hi! my name is Sarah & I live in Shelton, Wa. I live with dh Paul & ds Braxton (5 yrs) & almost dd Sarita (1 yr)... Braxton & Sarita are both dh's bio grands & 1/2 siblings...same father, different mother. They have both been in our home since birth... Braxton has Shaken baby Syndrome & Autism. He is in k & will be 6 on 6/22...He is basically non verbal & communicates by some sign & gestures. However; he has been saying a few words & really is trying to make sounds of words now, since we have had him in AIT..Sometimes, he will say something fast & trying to get him to repeat it, is not an easy task. He has been in Birth to Three program since age 6 months. Since he has started k, I have been really concerned about his class, etc. Things have happened that do not set well with us & we are seriously considering homeschooling. I have to consider what is best for my son & I am really worried about social. He does play with others at times, but I see his struggle. This area has really improved with the arrival of his sister. He is very attentative to her & her needs. Well, hope to meet some of you & get some ideas & tips on how to prepare for my journey. Sarah
Hi, Sarah! Welcome! I'm Pam. have 4 kids and hs to 2 oldest (7 and 10). This is our 2nd year to hs. I don't know much about working with autistic kids, but I'm sure you can find reasources out there.
Hi, Sarah. My name is Marylyn and I live in Houston, TX. I have two daughters: Joy will be 5 next month and Katerina (Katie) is 2.5. I'm going to be homeschooling Joy next year. She is mildly autistic and Katie is speech delayed and possibly also autistic/pdd, so I completely understand your concerns. Have you found NATHHAN's site yet? They are the "National Challenged Homeschoolers Associated Network." They help and support Christian families that are homeschooling special ed kids. I have found their site very helpful and encouraging. http://www.nathhan.com/ Joy is going to the public school's Pre-K program this year and it has been excellent for her. Her communication has blossomed and her social skills have improved dramatically. She already knew all of her letters and shapes and colors and could count to 69 when she started, so the academic part of Pre-K has been easy for her. She is now reading at almost a 1st grade level. She's in a co-teach class this year, which means there is a "regular" teacher, a special-ed teacher, and an aide in her room all day so she gets lots of attention. She is definitely not ready to go to kindergarten next year, so her teachers and the developmental people would like her to repeat Pre-K next year. She would go into a regular classroom with no special ed at all, which would help her be a little more independent and would get her ready for the transitions she would have to make in "big" school. However, since we have been planning on homeschool her as soon as she is ready, anyway, and she obviously doesn't really need the special ed developmentally any more, we really aren't interested in putting her back in Pre-K. Yayyy! I'm very excited about getting started homeschooling. Here in Houston, anyway, we would have to hide in a cave to keep the kids from social contact. There are several homeschool groups that have coop classes and do different activities in our part of the city and our church's Ladies' Bible study has a class for them on Tuesday morning, too. This year they studied missions, which incorporated geography and social studies about the different countries as well as about the specific missionaries that our church supports in those areas, and learned Spanish. The younger kids (K-2) went to the church library for story time and the older kids (3-6) met with one of our pastors for a Bible study. It's a really neat program and I'm so excited that Joy gets to go next year!! Katie will be going into the preschool program at the Bible study next year and it will be interesting to see how she does. Joy's speech really started taking off right about the time she turned 3, so I'm hoping Katie's will, too, and she will be talking more by the time Bible starts up again in September. All of that to say... I don't know if you are in a big town or a little one, but look around for opportunities for your children to be around other kids. Story time at your library or arts & craft activities at your state/city parks... Do you go to a church with other homeschool families? Maybe they will have good ideas of group things to do. www.HSLDA.org (Homeschool Legal Defense Association - join BEFORE you take Braxton out of the school district!) has a list of different homeschooling organizations all over the country on their site. You might click on Washington and see what is going on in your area. They have a list of each state's requirements, too, which is very helpful. They also have a really good section about homeschooling special ed students. I hope all of that helps. I didn't mean to go on so long.. Maybe we can help encourage each other as we get started with this next year! God's great blessings on you and your husband for taking on these little ones, ~ Marylyn
Thanks a lot Pam... I am so excited about this site. AZ Teachers is really great too. It seems like this is where teachers, parents encourage one another.. Sarah
Marilyn.. Thanks for the great information. I'ld love to stay in contact with you. Your kids sound great! I bet Joy os a JOY! I don't know what Braxton knows academically, but he has shown he knows some numbers & alphabet. Sometimes he'll respond when I ask him & other times he will not. When Braxton was shaken, the speech side of his brain was injured. He had 4 brain bruises by 3 months of age. When looking at anything with words, he always turn it the right way to read & when looking at videos, same thing & he always looks like he is reading about them on the back of the box...All his learning videos, etc are on close captioning & I have done karaoke with him since he was 3 yrs old. In May 2004, his understanding was on the level of a 7 to 9 month old. He now understands a lot & is able to follow instructions. It always surprises us at what he can understand & what he cannot. I have told the school teacher I could care less about academics at this time. What I care about is communication. If he learns to communicate, he can get along in life whether he knows academics or not...He does play with others, but at times he just watches like he is not sure how to join in. His teacher says recess is their own time & she won't help him to join in with others. She has 9 students & 6 are autistic & she has 3 paras. I don't understand it./ She has acted like she knows all about what is best for autistics, etc. He has no contact with normally developing kids & he should have. In pre k, he learned leeps & bounds. Now, we get a lot of bad behaviour. Then in Dec., we had an incident which really upset us. My dh saw an aide pull Brax, while he was sitting on floor, forward & down till his head was touching floor & held it there for 1 minute. Why? Because twice, he refused the block she was trying to give him...Now, we have special rules, etc. They are trying to keep us from looking into the class window to see how he does with others, etc.....Anyway, enough said (my b/p is going up again. We live in a small town, but they have things going on at library quite often. I have been getting resources together & during the summer, I'll give it a try...I amy get it to where he can go to a few classes at the school such as art & music... Let's do keep in touch. Feel free to email me... Sarah
Sarah, Welcome glad you can join us. You sound like a wonderful caring mother. Wish you luck in your homeschooling.
Hello, Sarah! Welcome! I'm Jackie. I'm homeschooling three...dd11, dd9, and ds6 in Ohio. When I read your orignal post, I thought of Marilyn and Joy (who, I might add, is aptly named!), so I was glad she jumped in! Also, Deena is our Washington State "person"!
ABall, Leslie, Kris & jackie.. Thanks so much! Nice to meet you all... I am sure I'll be talking again to you. I am getting ready to go on vacation & will return on next Monday. Have a great week, you all.. Sarah
Hi Sara! I am teaching my 8 year old dd, Olivia, and my 6 year old son, Aaron. I also have a 11 month old named Alyssa. I am so glad you are here! I don't know much about your sitiuation but I can say....trust yourself. No one loves him or knows him better, so if you think he needs to be home, then I think you ought to give it a try.
Oh, Sarah.. That gets MY bp up! I can imagine what it does to yours! I'd love to keep in touch with you, too. I'll e-mail you now. Have a great vacation!! ~ Marylyn
Thanks AvaRose...I am trusting my instincts. Thanks Chrystal. What an adorable child! Looks so cute in santa suit. When we adopted Braxton, he was dressed like that since it was December.. Thanks Kris Tx Thanks Hoosier Mama.. THANKS TO EVERYONE
Sarah, I can't believe that is how they punish a child. No child deserves to have his head held to the floor. Your the parent and go with your gut feelings. You sound like you really love him and work hard with him. Go girl!!!! God made Braxton and he is special because God wanted him that way. Be proud of him. Love ya, Lorna
Hi Lorna! Well, here is the latest update. Had a meeting w/school on Braxton's re-evaluation.. As of right now, the issue has not been resolved. I continue to ask for the list of positive supports, strategies & approaches that were dicussed by pros & agreed upon. I finally got a list of approaches from the principal. They were as follows: 1) Have the student miss a turn 2) move the compliant students forward, leaving the non compliant student in place. 3) Have the non compliant student move back 4) redirect the student to a different activity 5) seek assistance from the teacher.. I called him & said "Surely this isn't done by pros. These are standard approaches for all schools." There is a lot of hem hawing around & once again I stated "I have till June to file a complaint with OCR". I finally told him "Lets not beat around the bush. The fact is that one of your para's physically abused my son & there was no reason for it. I feel like you guys are trying to say he is a problem child & that is not true." So, we'll see. The IEP is coming up on Monday & all of a sudden they are willing to do as we asked them two years ago & that was to change his qualifying staement to Autism & Traumatic Brain Injury.. My husband & I are taking the homeschool qualifying course the first of June though & I do not know what is going to happen yet. I think they will get sick of the word POSITIVE lol...I am going with it, but still trying to have 'finesse' which really sucks at times. But I want a win situation for Braxton. Love ya Sarah
