The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

Many parents feel overwhelmed with a PDD diagnosis and think education must be left to professionals. But schools have limited resources, and special children need customized curriculum and schedules. Even in excellent school systems, some children fall through the cracks. Learn how homeschooling an autistic child can be a successful option for parents willing to commit time and energy. Hear reports from parents on resources, support and best practices, data on the growing trend, caveats and tips. Although ASA facilitates collaboration between school and home, some families with children with ASD choose to homeschool. After a brief overview of homeschooling, I will present results of interviews with parents who homeschool children with ASD and other struggling learners, emphasizing advantages and disadvantages, difficulties, best practices, resources, support, and tips from those parents, and consider what the homeschooling community and ASA have to offer each other.

I. Introduction to Homeschooling

Home schoolers are not all recluses living in log cabins. ~ Paul T. Hill, Hoover Digest.

Current research on homeschooling special needs children will be reviewed. Statistics from the Institute of Educational Sciences of the US Department of Education reflect a 29% increase in students homeschooled from spring 1999 to spring 2003. Reasons for homeschooling vary from concern about the education environment, to religious or moral instruction, to dissatisfaction with academic instruction. In 2003, 6.5% of responders indicated a concern about their child’s physical or mental health problem and an additional 7.2% stated their child had other special needs.

According to the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI), there were 1.7 to 2.1 million K-12 homeschool students in the US during the 2002-2003 year. Researchers have found that homeschooling has grown at a rate of 7% per year during the past 4 years. While there is no data on the number of families homeschooling autistic children, given the current rate that 1 in 150 children are diagnosed with an ASD, potentially 11 to 14 thousand children on the spectrum may be homeschooled.

II. Common Misunderstandings about Homeschooling

I will explore viability of homeschooling as an option for some families, discuss recent trends that facilitate home education of special needs children, and further explain the pros and cons of taking on the responsibility to educate the child with ASD in the home environment.

III. Experience of Families Homeschooling Children with ASD

Based on extensive interviews with parents homeschooling children with ASD and other struggling learners across North America, I will report what homeschoolers perceive to be the advantages and disadvantages of homeschooling, the difficulties they face, and their perceptions of the success of their efforts.

IV. Best Practices and Resources Preferred by Families Homeschooling Children with ASD

Parents homeschooling the struggling learners have a large and growing variety of resources available to them. Based on my interviews, I will discuss what teaching methodologies, homeschool practices, and educational materials they prefer, the support services they employ, and other tips and resources they recommend.

V. How the Homeschool Community and ASA Can Help Each Other

ASA offers expertise about ASD and how to teach children with autism spectrum disorders. The homeschooling community offers creativity, flexibility, pragmatism, and hundreds of practical resources for teaching in the home, samples of which will be shown to attendees. ASA can recognize that many families homeschool children with ASD and can provide support and resources about the homeschooling option. ASA members should attend homeschool meetings and conferences to learn what homeschool-grown accommodations and materials they may use at home to support their child’s public education. ASA should consider sending representatives to homeschool conferences to promote autism awareness and ASA membership.

Learning Objectives

Objective 1: Participants will be able to identify advantages and disadvantages of homeschooling the ASD child.

Objective 2: Participants will be able to describe methodologies and resources commonly used in homeschooling ASD children.

Objective 3: Participants will be able to describe community support (including ASA chapters) available to parents home educating the ASD child.

Objective 4: Participants will be able to describe how the homeschool community and ASA communities can communicate with and assist one another.

Objective 5: Participants will be able to explain how homeschooling facilitates adapting curriculum and schedule for students with ASD and co-existing conditions.

Learning Objectives: