Home Schooling my Son with Autism..?

Question

I am strongly considering home schooling my son that has autism and is 9yrs old. He would benefit highly from a home program where he could be worked with one on one and not be in an environment that is too overstimulating. Also he has dietary restrictions that are hard to implement in a public school setting.

My question is what is the best curriculum out there for teaching a child with autism. I plan on getting the books, " A Work in Progress: Behavior Management Strategies & A Curriculum for Intensive Behavioral Treatment of Autism " and "100 Top Picks For Homeschool Curriculum: Choosing The Right Curriculum And Approach For Your Child's Learning Style".

I wanted to see if anyone here can start me off in the right direction based on their experience, there are just so many curriculums out there.

I want to use handwriting for tears, what other programs for math, history, science, etc are good for children with autism? Asides from ABA which I already plan to implement.

Answer 1

I homeschool an eleven year old girl with severe autism.When I pulled her out of public school a year ago she could not read or do basic math beyond counting.Like you, I researched different curriculums and finally decided that the best curriculum is the one you make yourself. For reading, science and social studies we use d**k and Jane type books. For math I tried Saxon Math and it was frustrating for her, so we gave it up and are now using Kumon Workbooks and she is actually learning. We really do not spend much more time on lessons than most kids do on homework.

Autistic people tend to enjoy lining things up, so when she was introduced to the number line in the kumon books she really took to it. Now she can add one to a number and we are about to start on the twos. Kumon is a very incremental approach to learing math. It is not a ccomplete curriculum, but covers the primary basics that your son will need in order to eventually understand the higher level math. The lessons are designed to be less than twenty minutes long for normal children.My daughter takes quite a while to complete her "assignement" as I literally have to direct every move she makes.I have heard that Miquon Math, Singapore Math and Developemental Math are good math books for autistic students as well.

If your son is starting to read then I would consider starrting him off with "sight words". d**k and Jane type books are exellent for teaching autistic kids to read primers. This is what I have been teaching my daughter with and she is now ready to begin phonics. I would also look up www.timberdoodle.com as they have a special auttism category and can make reccamendations as well.

As a final note:When I buy curriculum or manipulatives/equipment to use for my daughter I never know for sure if it is going to be a hit or if I have just wasted more money until we actually use it.So I would borrow what ever curriculum, books and supplies that you can. If something turns out to be a big success then you can always buy your own then, but if it is a "misss" then you will not have wasted time and money.

Answer 2

I would suggest that you take your child home and accept who he is and delight in what he learns because he is passionate about it.  I would say my son would be on the spectrum if i had him tested but I think he is unique and know he is intellegent despite the fact he doesn't learn like his friends that go to school....he does learn though!  I have been inspired by Rue Kream, Anne Ohman, and unschooling in general....google it

Julie

Answer 3

PLEASE DON'T PUT YOUR SON IN HOMESCHOOLING. THAT IS THE WORST DECISION EVER MADE FOR A STUDENT. BELIEVE ME I'VE BEEN THROUGH THAT.

Answer 4

I am not qualified to answer this question, but I want to say GOOD FOR YOU!!!!

You know what is best for you child. Research and find out what you need to know and do what you believe is best!

Good Luck!

Answer 5

First of all, i'd like to invite you to a email list that i am a member of- for parents of autistic children who are homeschooling. Check out this link http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Liv...



I don't know if you will like my answer, since you are asking about curriculum, but i don't use any curriculum. We just kind of play it by ear, i guess you can say. For math i bought  Math U See. For reading, i invented my own reading program. For science we really wing it. One day, we were at the library, and i figured, okay we are at the library, maybe i should read something 'educational' to him. I 'might as well' so i thought. I grabbed a children's book about planets, and i sat and read to him. He was so fascinated by the subject, that for months on end, all he did was want more and more books about planets. He would do research online- wanted us to buy him a telescope and so forth. Now he can not only name the planets and their order from the sun, but quite a number of the planet's moons as well, and tell you much about them. So there is a lot to be said for just exposing our kids and letting them follow their interests. I don't know that you must have a curriculum.

Oh, i'm just adding this 'edit' to explain that the reason i read to him in the library is NOT because he cant read on his own! He can read fine on his own, but sometimes he enjoys me reading to him.

Answer 6

My son has Aspergers.  We started homeschooling all our kids when he was 9.   It was the best thing we ever did.

After a year of being away from the stress of school he was able to actually approach other kids and make friends.    He learns better because he's not stressed about everything else going on.

For math we use Math U See.  I highly recommend it.    Check out www.linguisystems.com for everything to do with language.  There are a lot of great autism materials there.

Answer 7

I also like Math-U-See. The website is http://www.mathusee.com/

History and Science, I would say anything that has lots of pictures and visual aides. Usborne Books has a lot of excellent illustrated guides history and science. http://www.ubah.com/

You might also be interested in the following issues of the Positively Autism newsletter:

"Applied Behavior Analysis" ~ http://www.positivelyautism.com/volume3_...

"Charlotte Mason and Autism" (a popular homeschool method) ~ http://www.positivelyautism.com/volume3i...

"Programmed Instruction" ~ http://www.positivelyautism.com/volume2i...

"Lesson Modifications and Accommodations" ~ http://www.positivelyautism.com/volume2i...

"Children's Books" ~ http://www.positivelyautism.com/volume2i...