| Author | |
melanie
Forum All-Star
Joined: June 28 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 563
|
| Posted: Feb 19 2010 at 7:32am | IP Logged
|
 |
|
for children with autism...
My son was officially diagnosed with autism yesterday. He is 5 and due to start kinder in the fall. We have fully intended on homeschooling him, but we are likely to meet a lot of opposition now, and I'm starting to doubt our decision as well. I'm just starting to research what's available out there in the school system for him. So far I haven't been terribly impressed. It looks like the kids are mainstreamed into public school classrooms and pulled out for therapy, and the more severe ones are given their own aid to help coach them through the school day. You know...kind of like what we would do at home.  I mean, we can coach him through the school day and take him to therapies, you know? My reason for being swayed would be if I maybe found some fantastic, therapy-intensive day program out there, which does exist for preschoolers, but so far I've not heard of anything like that for school-aged kids. My MIL has already made a comment about how we need to put him in public school, so I know these battles are coming. So, my questions...has anyone here had an autistic child in public school, and what was your experience? What have you seen as the benefits to homeschooling an autistic child...and not just the spiritual benefits. I'm sold on those already, and the nay-sayers won't be impressed by them anyway,  .
__________________
Melanie
homeschooling Maria (13yo), Kain (10yo), Jack (5yo), Tess (2yo), and our newest blessing, Henry Robert, born 4/23!
slightlycrunchycatholic.blogspot.com
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
hylabrook1
Forum Moderator
Joined: July 09 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5980
|
| Posted: Feb 19 2010 at 8:38am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Maybe the people who run the preschool day program could talk to you about options and specific programs or therapists that they have referred people to. All of the children who "age out" of their program must be using some sort of resources. Plus, they'll know about things in your area. Praying for you and your husband; you have a lot of thinking to do; also that your son gets matched up with things that work well for him.
Peace,
Nancy
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JodieLyn
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 06 2006
Location: Oregon
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12234
|
| Posted: Feb 19 2010 at 9:54am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I haven't dealt with it. But I have a friend who found a good public school program for her autistic son. She started him later I think he was around 8. And what she found was that that particular program was good for him. and it gave her some time at home when she could concentrate on the other children as well. So it was a win-win situation.
__________________
Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
mom3aut1not
Forum All-Star
Joined: May 21 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 757
|
| Posted: Feb 19 2010 at 12:36pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I had my middle ASD child in ps from preschool through K and my youngest ASD child visited ps. My experience varied from horrible to good.
The upsides
1) 'You can focus your attention on your other children when the ASD child is in school.
2) There are some fantastic programs out there. You might get lucky. Ask local parents. (Don't rely only on the school. I've had them lie to my face about what was available for my dc.)
3) There are some great teachers. We had one for a few months.
The Downsides
1) The education is thoroughly secular.
2) Sex Ed can be even more graphic for Special Ed -- to make sure they "get it."
3) You have no control over what is taught -- and even Spec Ed teachers have to teach to the majority.
4) Many times the Spec Ed teacher (especially for littles) may spend virtually all her time dealing with changing diapers, helping children go potty, managing meds and so on so that there is relatively little time for actual teaching.
5) Spec ed curriculum (more for older kids) is even less appealing than Gen Ed materials.
6) It's hard to reinforce what the speech therapist does if you don't know what she (or he) is doing. This is one of the big benefits for me; I can reinforce what his SLP does with him in his daily work.
7) You may get a horrible teacher. My middle ASD child did. I should have pulled her out then and there, but I was persuaded not to. In retrospect she would have been better off staying at home and watching TV.
8) The program may be blah or the SLP inadequate. Or it may not fit your child's needs. My older ASD kids have very high IQs and yet ate significantly impaired. They had no classroom for them that would work. I am sure that the ps would have resisted making a whole new program for two kids. I saved them money by doing it myself.
One thing you can do is visit the classroom where your son would be and stay all day. This showed me that my youngest ASD child would *not* benefit from the class he would have been put in. Most of the class was literally years beyond him. One child was about his level and spend almost all the time staring off into space. I don't blame the teacher or the aide -- there is only so much that can be done in a given time. (To be honest, I am not really sure why some of those kids were in a spec ed classroom. They didn't seem very delayed to me.) I figured that if I spent 15 minutes a day focused on him, he would get more actual teaching time than if I sent him to that program. As he was still preschool age, I sent him twice a week for a limited time for SLT and social skills work. They weren't thrilled, but it worked for us. It became evident to me that they were not really not prepared for him; even though I told them he used a PECS schedule at therapy and at home, they didn't use with him for weeks. Voila! Behavior problems greatly diminished. They had blamed his behavior on his not being there all the time rather than that he had no clue what they wanted him to do.
I did continue SLT through the local ps (in addition to private SLT) until last December. We were cut not because he didn't need it, but because he is hsed. His ps SLT was so mad! At first she pressed me to put him in school, but he did so well over the years that she stopped and became very supportive.
My experience, FWIW.
In Christ,
__________________
Deborah
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
mom3aut1not
Forum All-Star
Joined: May 21 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 757
|
| Posted: Feb 19 2010 at 4:37pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Melanie,
Chalk it up to my not feeling well. I forgot to mention that if you decided to hs your autie (and no one can make that decision for you and your husband; what works for one family wouldn't for another), you might want to consider enrolling in a program like Clonlara for backup. Clonlara will back you up --- even in court as witnesses. There may be other options as well.
So my last remaining homeschoolie is enrolled in Clonlara but his education is completely designed and directed by me. It's worked out well for us, and my older kids (including two ASD kids) all graduated from Clonlara.
Just a thought.
In Christ,
__________________
Deborah
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
melanie
Forum All-Star
Joined: June 28 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 563
|
| Posted: Feb 19 2010 at 8:02pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Thanks everyone, I've been stewing and emailing and calling a lot today, my head is swimming,,,from what I've found out so far, there is a public school in our district that has a fantastic special ed/autism teacher, but she isn't at the school we are zoned for. I don't know if that can be worked around or not, but I'll find out. I'm waiting to hear back from someone who has a bit of experience with the school that we *are* zoned for. And I'm going to call Mother of Divine Grace (what my older ones use) and talk to someone in special services about what we would get if we enrolled him. Just kind of researching all my options right now. It really kills me to think of putting him in public school.  One of the "pro-school" people I talked to gave as her first reason for putting him in public school that I would get a break. Well, this child is just a joy to me. He is a momma's boy, he is very sweet and gentle, and I don't feel the need for a break from him. Now,,,the nine year old? Yes, absolutely.  But not this one. If I put him there, it would really be because it seemed best for him, and likely just through the elementary years. Anyway. That's where we are. Still hemming and hawing.
__________________
Melanie
homeschooling Maria (13yo), Kain (10yo), Jack (5yo), Tess (2yo), and our newest blessing, Henry Robert, born 4/23!
slightlycrunchycatholic.blogspot.com
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JodieLyn
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 06 2006
Location: Oregon
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12234
|
| Posted: Feb 19 2010 at 8:25pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Remember that it's not a forever decision.. you can keep him home now and still be able to use the schools several years from now if you change your mind or if circumstances change and all that. 
Or try out a school program and take him out if you find it's not good for him.
__________________
Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
melanie
Forum All-Star
Joined: June 28 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 563
|
| Posted: Feb 24 2010 at 4:53pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Please say a prayer for me. I have to make a decision here very shortly about where we are going to go with this, at least for this present time and coming school year. I have an appointment with a private therapy clinic, a good place, and we can use them starting now and homeschool him n the fall. Or, I also have an appointment with a therapist that does early intervention through the public schools, they will work with him starting now and make an IEP so he can transition into kinder at a public school in the fall. It may or may not be the school we want, it depends on if there is room there when the time comes. I kind of need to keep one appointment and cancel the other. I'm so very torn and anxious over this decision, it's agonizing. I honestly don't know how to find God's will here. Many options have been whittled away for us, we are left with these two...I don't know what to do. In my heart, I really want to keep this boy home with me. But I don't know if that's just what I want and not what's best for him. My dh isn't going to be much help probably. I have not had a chance to sit and talk with him in depth about this lately, but, well, he's pretty indecisive and will probably go with whatever I think is best. WHich works out great for me, usually,  , but sometimes I wish someone else would make a decision!
__________________
Melanie
homeschooling Maria (13yo), Kain (10yo), Jack (5yo), Tess (2yo), and our newest blessing, Henry Robert, born 4/23!
slightlycrunchycatholic.blogspot.com
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
drmommy
Forum Pro
Joined: Dec 14 2009
Location: California
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 394
|
| Posted: Feb 24 2010 at 10:39pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I do not have an autistic child, but a child with polymicrogyria, a brain disorder.
We chose to homeschool her, because of the time she was spending outside of the classroom, and being ostracized on the playground at a kindergarten level. I was given a large package daily of 'work to do at home", and I thought, hey, I can do this myself.
I homeschool my daughter because of:
frustration, fatigue, health problems, need for one-on-one instruction, individual time and attention, no negative peer pressure, need for quiet, low academic self-esteem, and the fact that we can take rests and recreation breaks when she becomes non-productive. We basically school one subject, take a break (she is ADHD), and then do another subject, take a break, etc. It works out so nicely, and then during the day, I can work on life skills with her.
I had Mary in regular Kindergarten, and it helped to start a foundation for fine motor coordination and speech, but she was really only one child in a classroom of 35. I helped out on Tuesdays and Thursdays to keep an eye out for her, but she was always alone on the playground due to her speech delays (expressive speech). Now, we have a park day in which the children accept her for who she is, without judgement.
So, homeschooling has been so wonderful for our family. Is it easy? No, especially when math takes an hour for her, and I have 3 other children to teach. But, I know I can watch her, and give her the loving attention she neeeds.
Bridget
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Teachin'Mine2
Forum Pro
Joined: Jan 22 2010
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 242
|
| Posted: Feb 25 2010 at 12:43pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I have no idea what you should decide, but it occurred to me that you could keep the appointment with the PS route evaluation. If you get an opening in the school you want, you can try that out - home schooling is always an option. And if there is no opening in the school with the better program, then you can decide whether to go with your local program or home school. You can always make another appointment with the therapist who will work with you as you home school. Just a thought.
Keeping you and your family in prayer as you discern what's best for your family.
I just want to add my cousin's experience. Her son is autistic, but he was definitely not a pleasure. He was physically abusive towards her and really challenging - despite her being such a good and loving mom. She got him into a great ps program, and the change in him was amazing! His behaviors were corrected and his socialization skills improved dramatically. I think it would have been very hard for her to achieve these same results working with him at home as he is an only, and needed the practice of working within a group setting.
But your son doesn't have these same problems, so this is probably not a good example, but it influenced my answer to you. Otherwise, I've never advocated ps before as it's seldom a positive, but there are always exceptions.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Donna Marie
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: New Jersey
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2530
|
| Posted: Feb 25 2010 at 4:55pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Mary Ellen Barrett was homeschooling her ds Ryan who had Autism. Tragically, he passed away last summer. Mary Ellen wrote several good articles about homeschooling with Autism...You may want to read about homeschooling with special needs at her blog
HTH!
__________________
God love you!
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 9dc!!
Finding Elegant Simplicity
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
melanie
Forum All-Star
Joined: June 28 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 563
|
| Posted: Feb 25 2010 at 5:29pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Yes, thanks Donna Marie, I did find her stories about homeschooling Ryan recently. I had never read her blog until Ryan went missing and there were prayer requests for that on the board, but I went back through her blog recently to find information about homeschooling him and printed it off,,,and my dh took it. lol...I need to hunt it down again.
__________________
Melanie
homeschooling Maria (13yo), Kain (10yo), Jack (5yo), Tess (2yo), and our newest blessing, Henry Robert, born 4/23!
slightlycrunchycatholic.blogspot.com
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JaysFamily
Forum Pro
Joined: March 30 2010
Location: Alabama
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 241
|
| Posted: April 20 2010 at 5:19am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Is it possible for you to homeschool him, but still take him to therapy at the public school?
My son is not autistic, but he does have significant speech delays, so we take him to our local public school for therapy every week. Students from our local Catholic school also go to the public school for speech therapy or other resources that are offered through the state.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
mom3aut1not
Forum All-Star
Joined: May 21 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 757
|
| Posted: April 20 2010 at 9:26am | IP Logged
|
|
|
It may be possible to get SLT from the ps while you homeschool, but you are not certain to be able to. The law changed in 2000; up to then hsed children had the same right to SLT as a child in school.
Hope all goes well!
In Christ,
__________________
Deborah
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Karnak
Forum Newbie
Joined: Sept 12 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 33
|
| Posted: April 22 2010 at 4:24am | IP Logged
|
|
|
HI Melanie
My advice is follow your gut feeling as to what is best for your son. As you know him and his needs best not other people. Homeschooling might be good now and school later who knows, only you
Karnak
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
|
|
4Real Forums : Special Blessings
Topic: homeschool vs. public
