Special Kids And Home Schooling Programe

[D Riana]

salam

hi...i'm starting this topic coz i'm about to start this homeschooling programe to my lovely dear authistic daughter. she's 5 years old now. we've tried to take her to formal school, but it wasnt very effective due to her learning disabilities.

right now i'm interested to applying this homeschooling programe to her, coz it seems to be more appropriate for her right now. i need to add my knowledgement about home schooling. so it would be great if there's anyone here who had been homeschooled or is being homeschooled now, would love to share the experience with me.

thank u :)

Edited October 2, 2007 by D Riana

[dingdong]

Homeschooling is great. I guess it is the way Islam has told us to live. The mother is supposedly the best teacher. The no of homeschoolers in the USA rose from around 300000 to about 1.2 mil in the last 10 years AFAIK. Normally homeschooled kids turn out to be better academically because they learn at their ow pace, not too slow or too fast. They get one to one attention. If you search google for home schooling, you should find amny useful links and organizations and cirriculums etc. Check them out.

[~Muslima~]

^ I don't really agree, if you home school your child they won't have a social life, and that can be very important in terms of their future. Sometimes the children don't get taught as much as they would have at school. Altogether they gain more experience when in school.

Since she is in kindergarten right now, atleast I think she is...i think you should let her go because kindergarten is really the only school life where you get to mess around and do nothing.

Wish you all the best :)

[postmaster1923]

Salam alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh

My son is autistic too, but the schools here have been absolutely wonderful. He barely talked at all, until he started kindergarten. It is very difficult to keep him focused on his school work, and he has an aide who stays near him all day, but most of the time he is in the regular classroom, and is able to keep up with his class academically. He is pulled out of class for extra help in math, and he goes to the special education classroom for "movement breaks" throughout the day.

First, if your daughter is developing, but is behind her age group, it may be wise to delay her start of school for a year, but if her academic skills are pretty age-appropriate, and her emotional and social developmental level is well behind her age, there is probably not much benefit to delaying the start of school, in my opinion.

Home schooling might be a good option for a severely affected autistic child, who becomes too agitated by social stimulation to be able to effectively learn, but for a more mildly affected child, it is probably a good thing to put her in an environment where she can learn how to interact with other children her own age. An option that might be worth considering is to provide a classroom aide for your daughter, to help her stay on task and to transition to different tasks throughout the school day. That way, she gets the assistance she needs, and she also has the opportunity to learn from other people. If you want to provide extra material to help her learn academic subjects, I've noticed that many autistic children learn really well from computer software and videos. (You will have to very carefully censor what they watch outside of "learning time" too. My son has recently picked up some colorful new vocabulary from what I expected to be a children's' movie.)

I'm an advocate of homeschooling for some children, but I think you need to consider very carefully that your autistic child will not reach out to others on her own. She needs to be pushed, just a little bit, to develop friendships, and the schools can do that.

May Allah guide and bless you and your family, and especially your sweet special daughter.

[postmaster1923]

As you probably know, autistic children need a very consistent routine. It helps many children to have a picture schedule, so they can know what to expect next, even before they are able to read. You can do this at home, or you can talk with the school about implementing a picture schedule in the classroom. My son had a requirement of a picture schedule on his special education plan, but the rest of the children in his class also appreciated the schedule, which was posted in a visible location in the classroom.

[dingdong]

Social life? LOL I would prefer to not have a social life than get kids bullied in school, taught sex at a tender age etc etc. By the way, for a better and healthier social life, go to a mosque, get involved there, go for the Sunday classes thing, join a club for some sports etc etc. There are many options. Secondly the child will see the same kids EVERYDAY at school and occasionally meet new folk. I dont think the social life thing is a problem. If you want, you can send off your kids for a 'break' by sending them to school for one year in like five so that they get the classroom environment too.

[dingdong]

BTW whats autistic?

[Batool]

(salam) sister,

One of my sons is autistic and we had a home teaching programme for him for 4 years when he was 2 years old upto 6. The reason we really needed to this for him was because he was quite severely autisitc and couldn't cope with being at a mainstream school and wasn't recieving any specialist teaching from the nursery schooling available to him. Sis we had to think hard about his sepcific needs and do alot of research about the various homeschooling porgrammes for autistic children, and also keep ourselves aware of what schools had to offer.

His home programme was very intensive (ABA) and it taught him to 'learn' more than anything else. It taught him to grasp the need to use language in order to understand and be understood. This was important becuase although it was possible to make him 'talk', he was basically just immitating sounds rather than using language as a tool. Even now at 12, he only speaks when he really needs to but without that initial teaching I think he would have had much less understanding of language and probably have been more dependant on visual aids ( which he still uses to some extent).

After the four years we were very fortunate to find a superb special school, which was willing to take my views seriously and had an impressive record with their work with autistic children.

Homeschooling was needed in my sons case for some years and then he was ready to move onto school where he still learns better one to one or in small groups. The home schooling was very expensive though and we had to fight for funding and also deal with other issues such as seeking staff to implement a type of teaching that was unheard of at the time. I also know for a fact that not all types of teaching are suitable for all children, some are just devestatingly expensive and some in my opinion have very little value and might be exploiting parents' desperation to do something for their child, so sis research ( involves talking to other parents most importantly) and identifying your child's and your families needs and resources are imperitive. Sis for homeschooling you will have to consider the financial implications, whether funding is available or not, the impact it might have on your family, the type of teaching in relation to how your child learns best. I felt that schools also needed to be checked by making several visits and asking about issues that will directly effect your child, such as HOW they teach , staff/child ratio in class, their strategies for dealing with difficult behaviours, other therapies available..e.t.c

Since being at school, Yousuf doesnt receive intensive teaching as he did at home but his social development and his overall enjoyment make up for this. I'm very lucky, his recent transtition to highschool has been smooth and the school once again has been brilliant, Alhamdulillah.

Take care sis, may Allah bless and assist your family, InshaAllah once your happy with a type of schooling and she settles into it you should see vast improvements and be able to relax a little.

ws

Edited October 2, 2007 by Ishq-e-Batool

[dingdong]

WHATS autistic?

[akhtarkazmi]

(salam) sister, good luck for ur kid and for u. my eldest son Abu Turab is also having mild autsim but i am not sure about it as here in Pakistan there is no source or doctor that can tell me about this. I would appreciate if u could guid me about autisim. I will tell u about my kid and would like ur openion.

Allah Hafiz

Akhtar Kazmi

salam

hi...i'm starting this topic coz i'm about to start this homeschooling programe to my lovely dear authistic daughter. she's 5 years old now. we've tried to take her to formal school, but it wasnt very effective due to her learning disabilities.

right now i'm interested to applying this homeschooling programe to her, coz it seems to be more appropriate for her right now. i need to add my knowledgement about home schooling. so it would be great if there's anyone here who had been homeschooled or is being homeschooled now, would love to share the experience with me.

thank u :)

[dingdong]

WHAT IS AN AUTISTIC? PLZ TELL ME!!!!!

[postmaster1923]

WHAT IS AN AUTISTIC? PLZ TELL ME!!!!!

Brother, autism is a developmental delay, in which the person has great difficulty understanding social cues, language, and interactions with other people. It ranges from the most mild, which is most often diagnosed as Asperger Syndrome or Pervasive Developmental Disorder, and is often imperceptible to outsiders, to the most severe, which causes the individual to need assistance in the most basic social and interactive tasks. Autistic individuals have a normal range of intelligences, but in the past have often been misdiagnosed as "insane" or "retarded" because they have difficulty in communication and display some unusual mannerisms and repetitive behaviors.

Here is a very basic web site where you can learn more: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publication...blication.shtml

You can learn a lot from a Google search too.

[dingdong]

^Hey thanks that was a relief. umm how can I diagnose if I have autisticism? Secondly my friend had this problem, his left and right lobe of his brain were not connected so normally he was given 15 mins extra in exams. What is it called?

[keys2paradise]

^Hey thanks that was a relief. umm how can I diagnose if I have autisticism? Secondly my friend had this problem, his left and right lobe of his brain were not connected so normally he was given 15 mins extra in exams. What is it called?

Dyslexia? If so that's different from autism and not related to any kind of disconnection between the 2 hemispheres of the brain.

[dingdong]

Well thats what I was told when I questioned the partialtiy :) that his brain wasnt connected. What does autism and that brainy thing feel like?

[postmaster1923]

^I don't know anything about disconnect between right and left brain hemispheres, but if you want to know what autism "feels like", there is a book called Born on a Blue Day, by Daniel Tammet, an autistic savant. (Warning, there are some un-Islamic situations in the book.) It gives a good insight into how HE feels, and can provide some understanding of how another autistic person might feel, though we all are individuals.

Have you ever been asked how does it feel to be you? How does it feel to have blue eyes? How does it feel to be a boy? :wacko:

[dingdong]

^Oh ok so its something u cant tell LOL sry.

If I dont get exposed to evil, I wont be able to recognize it and thats bad and useless so I dont mind the UNIslamic situations.

I can explain how it feels to be a boy!:

U cant understand y girls start crying at everything and anything

U have a lot of energy and strength

U feel energetic

U feel idiotic and awkward in the presence of females

U feel like flying all over the place and dont want to stay in one place (maybe thats just me)

etc etc OK I admit it that its hard to tell.

[Bonafide Hustler]

If you are in teh west, definitely send ur kid to school, forget academics, its the other social things that a child learns while in school interacting with all types of other people that build really important life skills

sure people argue u can learn much more at home, but thats not the ppoint, sure u could laern more academically speaking, but I think the main point of school is to teach a kid how to interac and live amongts others in this world

sometimes school is tough, kids do get bullied, are exposed to bad htings, but alot of times this is exactly what they need, they need to go through the ups and downs in life, this is sometimes the best way to learn and in the end with proper parental support, the kid is better prepared to face the world then he or she would have been if it was home schooled and isolated from alot of activities other kids experience in thier childhood.

[dingdong]

^I woudnt be surprised if the kids get diabetes in childhood. Its a serious problem and yes kids r getting diabetes now. I would thank my mom if she hadnt sent me off to school.

[Bonafide Hustler]

plus, usually speaking, childhood is also sometimes the best time of a persons life, the freindships the expereinces formed in school last a lifetime

it also helps to be able to relate to others through school and past memories when you are grown up living in the real world

if i had to relive my life again, i would never ever choose homeschooling, id def go relive the times in school, and freindships formed in school last a lifetime

[dingdong]

I am sure ppl werent outcasts in the old days when there were no schools. Skool SUX!

[Bonafide Hustler]

if there wsnt skoool, there wsa some other system in place to create a social environtment of learning, not just academics, but people did interact

sure ur theory would work out well if all the kids were homeskooled and still interacted with others

but since most kids goto public skooo, the ones that are homeskooled are at times outcasteed cuz they are a minority

in the time u are refering to, this wasnt the case

[D Riana]

wow...

hmmm...

there's still many things to be considerated i guess..

well school...

my school days were great. it's just, i kinda always had the feel that there's something wrong with the classic model school. i mean...the idea of the teacher is the only source for a subject in particular...i thought and still thinking that had made such a restriction...meanwhile in homeschooling (this what i've heard)..children can freely choose who'll the one to teach them any subject which they love to learn...so with that circumstance, children will be more pay attention to the subject.

still doin some research here..wish me luck ;)

[D Riana]

If you are in teh west, definitely send ur kid to school, forget academics, its the other social things that a child learns while in school interacting with all types of other people that build really important life skills

sure people argue u can learn much more at home, but thats not the ppoint, sure u could laern more academically speaking, but I think the main point of school is to teach a kid how to interac and live amongts others in this world

sometimes school is tough, kids do get bullied, are exposed to bad htings, but alot of times this is exactly what they need, they need to go through the ups and downs in life, this is sometimes the best way to learn and in the end with proper parental support, the kid is better prepared to face the world then he or she would have been if it was home schooled and isolated from alot of activities other kids experience in thier childhood.

i knew that, i've heard that before..

if normal kids can get bullied...welll..how about the abnormal one??

many parents with special kids told me that it's pretty common that their children sometimes got bullied in their school...even the one who already had "shadow teacher". shadow tacher is a teacher who's been hired to guide the special kids in school...

that fact, made me think twice before i decide would i ever send my special kid to school..

but like i said, i'm still doin some research..wish me luck :D

[postmaster1923]

^Its very important that you have good communication with your child's "shadow teacher". They have the authority to prevent bullying, and they are supposed to be with the child at all times. (My son's "shadow teacher" is called an "aide".) If the aide has to leave the child for a few minutes, they are supposed to get another responsible adult to stand in for them, so that the child always has the full attention of a trained and responsible adult.

My son has not been bullied at school - only at the Islamic center - the bullying at the Islamic center is the main reason we stopped going so many years ago.

[bonjer_gal]

find out the testimonial from the homeschoolers in:

http://www.youtube.com/groups_videos?name=homeschooliscool

enjoy! ^_^

Edited November 22, 2007 by bonjer_gal

[mmm]

Well thats what I was told when I questioned the partialtiy :) that his brain wasnt connected. What does autism and that brainy thing feel like?

Your a prime example of why i would not have my kids homeschooled unless they really need it.

[bonjer_gal]

^.

My son has not been bullied at school - only at the Islamic center - the bullying at the Islamic center is the main reason we stopped going so many years ago.

well that is so sad sis..

yeah..i think people r usually scared of something they dont understand, arent they? :angry:

Edited November 23, 2007 by bonjer_gal

[Madre de Zahra]

bump

[adore2lights]

^lol