Home Schooling & Special Education

Question:
After a few months of careful consideration, I have decided to home-school my special needs child starting in September.

There are a few concerns and questions which some of you may be able to answer. I've already checked into the home-school websites and didn't quite get the input I had hoped. It doesn't appear to be very common for parents to be homeschooling their special needs children.

Anyway, do any of you know parents who are home-schooling and co-ordinating special needs support services at the same time? Are any parents doing this quite successfully?

It seems in my district, I've opened up a can of worms with this one. It is my understanding that the government provides the approved curriculum for typical children to follow. However, when one considers special education, the resource materials are child-specific and therefore not evaluated or approved. (Anything goes.)

I've decided to register my child as a homeschooler through his neighbourhood school. The district, then, I believe is still responsible for providing my child with appropriate resources.

As for support services, such as OT, PT, vision teacher, and special ed teacher, do any of you have an opinion as to how this all fits into the homeschool situation?

I've been told by the Ministry of Education- Special Education Branch, that the district may argue that they only need to provide the regular curriculum and other than that, I'm left hanging to my own devices.

As for OT, PT and Vision, our local Child Development centre is contracted by the school district to provide the services to school-age children. My private medical plan may not cover the expense if I seek the services on my own because it may be deemed as a duplication of services.

Answer:
-I think you have made a wonderful choice- I admire every parent who can homeschool their child. In that the laws are so different in your country than mine, I can only give you the basics of what is required here. My community is full of homeschoolers- (seems I am not the only one disatisfied with the education around here ) and several do have children with special needs. Those 'needs' can still be met at the school level, the services do not end simply because the parent wishes to educate their own children. You might follow the homeschool websites a bit longer, I've read them for ages and do come across parents that homeschool children with special needs.

-More and more parents in our district in NC are home schooling because the special ed program here stinks (to put it mildly). They are doing it successfully. What your school district must provide will depend on your laws, but I wish you well. I would do it in a heartbeat if I weren't a single mom with no choice but to work.