Please help. I need to know what to do to homeschool my son with autism.?

Question

what is the first step I should take. my son is 11 yrs old and has no speech. For that reason I do not trust the school system. I just moved from florida to ny so i have taken him out of school. I want to start homeschooling now but don't know where to begin. Do I have to let the school district know my plan of homeschooling. PLEASE HELP

Answer 1

If you want services from the school district via an IEP or 504, then you most likely will have to notify your district.  Go to this link for the laws on HS'ing in NY:

http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/NY/default...

Click on "laws" in the upper right.

Kudos to you for taking this on!  I HS one child, but my ASD child is in public school...someday I may bring her "home".

Answer 2

Try these links:

http://www.floridasmart.com/education/ho...

http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/FL/default...

http://www.homeschoolinginflorida.com/

http://www.notry.com/hschool/florida.htm

http://homeschooling.about.com/od/usafl/...

http://www.southcountyhomeschoolers.org/...

http://www.time4learning.com/homeschool/...

Answer 3

Go online and google homeschooling in your state.  You should find all the info you want about the rules.  You may also want to check with the local school board.  Don't be put off if they seem to have an attitude -- some school board offices treat everybody that way.  (I'm lucky enough to have finished my career in one with a great main office staff, but that seems to be unusual.)  

Surely there are other homeschoolers in your community. Find them -- you will want to network with them anyway.

Talk to your local special ed coordinator or supervisor or whatever, and to parents of other special needs children.  I have seen wonders worked by caring special ed teachers.  After 3 years at our middle school, one of our non-verbal autistic kids got a standing ovation from the entire student body when he was given the principal's award for being the student who had made the most progress while there.  Most of our autistic kids seem to have benefitted from their interactions with other kids, however limited.  Of course, it all depends on the particular situation in the particular school --

Good luck and hang in there.  This is a hard decision but you are obviously caring and committed to doing what is best for your child.

Answer 4

Oh, ouch. Florida's homeschool laws are very laid back. You just have to give the school board a letter of intent to homeschool your son, and then file a yearly evaluation (there are a number of ways to do this), but other than that you have a lot of freedom. NY is the exact opposite. You need to let them know you're homeschooling, yes, and there will also be some requirements for things you need to be teaching your son. I'm not sure if there are exceptions to certain requirements if your son has special needs, but that is something you can look in to and ask the school board about. To get a full list of laws and requirements, go to HSLDA.org, click on the laws option, and then just select your state.

Answer 5

Well, NY does have a notice of intent you have to file, as well as an IHIP (basically telling what you intend to teach and how) I would not contact the local school, I would contact the director of special services for the school district you are in.

I homeschool my kids with autism, and basically I just followed the IEP that we head from school before we pulled them out. It was a great document, just no one would follow it. :-P We found a good ABA person, to help us design an appropriate program for home, and that was her homeschooling.