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MaryM
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| Posted: March 03 2005 at 12:06pm | IP Logged
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A woman in our local support group gave birth last month to a little girl who has Down Syndrome. They are now scrambling to understand all of this and her special needs. A local agency that deals in resource options for children with special needs will be coming to their house this Friday to tell them more about the programs and therapies offered. They will be coming over with a representative from the public school system. She is really distressed that this is going to be the opening of a can of worms. She had hoped to homeschool her children in private without any involvement from the public school system or the government. She hasn't yet started officially homeschooling as far as the school system is concerned because her other children are still young.
Does anyone have any experience in this area that can offer her? The pros and cons of working with the "system?" Options for her to look at? Do you know of resources, forums where she could connect and discuss this? Would anyone who has dealt with this be willing to be in contact with her?
Thanks in advance.
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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Lissa
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| Posted: March 03 2005 at 12:56pm | IP Logged
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Mary,
I'm still learning the ins and outs of working with state-funded agencies for services, but I'd be happy to talk to her. Stevie has been in Early Intervention since last April (he is 14 months old now) and receives PT, OT, and speech/hearing therapy services. Our experience so far has been thoroughly positive and I'm thrilled with the progress Stevie has made as a result of IE. I'm finding that the various therapists and the IE coordinator are all quite respectful of our way of life, and in fact they regularly gush with praise for the children--so polite, so obedient, so bright, so well-spoken, etc--all of which I mention here not to brag on my kids (because believe me, they have plenty of faults) but rather to show how positive the reaction has been from the IE professionals. They are very interested in how we "do things" and often have animated conversations with the girls about things we are learning aobut. Instead of being concerned about my kids' education and socialization (ha), these folks seem to have come to recognize the benefits of homeschooling. The PT and speech/hearing therapist, in particular, have been wonderful about making Steve's therapies a family affair, even going so far as to arrange for extra sign language instruction for us right here in our home.
Quite frankly, I don't know what to expect when Stevie turns three and "graduates" from Early Intervention...at that point any services he needs will come through the school district, and I have no idea what that relationship will be like. But I am deeply satisfied with the current arrangement, am grateful to be getting our boy the help he needs. And it's been a great side benefit to see how enthusiastic the IE folks have become about our outside-the-system lifestyle.
Please let your friend know I'll be happy to talk anytime!
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Lissa
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MaryM
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| Posted: March 04 2005 at 1:34am | IP Logged
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Lissa,
Thank you for your thoughts and encouragement. I'm going to forward your message to her so she can read a positive experience of how it can work. Thanks again.
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Mary M. in Denver
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Lissa
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Something else to mention--she should not be surprised if people--not just drs and IE folks, but neighbors, friends, all kinds of people--suggest to her that now that she has a special-needs baby who is going to demand a lot of her time, she "might want to rethink homeschooling" because of the time commitment it entails. I've heard that more times than I could shake a stick at. What I've learned is that people respond very reasonably to a cheerful rebuttal. I point out that all the moms I know who have kids in school are always talking about the challenge of running here and there, keeping up with the busy schedule. Their mornings start much earlier than ours in a hectic rush to get out the door for the 7:30 school bus. The moms have to go to parent/teacher conferences, they volunteer in the classroom, they run fundraisers, they attend school concerts and plays. They must be home to meet the bus after school, and then they help their kids with homework--sometimes hours of it, according to my neighbors. They have to pack lunches and check backpacks and sign off on reading charts--in short, being a committed and involved parent of a schoolchild takes a LOT of time, work, and juggling.
Usually by the time I get through half of this litany, the questioner is nodding and saying "I see your point." I say, quite honestly, that when I hear my school-mom friends talk about their schedules, I don't know how THEY do it. I mention how much freedom our lifestyle affords us. I can arrange our schedule in a way that suits everyone. Plus, the older kids benefit so very much from being involved with the baby's various therapies. On my blog I joke about Stevie being our "ongoing unit study of the brain." He is providing us all with quite an education! The experience in sign language alone has opened many doors for my girls.
If the questioner asks, "But what about teaching the other kids, doesn't that take a lot of time?" I don't go into the whole Real Learning philosophy, but I do point out that working one on one, you're able to move at a much quicker pace. This of course makes sense to people. Sometimes I mention that we probably less time on formal lessons than my neighbors spend on afterschool homework--because we are learning together all the time, and I know exactly where each of my kids is in terms of mastery of skills and content.
I'm happy to report that every time I've had this conversation--whether with a dr, an early intervention person, or a concerned non-homeschooling friend--it has turned out to be a positive and fruitful conversation. People who don't know much about homeschooling envision our lives as involving long hours of intensive teaching. When they hear about what our days are REALLY like, they usually shift from skepticism to mild envy--because anyone with kids can appreciate the advantage of not having to rush out the door every morning.
Just a thought for when she begins to hear those "for your own good, put them in school" comments!
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Willa
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So far, our experiences with state provided services and school services have been positive. My Aidan is 5.5 and transitioned from Early Intervention to a school IEP which at this point includes *only* speech therapy. The school speech therapist actually comes to our house. He also received Head Start homebound services until he was five.
We did get some pressure at his transition out of EI to put him in preschool. The mindset at that particular Early Intervention center was very pro-school because a lot of the kids who attended were delayed because of deprived backgrounds, etc., not so much for physiological reasons. At the IEP I explained our family "culture" and our ideas of education and they were respectful, if unconvinced.
WE get occupational therapy through the Elks and physical therapy through insurance. Plus, Aidan has various case managers and social workers through the various specialty cares like his GI, kidney, etc. I used to worry that all this involvement in his life would lead to our homeschooling becoming a glass bowl, but it didn't work out that way. Most of the feedback we've gotten has been positive and some of our therapists have given us suggestions for curriculum, like the Handwriting without Tears program.
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Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
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4Real Forums : Special Blessings
Topic: Mom needs advice-baby with Down Syndrome
