is homeschooling for us

[April03]

I am looking for anyone who can help us to make this decsion.
I am the mom of 3 boys 6,4,& 2. Our first two sons are both on the Autism spectrum. Our 6 yr old is the one we are considering home schooling for. He is very bright and does well academically. However we just had to pull him out of the 4th school type setting (main stream kindergarten) due to his behavior. He is very aggressive (biting, hitting, kicking, headbutting, pinching ect). He refuses to follow directions and and becomes aggitated when it is time for structured activites. He recently head butted his para-professional, splitting her lip. This is when I told the school that despite their best efforts they cant handle him. However the options they are giving us are not satisfactory. They are expecting us to send him to a school that is over an hour away, five days a week for 6.5 hours a day. He would also be surrounded with childern that are profoundly below him(multiple diagnosis) instead of with children whose behavior we want him to model.
Are there any other families out there who have a similar experience to ours and what has your experience been with homeschooling?

[sheryl]

I am looking for anyone who can help us to make this decsion.
I am the mom of 3 boys 6,4,& 2. Our first two sons are both on the Autism spectrum. Our 6 yr old is the one we are considering home schooling for. He is very bright and does well academically. However we just had to pull him out of the 4th school type setting (main stream kindergarten) due to his behavior. He is very aggressive (biting, hitting, kicking, headbutting, pinching ect). He refuses to follow directions and and becomes aggitated when it is time for structured activites. He recently head butted his para-professional, splitting her lip. This is when I told the school that despite their best efforts they cant handle him. However the options they are giving us are not satisfactory. They are expecting us to send him to a school that is over an hour away, five days a week for 6.5 hours a day. He would also be surrounded with childern that are profoundly below him(multiple diagnosis) instead of with children whose behavior we want him to model.
Are there any other families out there who have a similar experience to ours and what has your experience been with homeschooling?

April,

It is such a blessing to homeschool children....s.n. or not. S.N. kids I think do better at home than out because you know your kids best and their needs. You know when they are "playing" you and when their symptoms are truly kicking in.

Can you find similar families in your city who homeschool who may want to start a little co-op once a week?

My decision to homeschool was based purely on my desire and conviction to do so....before my dd had her seizure.

I do believe kids in the ps or like situation will be "mainstreamed" and forgotten. Now, there may be a top notch school/system out there that would be helpful, but I'm talking generally...the ps is not the place to help sn kids.

My daughter is not aspie/autistic, but could you get a 2nd diagnosis? I've heard that even food dyes and allergies can cause similar symptoms to the very conditions represented on this board. Can you have him eval'd? And, if need be, can you enter him into counseling/therapy of some sorts to learn boundaries, etc?

I don't think this reply is very helpful, but I hope there is something you can glean from it.

Sheryl <><

[April03]

Thank you for your reply!
We have had the boys in st, ot, and wraparound services for 2 yrs now and they also see a ped. neurodevelopment specialist. While they aren't gfcf yet we are in the process and have had extensive testing done on them. This testing has lead to the change in diet and essential nutrient supplemetation (started in Sept.) to which we have seen impressive results. However this is a slow process and I can't help but wonder if I am simply torturing him by forcing him to participate in ps. :confused:

[sheryl]

April, Give your post more time to receive responses. It's the weekend and sometimes slower, but I bet you'll get several more replies from those that have aspie/autistic dc that may be more informative for you. But, it is Thanksgiving week. If you don't get responses this week, find your post and bump it back to the top next week....either week you should have more people offering advice.

[merry gardens]

I am looking for anyone who can help us to make this decsion.
I am the mom of 3 boys 6,4,& 2. Our first two sons are both on the Autism spectrum. Our 6 yr old is the one we are considering home schooling for. He is very bright and does well academically. However we just had to pull him out of the 4th school type setting (main stream kindergarten) due to his behavior. He is very aggressive (biting, hitting, kicking, headbutting, pinching ect). He refuses to follow directions and and becomes aggitated when it is time for structured activites. He recently head butted his para-professional, splitting her lip. This is when I told the school that despite their best efforts they cant handle him. However the options they are giving us are not satisfactory. They are expecting us to send him to a school that is over an hour away, five days a week for 6.5 hours a day. He would also be surrounded with childern that are profoundly below him(multiple diagnosis) instead of with children whose behavior we want him to model.
Are there any other families out there who have a similar experience to ours and what has your experience been with homeschooling?My sympathies as you try to make this decision. None of my children have autism, but I do homeschool and I have friends & family with children on the autism spectrum. Some homeschool, some don't. There are many things that I suggest you reflect about as you make this decision. Is his behavior at home better than his behavior at school? What does your gut tell you to do?

Remember that if you decide to try homeschooling, it doesn't mean you're committed to homeschool him forever. If you're inclined to homeschool but unsure, you could try it for a time and see how it goes.

[AliR]

Hi. I homeschool our DD7 and have done so since she was 6. Although not yet properly assessed it is most likely high functioning autism.

Public school for pre-school and k was very difficult. Although DD behaved reasonably well at school, all the anger and distress came out at home. Also, the school was totally committed to integrating into mainstream classrooms so there was no adjustment to the curriculum or how it was delivered for the class of almost 30 kids.

Homeschooling is a joy for me in comparison with the stress of all the meetings at the school trying to change a system that was never going to change! Apart from a much happier child and family life, DD is now working at, or even above, grade level. What we had not realised was that the school had such low expectations for her.

Another factor that has improved is her communications skills. I was told that she should be in ps for social skills, but the anxiety held this back. At home she is listened to, and encouraged to talk which would not be true in a classroom.

I hope that encourages you. I urge you to give it a try, you will have lost nothing as you can always go back to ps if it doesn't work out. The only regret I have about our decision is not doing it sooner!

[blessedmom3]

April,
My 5 yo had many symptoms of ASD when he was 3 (lining up things,slightly delayed speech,delayed socially) and after being tested by the school , he was in a special need preschool for 4 months. He is also very bright , a little above average IQ but at that preschool he started to copy a lot of behaviors that he didn't have before so I took him out and put him in a preschool for language delayes only . He was crying every day ...he has social anxiety , in fact that is his official dg , although I think he is also in the ASD a little but the neurodevelopmental ped. said he does not have autism or pdd...

I decided to take him home and now he is much happier . 3 months before turning 5 he could read short vowel words. He now talks to strangers and looks them in the eye which he didn't do before .He is much happier and relaxed at home and is learning a lot. We gave him CARLSON Norvegian cod liver oil (great for the brain , heals the gut ) , high amounts of vitamins , especially B's from Kirkmanlabs (they make vitamins specially made for kids in the spectrum) , Kamboucha ( a great probiotic ) and coconut kefir (another probiotic) .

If you decide to keep him home it will not be easy since you have many little ones .I have 4 kids: 6 , 5 , 3 1/2 and 7 months old. The biggest challenge is fighting with each other ! It's a lot of noise here . I pray for strength . Without God, I cannot do it ! But sending him away for so many hours it will not help him either.

Read as much as you can about how to make him feel better but just accept him as a special gift from God.
Read , read , read to him starting from simple books he can understand to more complicated.
[/URL]

Most kids with autism have allergies (my son has allergy to eggs, milk and wheat , it showed in the blood and skin tests but it does not always show a positive result ) . GFCF diet might help for symptoms but it doesn't heal the gut. Please watch this

[URL]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLP0Ijo2CK4 (http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/healingleakygut/)

Also visit their website. They also have an yahoo group I recommend you to join. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/healingleakygut/ (http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/healingleakygut/)

[blessedmom3]

I wanted to add that my son likes these websites for learning how to read:
www.starfall.com (http://www.starfall.com)
http://www.literactive.com/Home/index.asp (http://www.literactive.com/Home/index.asp)
If he has speech issues , this might help:
http://www.speakingofspeech.com/Language_Materials.html#Prepositions (http://www.speakingofspeech.com/Language_Materials.html#Prepositions)

Pretend for a moment you have a newborn. He is simply perfect. By the time he is two years old, his fingers are so long, they look strange. You go to a renowned physician and ask "What's wrong with my child? Why are his fingers so long?". The physician smiles and says "Your child has a condition called spindle fingers. He has a natural gift for playing musical instruments. Many dream of having this talent".
As the months go by you encourage your child to play instruments. He gets a little older and expresses his preference for the piano. You take him to piano lessons, listen to famous piano players and perhaps even go to concerts. You explain to your son that his fingers are long because he is talented at playing the piano. Your son plays the piano beautifully. He is proud of his fingers and his talent. You are proud of your son.
You run into the physician a few years later. You tell him proudly about your child's piano skills. He smiles broadly and says "I made it all up. There is no condition called spindle fingers". "What?" you shriek "that's impossible. My child is an excellent player".
"Of course he is" says the physician "It's called belief. You believed in your child's fingers. You believed in his talent. You encouraged him. It didn't matter how many mistakes he made. You hardly heard them because you knew he was on the path to greatness. Your son felt your belief. He saw it in your eyes. He felt it course through his being. It inspired him. Every time he looked at his long fingers he thought about his talent. He felt proud of himself. He knew he could do it. Your unwavering faith inspired him to be the best he can be."
My advice to you is this. Forget about the boxes and the labels. Ignore the judgments. Your child is fascinating. Your child is a unique and wonderful being who is incredibly special. Give him or her the tools. Encourage them on their journey. Never lose faith in them. Stand by their side. Teach them as much as you can. Watch in delight as they soar far beyond everyone's expectations. Everyone's except yours and all those who joined your belief along the way!

[Momto2Ns]

I had my ASD son in ps from preK-5th grade. It was great through 4th grade. Once we started having problems though it snowballed. My experience with homeschooling an ASD child, it is simply the best decision I have ever made. My ds is happy, he is at or above grade level in all academic areas and socially he is doing great!

The terrible stressful situations that kids are placed in at school are simply not a positive learning environment for many ASD kids. It is not the place for them to learn social skills. You are completely correct. He will be placed with children who will model negative behaviors and his behavior will only worsen. If you bring him home, you can model positive behavior, then put him in more controlled situations with other children where he can practice his social skills. He can gain success and success builds on itself.

Just my .02 and I'm not sure its worth that.

[chiguirre]

BTDT. My 2nd son was in the ps preschool program for kids with disabilities. It was an unmitigated disaster both because of low expectations in the special ed classroom and paraprofessionals who couldn't control his behaviors in the integrated class. In the end, we had to choose between hsing him and placing him in the profoundly autistic class where he would have been the only verbal kid. That's not much of a choice, really.

I've been lucky to have access to an ABA-based school. My oldest is a full time student there and ds2 attended it until he was 5. They wouldn't take him full time because he was too high functioning, but they do offer a social skills class and tutoring that's made hsing much easier. I'd look for those types of supports if you have them in your area.

I enrolled ds in lots of outside activities. At first it was very stressful for both of us, but he's gradually learned to function in a class or team environment and he no longer needs shadowing. In fact, he's not even always the most difficult kid in a class. It's much easier for an ASD kid to handle an hour long class than a full day of ps. They can practice the skills they'll need to fit in in public without the unbearable sensory burden of ps.

Academics at home have been challenging sometimes. I've had to try a lot of curricula to find ways to address his needs. But he is making progress, and I do feel confident that he'll have the basic skills he needs to be employable. But it sounds like your ds has fewer challenges than mine. My ds's IQ scores are very low and, although they don't really reflect his abilities, our ps would be quick to place him on the lifeskills track and not even try to teach him reading, writing and math.

I'd give hsing a try. I think you'll find it's a great fit for an ASD kid, although it is a lot of work and worry for the mom. OTOH, having a lousy ps experience makes motivating yourself to hs much easier. Necessity really is the mother of invention!