Many parents home school and I think even more consider it (or perhaps wish they could).  As a home schooling family (at times I should add!), and as an autism consultant, I'm frequently asked about home schooling.  Those interested in learning more may find the following common Questions & Answers helpful.

For me, the most difficult part of home schooling was determining and allocating the materials I'd use to teach.  Before I could buy materials and programs however, I had to first decide what 'type' of home-schoolers we were and what methods I'd use to teach.

Since home schooling my son with autism, I've had numerous parents contact me asking how the process begins.  In other words, what do you have to do in order to home school your child?

The process isn't as bad as it sounds.  Paperwork, policies, regulations and more acronyms are part of the process, but like anything else when it comes to special needs, you become accustomed to it.  The added bonus is, once you're prepared and have done it initially, the work is lessened, as you reuse the documentation (as a template).

A few months ago, my nephew was diagnosed with autism.  That makes 4/5 children in my family with 'psychiatric disorders diagnosed during childhood'. In talking with her this morning, I was horrified to hear how little help her son was getting - she's not even getting "the basics" let alone any additional help.

She's simply not getting the services available to help her son.  I think this occurs more often then I realize, so I wanted to talk about it today in case anyone here needs more support for their child.

My son Ian, who has autism, returned to school this week after being home-schooled since the beginning of the school year.  I chose to home school him after not finding a classroom for him. 

With the help of my consultant, I found a great classroom for Ian and he was supposed to begin almost two weeks ago.  Except everyone in my house became quite ill and, as luck should have it, we (me and all three of my children) were home sick for weeks.  So, Ian has only attended school two days and neither of them in a row!

I was reading some parent's stories and this one caught my eye and yanked on my heart... As a mom, I know how much she must of anticipated this special event and the sadness watching her son that morning, but it's what we can learn from her that is so important.

Are you always looking for ways to help your child make friends and have typical childhood experiences with other children (i.e. - fun)? Have you found opportunities for 'real -everyday' socialization are limited or difficult to find?

I did! But thanks to my thinking out-of-the-box (a pun you'll appreciate later in the post), I've found a great way to help my children make true friends and have fun. 

As much as I love the holiday season, I will soon dread it if I don't get a head start by planning now.  Many children with autism, like mine, have difficulty with the change in schedule, intangible concepts (like Santa!) and the sensory stimulation can often be too much... beyond that, there are regular holiday stressors such as shopping, baking and shoveling a path out of the driveway- ugh!  See why I need to get planning now?

After one month of homeschooling my 12 year old son with autism, we are concluding our studies and preparing to re-enter the school system.

If you've read my past posts, you know I very much love homeschooling my son Ian.  The list of improvements is quite long, and many of them are exclusive to his being home and my ability to completely tailor our work to match his strengths, abilities and interests. 

I love information I can use.  I loathe information that doesn't apply to my daily life.  So, it should be no surprise my 3 favorite articles on this site do two things: make life easier and keep children safer.

Arlene has written 2 of my 3 top picks.  The first being First Aid For Seizures, which you can read here.  You don't need a medical degree to understand and you will feel better having learned the basics of safety when someone is having a seizure.