Saturday, January 13, 2007

Homeschool


K.C.'s Daddy and I have decided to home school him for the rest f the year. I don't want to send him to a school that doesn't know how to deal with self injurious behaviors. It is unbelievable to me that he would be sent home each time he head banged. "It's for his and the other's students safety" is also unbelievable to me. I don't want to send him where he isn't wanted. The school offered one other option of a different program the deals with only severely Autistic children who are self injurious but it's an hours drive and the summers here are brutal. I can't imagine K.C. riding on a bus for that long in 118 degree weather. He's going to be 6 for his birthday and I wouldn't dare place him in a program like that. There is so much hope for K.C. and his future. The placement the school offered seemed like an Autistic kids- end of the line program and there's no hope for you except this place.- I am going to keep him home and send him to a private school in September. His speech therapist suggested Temple Grandin School. There is a site in Glendale and Mesa. For the rest of this school year K.C. will keep with his ABA, OT and Speech. I asked long term care for 60 hours of habilitation but got 58- go figure. 60 hours for the entire month which I am grateful for. He will still be learning, maybe much more now that there is less distraction, noises, people moving about, bus rides, I think it's a lot for an Autistic 5 year old with serious sensory issues has to deal with on a daily basis. I do feel it's the right thing to do for K.C. at this time to be home schooled. Thank you blogger's for your kind words, I will keep you posted about our journey into homeschooling!

7 comments:

Sarah said...

Wow, what a huge decision this is! I am interested to hear about your journey. I can’t even begin to imagine undertaking home-schooling…That is so much work. You are awesomely dedicated and KC is so lucky to have you!

Mamaroo said...

Do what you think is right. I am sorry you have to deal with this. You are right though, KC has soooo much potential and you do not want him some place that the people working with him do not understand that. Good luck Tina.

Maddy said...

A pal of mine home-schooled for a year due to a mis-match between what the school district had on offer and what her son needed.
By the time he went to 'school' he was well ahead academically, which meant there was less pressure on him, which in turn meant he was able to focus on the behavioural issues.
There again, any school that can't intervene to come up with a plan for self injurious behaviour is not anywhere I'd want to leave my child.
Brave you.
Cheers

mysamiam said...

What a beautiful and dedicated mother you are. Well wishes on this new journey. Make sure you get everything you can through his IEP though and therapies at home. I hope you will still be able to take care of "you time". You really need it. Thinking of you friend and Godspeed.

Lynanne said...

All the best on your journey! We homeschool our oldest son (who's technically on the spectrum though we disagree with the diagnosis) because of problems he had with the school. Our youngest son (who's autistic) still is in public school but we've debated pulling him as well.

There are lots of myths about homeschooling. It really isn't all that much extra work. If you look at the normal elementary school day, very little is actually spent learning. (due to reces, transition time between activities, waiting on classmates to answer questions during group sessions, etc). Home learning is extremely efficient. For early elementary, most learning occurs during playtime activities.

Good luck!!!

JUST A MOM said...

Hey Tina I will tell ya, watching my friend with her 2 and homschoolign. I am going to tell you I am so behind you! Good luck. Hey you need to run give me a holler.

GClef1970 said...

I might be right there with you at the end of February. It is mind-boggling in this day & age that there is so much ignorance in the education field, isn't it? What an oxymoron. You are such a great mom, Tina.