He lost all language at 18mo. old. He has a comorbid diagnosis,
autism with sensory integration, OCD and some anger issues possible
bi-polar. He has a younger bro. that is very demanding and they
work well together. He has been diagnosed with the onset of childhood
bi-polar.
Unschooling works for us for now. Who knows what tomorrow will bring
but our philosophy is one day at a time. I just do not think that the
school and ever give him what he needs and that is some creativity
with learning.
We did do some deschooling though for a while. I had to let him let
go of the schedule idea. He became to obsessed with it. So that took
some time. You just can not be so worried about what they are
supposed to know and just let them learn. Have fun with it let them
lead the way with a bit of help. It may take some time to find out
what makes him want to be engaged in learning but do not rush it or
they will back off even further.
Thanks
Kasey
son to Morgan 8yrs old Autism
and Asher 6 1/2 yrs old Childhood Bi-polar
--- In [email protected], "Susan Wiltbank"
<mommyswork2@...> wrote:
pressure her to make a decision, she thought she had until May. I
told her to take her time, that way she knows what is right in her
heart. I will also tell her to look into IDEA, find out how her
family will fall into it.
.com>
www.dotolearn.com
We used this site alot in preparing our son for
unschooling/homeschool. He is now very happy and loving the
unschooling "routine".. LOL
He has tought himself to read and loves math. He is also very good
with other kids now,, as long as it is on his terms.
He was in the system for a while and he did great in pre-school then
when K came about it was terrible. He came home with a black eye one
time and then with ring worm that was it for me. I pulled him out. He
was verbal at this point. He became verbal again at about 4yrs old.
He lost all language at 18mo. old. He has a comorbid diagnosis,
autism with sensory integration, OCD and some anger issues possible
bi-polar. He has a younger bro. that is very demanding and they
work well together. He has been diagnosed with the onset of childhood
bi-polar.
Unschooling works for us for now. Who knows what tomorrow will bring
but our philosophy is one day at a time. I just do not think that the
school and ever give him what he needs and that is some creativity
with learning.
We did do some deschooling though for a while. I had to let him let
go of the schedule idea. He became to obsessed with it. So that took
some time. You just can not be so worried about what they are
supposed to know and just let them learn. Have fun with it let them
lead the way with a bit of help. It may take some time to find out
what makes him want to be engaged in learning but do not rush it or
they will back off even further.
Thanks
Kasey
son to Morgan 8yrs old Autism
and Asher 6 1/2 yrs old Childhood Bi-polar
--- In [email protected], "Susan Wiltbank"
<mommyswork2@...> wrote:
>I really appreciate all of this. It seems that people are trying to
> Wow, it seems I have a lot of research to do in order to help her.
pressure her to make a decision, she thought she had until May. I
told her to take her time, that way she knows what is right in her
heart. I will also tell her to look into IDEA, find out how her
family will fall into it.
> Thanks so much,[email protected]<mailto:unschoolingbasics@yahoogroups
> Susie
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Melissa Gray<mailto:autismhelp@...>
> To:
.com>
> Sent: Monday, January 28, 2008 8:54 AMAutism
> Subject: Re: [unschoolingbasics] Re: homeschooling children with
>one
>
> Actually, under the law, to be considered for homebound services,
> must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the school cannot providean
> appropriate placement setting for the child. Homeschooling is notbecause
> covered by IDEA.
>
> It can be done, and as you say, some schools jump all over it
> it means that they can still get full funding for the child,while
> not having to pay for most services that would be required for aalso
> seven hour day. Many schools will let you take it to due process,
> however, which is a long and time consuming. If you can show that
> they are not making progress at school, pull them out, provide
> private therapy, you could go to due process for reimbursement.
>
> As Tina said, school environment is most of the problem. You'll
> find that 1) schools do not provide enough services as it is andthat
> 2) most of the therapists are not well trained and the therapy isclassroom,
> either minimally helpful or sometimes even damaging. That was
> certainly our case. My oldest son had severe issues in the
> that the school would not address. We finally got it placed intoan
> IEP and then, the school didn't follow it. My daughter, who isservices
> severely autistic, had been in school since three (receiving
> since two) The therapists did not know how to teach a child. Mostof
> the time she would get maybe three hours of therapy a week. Mostof
> that time was spent following a cookie cutter program that is notit's
> functional for autistic children. Usually about February they'd
> figure that out and just be stumped.
>
> Preschool programs often appear beneficial to those with
> disabilities. However, once the child ages out of the program,
> even more difficult to find appropriate services (because inout
> preschool it's built into the program, older grades it is a pull-
> program) We had an excellent kindergarden year, because I hadpsych
> designed a program from scratch and the school followed it. The
> teacher was excellent and we had a one-on-one aid. Without all of
> that, it would have been a disaster. As it was in first grade! We
> still had the aid, but she wasn't trained. The teacher was out of
> control. The students were out of control. The school districts
> fought with me all year about the fine line between appropriatethe
> services and creating a crutch.
>
> Melissa
> Mom to Joshua, Breanna, Emily, Rachel, Samuel, Daniel and Avari
> Wife to Zane
>
> blog me at
> http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma<http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma>
>
> On Jan 27, 2008, at 6:55 PM, guideforthree wrote:
>
> > IDEA (Individuals with disabilities education act) states that
> > school district must provide services to all children residingin
> > their district (or attending private school in their district).This
> > applies to both public and private schooled children (In moststates,
> > homeschool is considered private school). Some school districtswill
> > try to deny this, while others are actively seeking outhomeschooled
> > children who need services. Troup County in GA is one of thechild
> > counties that is actively seeking children.
> >
> > That being said, if one feels a child needs services, and the
> > has a documented disability, the district must provide theservices.
> > How cooperative they are varies.and OT)
> >
> > By our own choice, our son stopped receiving services (speech
> > when we withdrew him. Most of his stimming disappeared when wewas
> > withdrew him. Apparently the stress of the school environment
> > causing the problem. Also, I am able to contol his sensorydiet - No
> > flourescent lights, no noisy classroom, etc.has
> >
> > I can also address his language needs more efficiently now. He
> > been verbal since about 3 yrs (he's 7 now), but he has wordrecall
> > problems. After several months of work, he is finally able torecall
> > that his bendy part is called an elbow. Because I am here andpaying
> > attention, I can supply the words he can't recall. In order todo
> > this I have to have a conversation with him or listen to thecouldn't
> > conversations he has with others. This is something that his
> > teachers and therapists (and he had really great ones) just
> > do enough of in a classroom.IS
> >
> > I also want to stress that my boy does not need to be fixed. HE
> > NOT BROKEN. My job is simply to provide him with theinformation he
> > needs to make sense of his world, and to be mindful andobservant of
> > those times when he is not able to cope with his environment,so that
> > he can live a happy and full life. Which, coincidentally, is thethanks
> > same thing I do for my two "typical" children.
> >
> > I also have to add, I recently allowed my 7yo Aspie to go to the
> > local library under the supervision of of his older brother,
> > to encouragement from Kelly Lovejoy. I was worried he mighthave a
> > meltdown, and I wouldn't be there. She pointed out that I wasonly a
> > phone call away. The boys went and the there were no problems.
> > Thanks Kelly.
> >
> > tina
> >
> >
> >
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>