Homeschooling an aspergers kid?

Question

Do any of you homeschool an aspergers kid? How are you doing and what curriculum if any are you using? I have a son who has a mild form of aspergers. I think the OCD really bogs him down. He started going to public school last year, is in 8th grade this year and is asking me to homeschool him again next year. He is taking meds for ADHD and OCD. We just recently had to up the Lexapro because he was getting real obsessive. If you have any suggestions on how to go about this again, in an easier way, please let me know. Basically in 6th grade he wouldn't do school work anymore. And now he is doing the same thing with his 8th grade public school teachers. Thanks.

Answer 1

I homeschool one with aspergers. We're in our third year, we pulled him in fourth grade. Like the other posters, after a year or so, he was able to relax enough, grow in himself, and be sure of who he was. He has learned so many social skills with just a few nudges from me...living REAL life will give him REAL skills, not the artificial stuff from schools and therapy.

We deschooled for a while, did school and home, and now unschool. This has been amazing because my son learns so much through following on his passions. Things that used to be called a 'stim' we accept as who he is and allow him to explore fully. Believe it or not, they do move on.

Good luck, it's the best thing for our family.

Answer 2

Yes.  My son has Aspergers and this is our 5th year of homeschooling.     We started when he was going into grade 5.

Being at home allowed him to mature at his own rate without all the teasing and bullying that makes an AS child withdraw into themselves rather then reach out.

After hs'ing for 2 years and calming down, my son was able to reach out and make friends for himself.   He has done very well and even worked this past summer at a camp on the maintenance crew.   Spent 5 weeks out at camp by himself.  

Even 2 years ago he wouldn't have been able to do that.  I also truly believe that if he'd been in school he'd have been so beaten down that he wouldn't have been able to.

Answer 3

Be sure and include "social skills" training every day if you do home school. My son is aspergers and he went to a non public school especially for aspergers students. The best thing about the school was the hour he spent daily learning basic social skills such as shaking hands, looking in other peoples eyes, hygiene. These basic skills that we all know but most asperger kids don't.

This helped my son greatly because he now goes to college part time and has a part time job in which he interacts with the public daily.

I think the social skills training was such an important part of his education

Answer 4

Homeschooling is a bad idea.  He needs social training more than academic training.  Aspies are smart by definition so he probably isn't doing badly in class.  Ask the school to provide him with special social training for aspies.

Regarding the medications, you need to study aspergers a little better.  There are no meds to treat the disability.  ADHD is a separate comorbidity that frequently accompanies aspergers.  OCD is a common misdiagnosis.  You can't really have OCD and aspergers together.  Having true OCD cancels out the aspergers diagnosis.  However, aspergers has OCD-like symptoms - which is why it is often misdiagnosed as OCD.  As far as the meds go, don't continue them if there is no improvement.  Some of the SSRI's have been linked to suicide in teens.

Answer 5

I'm positive that Yahoo Groups has one or more groups set up just for people homeschooling Aspergers' kids. Try connecting there--you'll get so much more feedback and advice based on experience.