Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsThe SettingBenefitsMaking a DecisionHelpful ResourcesChallenges and OpportunitiesTips for StartingA Word From Verywell
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
The Setting
Benefits
Making a Decision
Helpful Resources
Challenges and Opportunities
Tips for Starting
A Word From Verywell
There’s a well-known saying that goes: “if you’ve met one autistic child, you’ve met one autistic child.” In other words, every autistic child is unique, and their set of autistic traits, support needs, and strengths are different. That can make it surprisingly difficult for school districts attempting to create autism support programs, classrooms, or training programs.
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You may find that your district is unable to provide the services the child in your care needs. When that happens, you may want to consider the possibility of homeschooling, at least for a period of time.
Schools are required to provide free and appropriate education to all children, with goals and accommodations in place to help each child learn in the least restrictive setting. In theory, you’d think that every child should receive an ideal, personalized educational experience designed to help them achieve at their highest potential. The reality, however, is often quite different from theory.
There are many reasons whypublic(or evenprivate) school may not be the right setting for a particular child at a particular point in their development.
If you are a guardian who has the time, energy, money, and inclination to homeschool (and those are a lot of “ifs”) and you happen to live in a homeschool-friendly state, homeschooling can be a terrific option for your autistic child. Here are just some of the benefits:
Targeted Learning:Guardians can target learning directly to their child’s interests and strengths while finding appropriate ways to help work on their academic challenges. For example, a child who loves trains can use trains to learn how to do math, read, draw, pretend, and explore the community. Guardians can also develop or find visual, video-based, or hands-on learning tools to support a child’s learning style.
Targeted Support:Parents and guardians can support a child appropriately in a much wider array of community settings, carefully selecting the right time and place. For example, a child might enjoy and learn from a library program if a guardian is on the spot to help them regulate their emotions and help their child learn to find and check out favorite books.
Tailored Experiences:Guardians can seek out appropriate experiences for their child. Swim classes at the YMCA, Challenger League basketball, local video opportunities, nature hikes, museum visits, trips to the playground, and much more, can be accessed with the right preparation and support. In some cases, guardians can plan to introduce new settings slowly, and prepare to leave whenever a child is ready.
Specific Talent Development:Your autistic child might have one or more areas that they excel in, and guardians can support those talents in a way that schools might not through (for example) art or dance classes, music lessons, computer clubs, etc.
Greater Therapy Opportunities:Some autistic children are likely to do better with therapies (or therapists) not available through the schools.Play therapy,art therapy, and many other therapies are rarely provided in school settings.
Community Connections:In some communities, guardians can seek out homeschooling or neurodivergent/disability groups, Scout troops, or other organizations where their children can find social outlets. By meeting other guardians and children, they can facilitate social interaction and growth.
Improved Learning Environment:It’s far easier for homeschooling guardians to create anautism-friendlylearning environment with natural and incandescent light, lower noise levels, a slower pace, more breaks, and shorter class sessions.
If you choose to homeschool your autistic kiddo, you’ll be joining a growing group of families with the same idea. Homeschooling, however, is not for everyone—and while it may be a good choice for a particular stretch of time, it might not work for the long term. Homeschooling may be the right option for a family if:
If you don’t agree with any of these statements, homeschooling could be a poor choice unless it’s a last resort in an extremely difficult situation.
If you decide to homeschool an autistic child, you’re not alone and you do have quite a few resources at your disposal. In fact, depending on where you live, you could have more resources than you could possibly use.
Books and Blogs:Conduct an online search for “homeschooling” and “autistic or autism” and you’ll find entire books and ongoing blogs describing techniques, curricula, teaching styles, discipline styles, socialization ideas, support groups, and much more.
District Resources:Even if a child is no longer in the district schools, the district still has a responsibility for a child (and there’s a decent chance they’ll return to district schools at some point). Before pulling a child out of school (or as soon thereafter as possible), start discussions with your district about available resources. Depending on your needs and preferences and a child’s strengths, you may be able to access therapists, specific classes (such as art or gym), afterschool programs, or extracurricular activities for a child.
Recreational and Social Disability Programs:Many areas have autism-related groups that run afterschool programs. Most areas haveChallenger Leagueclubs,Best Buddies,Easterseals,ARC, or other organizations that run activities, social groups, support groups, outings, and more. Some museums, theaters, and even stores offer autism-friendly hours or events. Dig deeply, as there are often “hidden” programs that welcome children with disabilities—but you have to ask around to find them.
Online Options:There is an unending range of educational tools available online. Use them, but not to the exclusion of real-world interactions which are key to a child’s learning. Depending on a child’s abilities and interests, you can combine online courses with real-world learning, or make use of videos and games to help a child grasp concepts.
Often, parents homeschool their autistic children because institutional settings like a school weren’t created with neurodivergent people in mind. While having your child home can alleviate some of the challenges, if you are a neurotypical and non-disabled parent, you will nevertheless have to fully accept the reality that your autistic child:
If you are not autistic yourself and have not done the work to learn about neurodiversity, what autism truly is, how autistic people’s brains works, why your child responds a certain way to some things, etc, you will have to begin that process of learning.
Autistic people, including autistic children, are not impossible to understand. You only need to build up your muscles around neurodiversity, and allow your child (plus the stories of actually autistic people) guide your expectations of who your child is and can be. It will be impossible to have a healthy relationship with an autistic child if you expect them to notbe autistic.
Once a child is allowed to focus on topics and disciplines of real interest in an accepting setting, their academic skills may expand rapidly. And when you are able to cherry-pick inclusive experiences and support a child as needed, you may be amazed at their “hidden” abilities.
Autistic children can be challenging students when you hold them to allistic standards. Autistic children with behavioral issues may be even more challenging. However, none of these issues are inherent to your child. Before getting started, you’ll want to have a clear plan, support, and tools set up and ready to go. Various therapies can be helpful or unnecessary for your child, and it is important to do proper research on thesafety and efficacy of various therapies.
Some homeschoolers strongly advocate very loose, unstructured programs and “unschooling” as a great way for children to explore their own interests. This may work for some kids, but it is extremely unlikely to work for an autistic child.
Autistic kids can become very upset and experience emotionally dysregulation when routines are broken; they may also be likely to spend unstructured time on a favored activity such as organizing their toys or consuming their favorite media.
Here are some tips for getting started.
Get Organized:Line up your ducks in a row before you get underway. Remember that autistic kids find it difficult to go with the flow, and are likely to do best in a structured situation. Know which educational tools you’ll use, and have them ready. Know what, if any, therapies you’ll be providing, and how and when they’ll be provided. If you’re going out into the community, make plans. If you think you’ll need support or respite, line it up before you start feeling overwhelmed.
Start Slow:Line up a structured day, but don’t overwhelm yourself or a child with hours and hours of academic or therapeutic activity. When you’re working 1:1, a little goes a long way—and a trip to the playground, library, or park can certainly be built into your school day.
Consider a Child’s Learning Style:Most, but not all, autistic children learn best through a combination of direct instruction, visual and interactive learning, and hands-on experience. Many need a great deal of repetition and practice to master a concept or process. Some do well on computers while others are hands-on learners. Most do best when they know what’s coming next. Spend some time observing a child, experiment, and stick with the learning tools that work best.
Include Academic and Social Teaching:All too often, schools neglect either academic orsocial teachingwhen working with autistic children. You’ll want to include both, designing each “program” to fit a child’s specific strengths, challenges, and interests. That may mean making playdates, joining groups, or getting involved in teams, organizations, social groups, etc.
The best bet, depending on circumstances, is to address your child’s neurodivergence ahead of time; if the organizer or instructor is very nervous about an autistic child, it’s best to avoid getting involved. Otherwise, consider finding an instructor who is more experienced with autistic children or “shadowing” the child in your care as needed.
A Word From Verywell
Homeschooling is a time- and energy-intensive business that requires a great deal of patience and a certain degree of isolation from adult activities and interests. In addition, depending on circumstances, it can be expensive. As a result, many decide it’s not a good option for them. If you’re less than enthusiastic about homeschooling an autistic child, there are many in-between options available. Just taking some time to engage with a child through play can make a real difference in their life. Bear in mind that the happiness and stability of the whole family will play an important role in ensuring an autistic child’s best outcomes.
2 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.U.S. Department of Education.A guide to the Individualized Education Program. August 30, 2019.López-Nieto L, Compañ-Gabucio LM, Torres-Collado L, Garcia-de la Hera M.Scoping review on play-based interventions in autism spectrum disorder.Children (Basel). 2022;9(9):1355. Published 2022 Sep 5. doi:10.3390/children9091355
2 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.U.S. Department of Education.A guide to the Individualized Education Program. August 30, 2019.López-Nieto L, Compañ-Gabucio LM, Torres-Collado L, Garcia-de la Hera M.Scoping review on play-based interventions in autism spectrum disorder.Children (Basel). 2022;9(9):1355. Published 2022 Sep 5. doi:10.3390/children9091355
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
U.S. Department of Education.A guide to the Individualized Education Program. August 30, 2019.López-Nieto L, Compañ-Gabucio LM, Torres-Collado L, Garcia-de la Hera M.Scoping review on play-based interventions in autism spectrum disorder.Children (Basel). 2022;9(9):1355. Published 2022 Sep 5. doi:10.3390/children9091355
U.S. Department of Education.A guide to the Individualized Education Program. August 30, 2019.
López-Nieto L, Compañ-Gabucio LM, Torres-Collado L, Garcia-de la Hera M.Scoping review on play-based interventions in autism spectrum disorder.Children (Basel). 2022;9(9):1355. Published 2022 Sep 5. doi:10.3390/children9091355
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