INTENSITY²
Start here => Free For ALL => Topic started by: DirtDawg on February 23, 2007, 06:22:44 PM
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Comments?
Recommendations?
Feasibility?
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Benefits?
Disadvantages?
Consequences?
University Acceptance?
I almost put this in the Political section, but I want everyone to comment, even those who have the least of thoughts on this subject, and even non-members. And, yes, even those without children, especially if you were home schooled or wish you had been. Please, help me to think of things which may help me to make the most responsible decision, as an autistic parent of two autistic children ... a boy, eight years old and a girl, six years old.
Please, list anything you can think of, that may be applicable.
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I wonder why you are thinking of home-schooling your children. Is there some particular problem with their current school?
One obvious advantage is that you can completely individualize their educations to meet their specific needs. One obvious disadvantage is that it may be difficult for you to teach them those skills where you have deficits yourself.
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I'm very very glad my parents didn't try to home school me. I would have ended up with brilliant book-knowledge and horrendous social skills - or more horrendous, anyway. Especially with autistic kids, I would have thought it's a major risk. Maybe okay if you make sure they get lots of real-world experience, but where/when would they learn to operate without parents around all the time?
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It's not a new thought, Callaway. I have been fairly pleased with some of the services available to us, so far. However, as my son is in second grade and getting the highest marks in his grade level, (his reading ability is in the top 0.1%, nationwide, according to his latest evaluation) in most areas, he is already being bullied by several kids and singled out by some of the adults in the school. My son has been allowed to have his own little cubicle-style office/private space inside his classroom. Of course, it helps him to concentrate a little, but it also makes him even more of a freak.
Even at this age, the other kids have learned that they can get a laugh by causing him to jump up and attack kids, who are picking on him. His reactions are hyper-active and defensive, and often "inappropriate". Unfortunately, it's not the kids bullying who get into trouble, but the innocent kid who can't "cope" with the "problems of school life". I am having only patchy success, getting him to ignore their taunting. On his good days, he blows kisses to the girls who tease him and blows a strong "razzberry" to the boys (both considered highly inappropriate!). On his bad days (at least two out of three, every week) he gets in trouble from over-reacting and disrupting class.
I'm not, yet, ready to give up, but next year we will be going to the new school, much farther away. Right now, we are a mile away from school and they both hate any change, so I dread next year. It seems as if we don't qualify to stay at the closer school, since most of the therapy services will be handled in the new school, next year. Their attitude, when we tried to get a special permission to stay put, was more like, "Hey, we're building a new school to handle all your problem children, so you should thank us" (!!!) Of course, they didn't say it that way, but I "heard" that, clear as a bell.
As I mentioned, I haven't made a decision, but there are major problems on the horizon, either way. I am merely wanting to gather everyone's thoughts in one place for the future, in case they would be helpful.
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I was home schooled when I was about 10 years old. I defended myself too successfully against some bullies, so I was considered too violent... ::) The next year I went to another and much better school, though.
I agree with Callaway on the advantages and disadvantages. I also think that, considering the ways we're treated by the NTs, it's AS childrens' fucking right to be home schooled, if they and their parents prefer that.
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I'm very very glad my parents didn't try to home school me. I would have ended up with brilliant book-knowledge and horrendous social skills - or more horrendous, anyway. Especially with autistic kids, I would have thought it's a major risk. Maybe okay if you make sure they get lots of real-world experience, but where/when would they learn to operate without parents around all the time?
Thank you. Those are the kinds of thoughts I am looking for. Of course, I have wondered about getting a seat-of-the-pants Real World education, for them, both. Part of the problem is that neither one of them is challenged by the academia and the resulting boredom causes another "new" set of problems.
We are fighting a huge discrepency between each one's development in the areas of data collection and retention (simply amazing!), compared to emotional maturity (a couple of years behind). I have also been asked to consider holding my son back in the second grade, hoping that his emotional development will be more in line with the kids a year younger. Of course, that would compound the problem of not being challenged, in school. Same problem I always had! That's not an answer either. They really don't know how to deal with his ability to learn data, while at the same time, his not being able to function at a much older emotional level is perplexing.
There are two therapists who work with him, weekly, who can help him. Everyone else is either intimidated or annoyed by him and they shouldn't be.
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Is there any kind of happy medium- homeschooling, but getting your kids involved in extracurricular activities where they interact with other kids their age? The only example I can think of from my own life was my mother living through me and signing me up for horseback riding lessons, then horse camp- it didn't work because I hate horses. :laugh: Seriously, though, are there things your kids like that might be used to help them socialize beyond just classroom-type stuff- hobbies, sports, boys and girls' clubs?
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I was home schooled when I was about 10 years old. I defended myself too successfully against some bullies, so I was considered too violent... ::) The next year I went to another and much better school, though.
I agree with Callaway on the advantages and disadvantages. I also think that, considering the ways we're treated by the NTs, it's AS childrens' fucking right to be home schooled, if they and their parents prefer that.
I was fifteen when I discovered how powerfully and convincingly, but violently, I could shut down bullying against me. I am a bit of a late bloomer and a little shy, but putting a dipshit, who I had cowered from for three years, in the hospital, with a ruptured larynx, and a broken nose and eye socket bones, in about forty five seconds, gained me quite a bit of confidence. I didn't get caught, though.
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Is there any kind of happy medium- homeschooling, but getting your kids involved in extracurricular activities where they interact with other kids their age? The only example I can think of from my own life was my mother living through me and signing me up for horseback riding lessons, then horse camp- it didn't work because I hate horses. :laugh: Seriously, though, are there things your kids like that might be used to help them socialize beyond just classroom-type stuff- hobbies, sports, boys and girls' clubs?
My daughter is still at the age where she literally has everyone wrapped around her pinky, including me. She shows multiple "personalities" (I don't mean that clinically) which she uses, quite to her advantage, since one of her "echoes" is an extrovert. She seems to do much better socially than my son. He has artistic tendencies which could possibly become a decent distraction and social advantage for him, but he is the opposite of athletic, so all of the typical summer baseball, swimming club, winter basketball stuff seems to be out of consideration, at this point. We tried Cub Scouts, last year, but the group interactions were too stressful on him. I'm planning on getting him into another reading group with the local library system this summer. He really loved that, last year.
The Boys and Girls Clubs, here, are extremely lame! ... but it may be something to work on.
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My son has been allowed to have his own little cubicle-style office/private space inside his classroom. Of course, it helps him to concentrate a little, but it also makes him even more of a freak.
I am not surprised!
I like PMS Elle's idea.
Maybe there are other home-schooled kids in the area to interact with?
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apatura iris has home schooled Her children She might give good insight to You DirtDawg.
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apatura iris has home schooled Her children She might give good insight to You DirtDawg.
I remember that, now that you mentioned it. Maybe I'll try to PM her over at WP and get her to post her thoughts, here.
Thanks, Kevv.
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My son has been allowed to have his own little cubicle-style office/private space inside his classroom. Of course, it helps him to concentrate a little, but it also makes him even more of a freak.
I am not surprised!
I like PMS Elle's idea.
Maybe there are other home-schooled kids in the area to interact with?
That's some of the "old school" teacher's ideas. She's been "teaching twenty nine years" ... can you imagine how often I have heard that, as if it held some weight, instead of disqualifying her from teaching my son.
Yes, there seem to be quite a few who home school, here, but if there is an organized "social club" of support, I haven't found it, yet.
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You might want to talk to Bland at Pearls of Wisdom as well. I think she homeschooled some of her six kids, so she could have some good ideas for you too.
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Or at the Wrong Planet She is there too.
You might want to talk to Bland at Pearls of Wisdom as well. I think she homeschooled some of her six kids, so she could have some good ideas for you too.
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There are two therapists who work with him, weekly, who can help him. Everyone else is either intimidated or annoyed by him and they shouldn't be.
You could send your son to get Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training. :-\
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Part of the problem is that neither one of them is challenged by the academia and the resulting boredom causes another "new" set of problems.
I think that's where extra teaching at home - the fun kind, outside of school - can help. Also demonstrating how to be creative and find fulfilment within guidelines. Like teaching that it's not about pride, it's not about ego battles, it's about how good you can make the work. Whether the restrictions are imposed by other human beings or by unchangeable situational factors is irrelevant. I know that sounds kind of highbrow but that's just because I only know how to explain it on an intellectual level - the concept is still sound.
And gifted programs, inside or outside of school. My parents advocated and got me into whatever ones they could find - art, creative writing, math - and it was one of the coolest things they did for me as a kid.
I have also been asked to consider holding my son back in the second grade, hoping that his emotional development will be more in line with the kids a year younger. Of course, that would compound the problem of not being challenged, in school. Same problem I always had!
LOL, same here. I had the constant fantasy of being sent off to a gifted school. Or failing that, be skipped up a grade. Neither happened, and I was never told why (assumed it was because I wasn't quite good enough, but likely it was because of social skills). Would the school consider any kind of split situation? Like spending part of the day in an older class, doing advanced work - and the more social part of the day with kids on the same emotional level?
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LOL, same here. I had the constant fantasy of being sent off to a gifted school. Or failing that, be skipped up a grade. Neither happened, and I was never told why (assumed it was because I wasn't quite good enough, but likely it was because of social skills). Would the school consider any kind of split situation? Like spending part of the day in an older class, doing advanced work - and the more social part of the day with kids on the same emotional level?
I actually went to kindergarten one year earlier (at 5, the usual age here is 6), because I was considered very mature for my age. I had to go to kindergarten two years instead of one, though. When I was about to start in the real school, they offered me to skip up a grade, but I refused, since all my friends (or rather, my few friends) went to 1st grade that year.
After I was home schooled by my parents and a teacher that came from my old school a couple of hours each weak, I always fantazised about being home schooled at least until university, which, of course, never happened.
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How I wish my mom had homeschooled me. I was bullied constantly and it took years to get over the psychological trauma. I homeschooled my three boys, one from 6th grade to 11th, one from birth til college at fifteen, one from birth til the 6th grade. I did not homeschool the two girls, one with fetal alchohol effect I got when she was two and she never accepted me as her mother until she left home, and my birth daughter who has retardation, bipolar, OCD, and now seizure disorder to go along with her autism. After reading Ballestexistenz blog I feel bad about making her go to school which she obviously did not want to do, but I could only handle so much violence per day. I had to wear long sleeves so people wouldn't think it was my husband beating me. Anyway, the boys did fine. Or so I think. My new stepdaughter told me my oldest son was socially retarded when she met him and she thinks it's due to homeschooling. I said nothing because I love her and want her to stick around, but I think any social problems he may have had came from ten years of constant verbal and physical abuse from his first wife. My second son, 25, a sweetheart with a good job, may have some social problems, but that's because he is my clone with a touch of autism. By the way, if you know any geek girls in the Seattle area who are devout Christians and looking for a husband who might not remember her birthday but will always love her, let me know. My third son has no difficulties at all (well, maybe having an adoptive mom who embarrasses him because she can't recognize any of his friends as they troop through the house) and loves being in the Air Force.
Anyway, when I homeschooled, there was a group called, I think, NATHANN that was an online support group for those who homeschooled kids with disibilities. And every single state has a central homeschool group that can direct you to protestant, catholic, mormon, libertarian, and unschooling groups in your area. It would be good to join the Homeschool Legal Defense Fund, because public schools often go viciously after the kids with IEPs.
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I have homeschooled my kids... here are the pros and cons
* Don't listen to anyone who says that homeschooling hurts kids' socialization. Every study done on the issue shows that homeschooled kids get along better with people of varying ages and have higher self-confidence than regular schooled kids. And to those who say they would have turned into freaks if they'd been homeschooled... okay maybe, but since they weren't homeschooled, how can they really compare except through conjecture? There are a lot of weird homeschoolers out there, but I think they were weird by nature and homeschooling didn't turn them that way.
* You will have a lot more time as a family... this is both good and bad. If you like your kids, it's a great thing. If they get on your nerves, it's a bad thing.
* Motivated homeschooled kids can learn a lot. Unmotivated homeschooled kids might do worse than unmotivated regular schooled kids because it's so easy to slack off when you don't have to be accountable to anyone but your parent.
* The sense of responsibility for homeschooling your kids can be crushing, especially if you have little outside help or support.
* If your child is being bullied, and normal recourse has not helped.... screw it and homeschool them. Nothing is worth letting your kid be bullied.
* A lot of homeschooling material is evangelical christian, and even if you try to be secular, at some point you're going to have fundie christian stuff come through your home. This doesn't bother me, but it might bother others.
* Some homeschooled kids really do excel... the motivated ones can do amazing things if they take advantage of their opportunity.
I wish I had been homeschooled!
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How I wish my mom had homeschooled me. I was bullied constantly and it took years to get over the psychological trauma. I homeschooled my three boys, one from 6th grade to 11th, one from birth til college at fifteen, one from birth til the 6th grade. I did not homeschool the two girls, one with fetal alchohol effect I got when she was two and she never accepted me as her mother until she left home, and my birth daughter who has retardation, bipolar, OCD, and now seizure disorder to go along with her autism. After reading Ballestexistenz blog I feel bad about making her go to school which she obviously did not want to do, but I could only handle so much violence per day. I had to wear long sleeves so people wouldn't think it was my husband beating me. Anyway, the boys did fine. Or so I think. My new stepdaughter told me my oldest son was socially retarded when she met him and she thinks it's due to homeschooling. I said nothing because I love her and want her to stick around, but I think any social problems he may have had came from ten years of constant verbal and physical abuse from his first wife. My second son, 25, a sweetheart with a good job, may have some social problems, but that's because he is my clone with a touch of autism. By the way, if you know any geek girls in the Seattle area who are devout Christians and looking for a husband who might not remember her birthday but will always love her, let me know. My third son has no difficulties at all (well, maybe having an adoptive mom who embarrasses him because she can't recognize any of his friends as they troop through the house) and loves being in the Air Force.
Anyway, when I homeschooled, there was a group called, I think, NATHANN that was an online support group for those who homeschooled kids with disibilities. And every single state has a central homeschool group that can direct you to protestant, catholic, mormon, libertarian, and unschooling groups in your area. It would be good to join the Homeschool Legal Defense Fund, because public schools often go viciously after the kids with IEPs.
Thank you for all that great information about homeschooling, Hexacrab. I'm very glad you posted. When you say public schools go after the kids with IEPs, what do you mean? They place pressure on parents to follow their IEP?
Are you Amanda's mother? It sounds like she was bullied pretty badly in public high school when she went there too. I was bullied somewhat, but nothing like she was. I know how hard it can be to have a daughter who is physically aggressive, though. My daughter has gotten in some unlucky shots at me while she was melting down and she has bloodied my nose, among other things.
Sorry, I don't know any women in the Seattle area, but I do know a man who has AS who lives in that area.
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How I wish my mom had homeschooled me. I was bullied constantly and it took years to get over the psychological trauma. I homeschooled my three boys, one from 6th grade to 11th, one from birth til college at fifteen, one from birth til the 6th grade. I did not homeschool the two girls, one with fetal alchohol effect I got when she was two and she never accepted me as her mother until she left home, and my birth daughter who has retardation, bipolar, OCD, and now seizure disorder to go along with her autism. After reading Ballestexistenz blog I feel bad about making her go to school which she obviously did not want to do, but I could only handle so much violence per day. I had to wear long sleeves so people wouldn't think it was my husband beating me. Anyway, the boys did fine. Or so I think. My new stepdaughter told me my oldest son was socially retarded when she met him and she thinks it's due to homeschooling. I said nothing because I love her and want her to stick around, but I think any social problems he may have had came from ten years of constant verbal and physical abuse from his first wife. My second son, 25, a sweetheart with a good job, may have some social problems, but that's because he is my clone with a touch of autism. By the way, if you know any geek girls in the Seattle area who are devout Christians and looking for a husband who might not remember her birthday but will always love her, let me know. My third son has no difficulties at all (well, maybe having an adoptive mom who embarrasses him because she can't recognize any of his friends as they troop through the house) and loves being in the Air Force.
Anyway, when I homeschooled, there was a group called, I think, NATHANN that was an online support group for those who homeschooled kids with disibilities. And every single state has a central homeschool group that can direct you to protestant, catholic, mormon, libertarian, and unschooling groups in your area. It would be good to join the Homeschool Legal Defense Fund, because public schools often go viciously after the kids with IEPs.
Thanks for the info, Hexacrab. I have located the local HSLDA, from your suggestion, and their site has many other resources linked up also. Thanks for the lead! Coincidentally, I learned that the day before I opened this thread, there was a small convention, in downtown Indianapolis, not too far away from me, which I might have gotten additonal info from, had I known about it, beforehand. There will be others, soon, though.
Like Callaway, I don't quite get what you said about public schools going after students with IEPs. Could you please, clarify that, a bit?
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I have homeschooled my kids... here are the pros and cons
* Don't listen to anyone who says that homeschooling hurts kids' socialization. Every study done on the issue shows that homeschooled kids get along better with people of varying ages and have higher self-confidence than regular schooled kids. And to those who say they would have turned into freaks if they'd been homeschooled... okay maybe, but since they weren't homeschooled, how can they really compare except through conjecture? There are a lot of weird homeschoolers out there, but I think they were weird by nature and homeschooling didn't turn them that way.
* You will have a lot more time as a family... this is both good and bad. If you like your kids, it's a great thing. If they get on your nerves, it's a bad thing.
* Motivated homeschooled kids can learn a lot. Unmotivated homeschooled kids might do worse than unmotivated regular schooled kids because it's so easy to slack off when you don't have to be accountable to anyone but your parent.
* The sense of responsibility for homeschooling your kids can be crushing, especially if you have little outside help or support.
* If your child is being bullied, and normal recourse has not helped.... screw it and homeschool them. Nothing is worth letting your kid be bullied.
* A lot of homeschooling material is evangelical christian, and even if you try to be secular, at some point you're going to have fundie christian stuff come through your home. This doesn't bother me, but it might bother others.
* Some homeschooled kids really do excel... the motivated ones can do amazing things if they take advantage of their opportunity.
I wish I had been homeschooled!
Hi, apatura_iris. I was starting to wonder if I should chase you down and invite you to comment. Thanks for the detailed descriptions, you posted.
I don't want to contradict you, but you mentioned the studies of homeschooled kids being done showed no social impairments from lack of contact with other kids, but I wonder if there are studies done with JUST autistic homeschooled students. I am afraid that, as it has been repeatedly pointed out to me, MY weak areas will be evident in my kids' education. I can think of nothing more frightening than my kids going through life with the same lack of abilities that I have had. I believe it is inevitable to a large degree, but surely, knowing what we all know, now, the process of adapting some social lessons to my kids' ways of doing things, can be improved upon as time goes on. It sounds good, anyway, but to me, the social part of their education is a stumbling block, mentally at least.
I guess my first question is, how do I not listen to my greatest fear?
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I'm sure a study of autistic kids would be different... but... you never know, it still could show benefits, because you know those kids aren't going to be bullied at home (well let's hope not).
How not to listen to your worst fear? Well first accept that your kids do have your genes, and chances are they will be at least somewhat like you. But don't disrespect their personhoods to think that just by not going to school they will have no choice but to "be like you." They will be their own people, even if you TRY to make them like you.
Personally, I think the most important thing for high functioning autistics is that they maintain their self-esteem. Self-esteem is precisely what schools are expert at debilitating.
And remember... you could always go back to school after giving homeschool a try. As long as you do everything by the books, the law is on your side. My NT daughter tried school and after three months was begging to homeschool again, so I let her come back home.
I'm sorry if I've missed the details, but how old are your kids, have they been in school, and who would be in charge of homeschooling them?
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Personally, I think the most important thing for high functioning autistics is that they maintain their self-esteem. Self-esteem is precisely what schools are expert at debilitating.
Welll.... some families are expert at debilitating it too, and chances are they don't realize they're doing it. Without knowing anything else, I'd say it's better for a given kid to have options (home and school, and chuch or other youth groups as well, just to expose them to a variety of people) rather than putting all their eggs in one basket.
Bullying of autistic kids at school can vary in degrees. I was teased but only physically attacked once or twice. It doesn't always turn into major emotional scarring.
As for my saying I would have come out with worse social skills, that's just opinion and extrapolation based on the few home schooling families I know (in Indiana, actually). I haven't read any studies on the issue.
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Home schooling was illegal here when I was home schooled, but my parents didn't bother. And the authorities didn't bother more than coming with threats that they'd force me to go back to school, before they gave up and let me go to another school, which was much better than the old one. I don't know if home schooling is still illegal here. That'll be a great problem for Swedish autie kids, since they will get no grades and thus can't go to high school. That'd be a much greater problem than the authorities trying to force the kids to go to school, which they probably won't.
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I'm sorry if I've missed the details, but how old are your kids, have they been in school, and who would be in charge of homeschooling them?
I have a son, eight and a daughter, six, so I'm a total rookie at this stuff and we have a LOOOOONG way to go. I would be the one "in charge" of home schooling.
I'm not as worried about my daughter as I am my son. She seems to be less affected by her symptoms and usually acts much more mature than her age would indicate, but she is tiny, which makes her incredible speech, vocabulary seem very out-of-place. Her emotional maturity is that of a much younger child, however.
This week we attended my son's yearly case conference and they are suggesting a new special class next year, limited to fifteen students, with all age kids attending and an adult for each kid. I don't know if it will help, but I will try anything to keep him from being picked on. At least the way it is going, right now, is not working well and I think it is a couple of other kids who have a large hand in the day-to-day problems. The one-on-one classroom has not been done here, before, except for severely handicapped kids, so it's a "new" thing for everyone. I'm planning on giving that a try. Supposedly, many things will open up for us, with the new school they are building, but you know as well as I do, that a school is an empty building and the only difference between them is the people who make them work.
My "fear" is based on my own fear of failure, mostly. I have lots of faith in them, but my son does have a slight self esteem issue which may have to be addressed separately in the coming years. Hopefully getting him away from two bullies in his present classroom will solve the problems, but we'll see.
Tkanks, again, for your help. The point made about not putting all our eggs in one basket has been our plan from the beginning.
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Do you have Montessori schools in the US? I'm sure they wouldn't allow bullying. On the other hand, I don't know if Montessori schools fit autie children. The best form of education for an autie child would be the old fashion school with the teacher giving the children precise instructions, but minus the bullies, of course.
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We do have some Montessori schools here, but they are mostly private preschools rather than elementary schools. I think it is like DirtDawg said, it's really more about the people than the place anyway. I think that special school sounds promising, depending on the people.
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The best form of education for an autie child would be the old fashion school with the teacher giving the children precise instructions, but minus the bullies, of course.
Disagree. If one's abilities don't match what's being taught, then the more rigid the teaching and instructions, the less pleasant the learning.
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Welll.... some families are expert at debilitating it too,
Yeah, of course; I thought that was implied, but I wasn't clear. My family was pretty messed up, but the bullying in school was worse.
and chances are they don't realize they're doing it. Without knowing anything else, I'd say it's better for a given kid to have options (home and school, and chuch or other youth groups as well, just to expose them to a variety of people) rather than putting all their eggs in one basket.
It's important to let a child have at least partial say in if and how they are homeschooled.
As for my saying I would have come out with worse social skills, that's just opinion and extrapolation based on the few home schooling families I know (in Indiana, actually). I haven't read any studies on the issue.
You know yourself best and you may well be right, it's just that I've heard a lot of people say "if I'd been homeschooled, I'd be so much worse." It's just a huge generaization to make and probably isn't absolutely true in every case.
It's true, that homeschooling families can be pretty weird. You've got the religious freaks, the insane hippies, and the intellectuals all jumbled up together. But is school so much better in terms of the caliber of person there?
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I'm sorry if I've missed the details, but how old are your kids, have they been in school, and who would be in charge of homeschooling them?
I have a son, eight and a daughter, six, so I'm a total rookie at this stuff and we have a LOOOOONG way to go. I would be the one "in charge" of home schooling.
I'm not as worried about my daughter as I am my son. She seems to be less affected by her symptoms and usually acts much more mature than her age would indicate, but she is tiny, which makes her incredible speech, vocabulary seem very out-of-place. Her emotional maturity is that of a much younger child, however.
This week we attended my son's yearly case conference and they are suggesting a new special class next year, limited to fifteen students, with all age kids attending and an adult for each kid. I don't know if it will help, but I will try anything to keep him from being picked on. At least the way it is going, right now, is not working well and I think it is a couple of other kids who have a large hand in the day-to-day problems. The one-on-one classroom has not been done here, before, except for severely handicapped kids, so it's a "new" thing for everyone. I'm planning on giving that a try. Supposedly, many things will open up for us, with the new school they are building, but you know as well as I do, that a school is an empty building and the only difference between them is the people who make them work.
My "fear" is based on my own fear of failure, mostly. I have lots of faith in them, but my son does have a slight self esteem issue which may have to be addressed separately in the coming years. Hopefully getting him away from two bullies in his present classroom will solve the problems, but we'll see.
Tkanks, again, for your help. The point made about not putting all our eggs in one basket has been our plan from the beginning.
Screw the system and homeschool them! ;)
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It's important to let a child have at least partial say in if and how they are homeschooled.
Definitely. No argument there. Depending on how old the child is, and assuming the parents were ready to homeschool, I'd even suggest to let the child have full say.
I've heard a lot of people say "if I'd been homeschooled, I'd be so much worse." It's just a huge generaization to make and probably isn't absolutely true in every case.
I wanted to be fair; I likely would have a lot more knowledge. There would also have been a decent chance that I would have been a published author and/or had a gallery show sooner. But I still think school was worth it for the social skills. Even at school, it was too easy to disappear, and I ended up making a conscious decision at one point that I needed to go out and "learn the world" so that when the time came to support myself as an adult, there was a lot less catching up to do. If I'd stayed isolated all the way through, I would have crashed and burned the moment I no longer had someone paying the rent.
It's true, that homeschooling families can be pretty weird. You've got the religious freaks, the insane hippies, and the intellectuals all jumbled up together. But is school so much better in terms of the caliber of person there?
Not really. But if you're homeschooling mainly to avoid bullying, what happens to the kid once they graduate? Bullying doesn't stop in the adult world, it just gets more sophisticated. Surely the real solution is to teach your kid how to resist bullying, not to let them run away until they're too old to make mistakes without serious consequences.
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The best form of education for an autie child would be the old fashion school with the teacher giving the children precise instructions, but minus the bullies, of course.
Disagree. If one's abilities don't match what's being taught, then the more rigid the teaching and instructions, the less pleasant the learning.
This is the reason my kids have come so far in such a short time. When they happen to be curious about something and I'm there to feed the curiousity and help them search for the answers, they learn by leaps and bounds and retain the whole experience. My instruction and guidance is well matched to their needs and abilities and they absorb it like thirsty little mental sponges. It is the most important benefit of homeschooling, in my view.
Oddly (or maybe not, I don't know), it is often the break from routines that opens them up to even greater curiousity about subjects that interest them, already.
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Screw the system and homeschool them! ;)
My language was a bit rougher, but I have said the same thing within the last few months.
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Sometimes, I forget how good we have it, in this country. This is amazing stuff.
Authorities Ask German Homeschooling Family to Give up Custody of Other 5 Children (http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/feb/07022602.html)
By Gudrun Schultz
Busekros family Germany, February 26, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The parents of a 15-year-old school girl taken from her home by authorities in a battle over home schooling have been asked to give up custody of their other five children, as part of a resolution to the situation offered by German officials.
The latest development in the ongoing battle between the Busekros family and the German authorities was reported by the Home Schooling Legal Defense Fund, a U.S.-based organization that has been tracking an accelerating crackdown against home schooling families in Germany.
Melissa Busekros was removed from her family home on Feb.1 by social workers accompanied by 15 police officers, under a court order to use force if necessary. The girl was placed in a psychiatric ward for evaluation and determined to be “school phobic,†according to authorities. Without her parents’ knowledge or consent she was then placed in an undisclosed foster home.
The girl’s parents began tutoring her in math and Latin at home, after she had trouble keeping up in class. When the school found out, Melissa was expelled and her parents then began home schooling her full time. The Youth Welfare office took the parents to court and received permission to conduct a psychiatric evaluation of the girl, and two days later returned to take her into custody and place her in the child psychiatric unit.
Hubert Busekros, the girl’s father, told HLSDA he and his lawyer were offered a resolution to the situation that required the Busekros’ to give up custody of their five other children. Mr. Busekros said the authorities are considering performing psychiatric evaluations of the other children, he fears with the intent of discrediting the couple as parents and permanently breaking up the family.
Home schooling is illegal in Germany under a law dating back to Adolf Hitler. Home schooling families have faced increasing persecution in recent years, with police in several cases physically transporting children to school. An appeal to the European Court of Human Rights failed last year when the court ruled Germany’s enforcement of the law did not violate the rights of parents to educate their own children, saying the interests of the state in educating children took precedence over the views of the parents.
Melissa has now been moved to a third foster home in the country, and is undergoing fresh psychiatric testing after saying the majority of the first psychiatric report was inaccurate and she was misquoted.
HSLDA is asking supporters to contact the German Embassy with this message:
“Over 40 innocent homeschool families have been prosecuted, fined, and in some instances, had their children removed to state custody. This is an outrage. Many homeschool families are fleeing Germany to nearby European countries where homeschooling is legal. The most incredible violation of human rights is the Busekros family, whose child was put into a psychiatric ward and then removed to an undisclosed location, all for the crime of homeschooling. Germany will not long be known as a free nation if it suppresses the right to choose homeschooling.â€
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Nice. Especially the origin of the home schooling ban. ::) >:(
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That is scary, especially in the country that spawned Hitler.
Some of them highly value conformity, probably because almost all of the non-conformists were exterminated more than fifty years ago.
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I've personally never been interested in German history that did not involve mortars, air combat, or beach landings, but didn't we go over and show them what to do about that kind of stuff twice already? Why do they still operate under a constitution with the possibility of legislation similar to Hitler's time? Is it environmental or something?
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Most northern Europeans are pretty conformistic, if I may say so. We've never had a Hitler in Sweden but a lot of despotic Kings. Many old people in Sweden still believe and obey anything the authorities tell them.
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Homeschooler's anti-war blog gets 30,000+ hits a day:
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/03/are_you_there_george_its_me_ava.html
http://www.peacetakescourage.com/page-home.htm
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That homeschooling thing in Germany is ridiculous/appaling.
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The parents of those children should drag Germany to the Court of Human Rights in Haag or the Court of the European Union in Strasbourg.
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I find it shocking too. The right to school your children outside of an institution should be a basic human right.
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I don't even know if we have that right in Sweden. We have private schools, alright, but I'm not sure about home schooling.
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Sometimes, I forget how good we have it, in this country. This is amazing stuff.
Authorities Ask German Homeschooling Family to Give up Custody of Other 5 Children (http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/feb/07022602.html)
By Gudrun Schultz
Busekros family Germany, February 26, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The parents of a 15-year-old school girl taken from her home by authorities in a battle over home schooling have been asked to give up custody of their other five children, as part of a resolution to the situation offered by German officials.
The latest development in the ongoing battle between the Busekros family and the German authorities was reported by the Home Schooling Legal Defense Fund, a U.S.-based organization that has been tracking an accelerating crackdown against home schooling families in Germany.
Melissa Busekros was removed from her family home on Feb.1 by social workers accompanied by 15 police officers, under a court order to use force if necessary. The girl was placed in a psychiatric ward for evaluation and determined to be “school phobic,†according to authorities. Without her parents’ knowledge or consent she was then placed in an undisclosed foster home.
The girl’s parents began tutoring her in math and Latin at home, after she had trouble keeping up in class. When the school found out, Melissa was expelled and her parents then began home schooling her full time. The Youth Welfare office took the parents to court and received permission to conduct a psychiatric evaluation of the girl, and two days later returned to take her into custody and place her in the child psychiatric unit.
Hubert Busekros, the girl’s father, told HLSDA he and his lawyer were offered a resolution to the situation that required the Busekros’ to give up custody of their five other children. Mr. Busekros said the authorities are considering performing psychiatric evaluations of the other children, he fears with the intent of discrediting the couple as parents and permanently breaking up the family.
Home schooling is illegal in Germany under a law dating back to Adolf Hitler....
Sorry if this offends any Germans who come to this site, but to this decision and their continued enforcement of this law the only thing that I can is .....
SIEG FUCKING HEIL!!! :grrr: :finger:
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Fuck the nanny state up its overbearing arse. The only reason to wish to compel people to submit to having their children 'educated' by the state without the right to do it yourself is so that they can be taught what THE STATE/their paymasters want them to learn, and to become good little sheep. :finger:
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Why do you think that I advocate free guns in half of my threads? >:D
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Fuck the nanny state up its overbearing arse. The only reason to wish to compel people to submit to having their children 'educated' by the state without the right to do it yourself is so that they can be taught what THE STATE/their paymasters want them to learn, and to become good little sheep. :finger:
My experience of state education has taught me a lot: fear, anxiety, bitterness, resentment, etc.
If my education progress wasn't put in the hands of people who don't really care about their students and having to be forced to interact with those fucking sociopaths, my mental state would be a lot better off than it is today.
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Children should be destroyed long before they
need ANY schooling.
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Not everyone pukes down their throats,
like a guttersniping, feathered mutant buff
of blanket, eidolonic malignance.
Mine grow hair, which fertilizes the ground
where we grow food. I have a bit more
invested than a self-pinned
crested demon would.
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Even though I was pretty miserable during school, I far prefer having suffered through it than dropping out or being home schooled. I remember hearing a song about how life is just an extension of high school...
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I would definitely have had an easier time
with home schooling (not that anyone did
that) but I just don't see how being hidden
from society would have made me fit in any
better. Still, I DON'T fit in now, so maybe the
misery wasn't worth it.
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Not everyone pukes down their throats,
like a guttersniping, feathered mutant buff
of blanket, eidolonic malignance.
Mine grow hair, which fertilizes the ground
where we grow food. I have a bit more
invested than a self-pinned
crested demon would.
:laugh: :clap: How did I miss this the first time around?
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Home schooling is a good option. Do you have any schools for children with autism in your area? They just opened one in Salt Lake - I don't know how good it is, or anything like that. But it seems like it could be another option.
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Home schooling is a good option. Do you have any schools for children with autism in your area? They just opened one in Salt Lake - I don't know how good it is, or anything like that. But it seems like it could be another option.
Locally, we have two that I know of, but one is actually a segment of a much larger hospital for children. They are both intended for severely low functioning kids or those with compounding problems related to health or retardation. My kids are quite high functioning little geniuses, on most days, so I am mainly looking at this option in an effort to take away some of the burden of daily structured lessons in an environment that is detrimental to learning (public schools).
I have tried to concentrate my teaching during times when they are most receptive and we've had some tremendous successes. When they are curious, they absorb complex things so fast, it's almost scary. An instructor with twenty five other kids, all learning at different rates, can not possibly be sensitive to when they can march past six chapters with one special kid, making for an incredibly productive day of learning and then, the next day, take an afternoon off, because a student is about to go nuts from trying to stay still and quiet while being overstimulated. It is those afternoons when my kids can not focus that have caused every single problem we have had in school. A public school teacher can not just say "Close the books, we'll try again, tomorrow." They are required to continue to forcefeed lessons at some prescribed pace, regardless of whether a child is actually learning, it seems.
I have been close to standing on top of the conference table and screaming at a few of the meetings, because they give me these little checklists of behavioral issues "we should work on". I can't make my kids fit their mold, no matter how many daily checklists of asinine suggestions they send home.
Sorry, I don't mean to rant at you, but this is still a hotbutton topic for us, here. Thanks for the suggestion. I am sure there are some really good ASD schools out there for people who need them, most. We mainly just need a little flexibility in our lesson routines for our kids and I am not getting much help with that in the public school. Frustrating!
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:laugh: :clap: How did I miss this the first time around?
I was feeling a little peevish and becoming annoyed at the pressures to euthanise people who aren't perfect. Calandale just happened to get in my path.
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Home schooling is a good option. Do you have any schools for children with autism in your area? They just opened one in Salt Lake - I don't know how good it is, or anything like that. But it seems like it could be another option.
That is what my daughter is attending now.
Depending on traffic, it takes about an hour and fifteen minutes for her to go there in the mornings and about an hour and a half to come home in the afternoons (and about twice as long for me), but she seems to be enjoying the school and it seems to be helping.
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I home school my cat :laugh: