Is it necessary to continue an IEP when you homeschool your special needs child? I recently moved to Indiana.

Question

My son has Asperger's Syndrome and most of his IEP is teacher directed and I can continue these goals with him. I was not sure if this would be something that we should have for the future.

Answer 1

While maybe not necessary, it can be very helpful. Laws vary state-to-state, but there may be benefits to an IEP in your state. Here in Louisiana, I was able to take my son to speech therapy twice a week at a local public school, even as homeschoolers. This was a great service for us because it was at no charge and near our home.

A hs friend's son with some autism-spectrum issues gets physical and other therapies with his IEP through the public school system here. In a single-income family where money is tight that is a big help compared to private therapy.

While every state is different, when I began homeschooling, my son's speech therapist from kindergarten actually called us and asked us to continue the speech therapy in the public school system. I hear a lot of stories where hs families are given such trouble, so kudos to Caddo Parish!

If I were you I would certainly research the services available in your area for homeschoolers before making a decision against an IEP.

Also a Note: When we switched to homeschooling after kindergarten, we were also told that the Evalution was no longer called an IEP. I can not remember the name of what they called it (I continued to keep my records in an IEP folder). I have searched all through my folder and can not find the other name. Something like Family Pupil Appraisal or something like that, but that may only be in LA. The form was just a little bit different because the copy that would have gone into a student's permanent records was now a parent copy and I had to sign everything as a Teacher/Parent.

Answer 2

Well, I don't think the IEP will do you any good in homeschooling because IEPs are more for when there is a group of children.  The IEP gives specific directions for the general and special education teachers to do for this child in response to their needs and to "even the playing field" for this child.  However, when the child is pulled from real schooling, there isn't a playing field to even out because you are only working on this child's field.  It is great that you, as an educator and parent, feel your child is benefiting but I just wonder why someone within this profession would do homeschooling.  I am not trying to be disrespectful, I am just trying to understand.  My mom is a public school teacher and sent us to the worst private school she could have because she and my dad thought it was the right thing to do.  Now that I am 27, she finally realizes that I was treated horrible and truly hated that school.  It wasn't the right choice and only now is she seeing that.  You might want to keep and follow the IEP just in case you finally decide to let him have the experience of learning from someone else again.

Answer 3

Yes, of course it is you may even be able to get funding for your child...My son has a issues with reading and writing backwards, its pretty bad and because of his IEP he did not have to take the test outs... They allowed him to test out verbally..

Answer 4

Schools are not required to provide services for students who's parents have voluntarily pulled them from school. IEP's are definitely useful for school, because they are a legal document requiring schools to provide services.

At home, they are not necessary because you are no longer requiring schools to provide services. When we chose to homeschool, we did continue to follow the IEP for both of our children because it did provide some direction. However, when they achieved those goals, we did not really need to create a new document. We knew what needed to be taught and had a general idea of how we wanted to do it.

Indiana is very relaxed homeschooling, in that there are no requirements to notify or test, and the schools have no business in what you are doing. You are required to keep an attendance record (which I do via blog). So technically you do not need an IEP.

If your son goes back to school, it is highly likely that the IEP will be out of date anyway, and a new document would need to be created.

Answer 5

If he was using the resource room or related service (speech therapy, occupation therapy, etc.), those must still be provided by the school if you want them to do so.

However, since you have just moved, it adds a little more complexity to the situation. When you move, the school can take the current IEP and use it or they can require him to be reevaluated and write a new IEP. If they know you are homeschooling, they may or may not be helpful in his continuing to receive the same services, depending on the staff.

If he was not receiving those services, you can simply follow the laws to provide the information you need to in order to homeschool.

Best of luck!

Answer 6

You are in titled to IEP at the public school's cost in any state weather your child is home schooled or in public school. I live in Indiana. No there is no law or requirement that Say's since your son has an IEP that you must still sink professional help. My son had an Iep for speech I taught him after attending a speech session with him and found the therapist rewarding him because she though he was say what she wanted him to. He was not even close to say what she had said. I was threatened that they [meaning the school] would file educational neglect , but quickly changed there minds after I informed them about my rights ,and the law.

Hope this helps.

Answer 7

You cannot continue an IEP if your child isn't in school. You can always reinstate the IEP if and when he returns.

You cannot do all of the social goals with your child. Since your child has a social disorder, you may be doing him a great disservice by home schooling him unless you join a home school association that has social activities. Even so, it is nearly impossible to replicate the school environment by home schooling.

You might want to look at some other solutions. One solution is to register him in school, call a new IEP and as part of the conditions, have him spend just part of his day at school. The teacher of the class can tell you the best times.

The other option is to look at a Hospital/Homebound designation or a duel enrollment. If your son is highly stressed by the school environment, then get a doctor to write a note in this regard. Then the school district will provide a teacher for four hours a week and your IEP will remain in force.

You don't mention your reason for home schooling, but it seems that this is the last thing you would want to do with a child with a social disorder. How is he going to learn to adapt to an outside environment, especially if your plan is for him to go to college? You don't want college to be his first experience with the classroom setting.

Often parents home school because the instruction at school is inadequate. This is where your advocacy during IEP meetings is important. Demand what you want and if they can't give it, then file for due process. (See Wright's Law)  Your son is entitled to a free and appropriate public education. (FAPE)

The other thing you might consider is the McKay Scholarship that pays at least part of the tuition at a private school. Call the school district for a list of schools.

Answer 8

Homeschooling rules vary by state, especially in special ed.  In many states, if you choose to homeschool you loose access to all therapies and assitance your child would be entitled to in they attended school.  In other states, you can still access these services but they may require you to file certain forms or follow certain types of record keeping.  Go to Homeschool Defense League to find out the laws for Indiana, then call your local district office to see what you may need to do to qualify for services (if you wish to use them and they are offered).

If you are thinking you may want to re-enroll him at some point in the future, then I would continue to set and follow progress on goals in a style similar to an IEP.  While he will be re=evaluated when you enroll him (and this would occur even with the documentation) it will give the school and testers an idea of where strengths and areas of concern may be.  This will also help you figure out what is working and what isn't, what you may need to spend extra time on and what can be moved up to the next level.  

Finally, connect with your local homeschool groups and find other families homeschooling special needs kids to connect with.  They will be helpful in providing support, ideas and just another person to understand the challanges you will face.