Beyond Homeschooling Autism

Every Friday, Jackson asks to drive through a quiet little neighborhood near our house. So on the way home from our daily errands, I indulge this inexplicable whim of his, and turn into Sleepy Hollow Woods and slowly drive around the hilly streets that make a nice loop back to the main road.  It takes all of 5 minutes, but it gives him so much pleasure, that I never mind our weekly detour. This morning, however, my heart was heavy with worry.  I have not been feeling well lately and have become consumed with fear that it is more than just a seasonal bug or a passing inconvenience.  As the mother of an autistic child, my biggest fear is dying young and leaving him alone in this often cruel and harsh world that does not seem to be getting any better in terms of special needs care and acceptance.  Paul and I both struggle with this issue, as all parents of autism do.  It is rarely talked about, since the day to day issues can be so overwhelming...so we push this ...

Three months after Jackson was diagnosed with autism in October of 2001, I took him to a pediatric developmental specialist who recommended a biomedical treatment program that included dietary changes and nutritional supplementation.  It has been exactly 10 years since we started these treatments, and they have had a profound effect on his health and development.  I strongly recommend biomedical interventions for any and all health issues and have personally seen dramatic improvements in people of all ages.  Each member of my family has their own personalized dietary and nutritional programs based on our unique health needs and it has been transformational in all areas of our life.  I have asked a longtime friend of mine to write this weeks blog on her personal experiences with the impact of these programs in her life.  As a disclaimer, I do not use any of the products she is discussing nor am I endorsing any particular program.  But I do love and admire...

I have been asked a lot lately, in reference to homeschooling Jackson, "How do you do it?" Usually, I just shrug and say, "I don't know. I just do it."  But I got to thinking about that question and had a bit of an epiphany as a result. Homeschooling is not common where I live. People in the Falls Church area of Fairfax County, Virginia take a lot of pride in how great the public school system is here in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.  Most families, in my immediate community of Sleepy Hollow, are run by parents who both have college degrees and often advanced education as well.  Homeschooling is just not considered necessary or even practical.  I wouldn't say it is frowned upon, just not given much thought as a desirable alternative. To add to that, families from all of the world move to this area to get public educational services for their special needs children because of the high quality and diversity of offerings.  It really is an amazing educat...

It is Saturday, March 10th 2012 and 13 years ago today, I woke up to a very different life. Shockingly, I didn't drink coffee or wine.  I was organized and disciplined.  I was ideological and judgmental.  I had never heard of Osama Bin Laden, iPhones or autism.  If someone had told me what 2012 would be like, I would have laughed and said, "you left out the flying cars!" March 10th, 1999  Kitzingen, Germany I woke up at the crack of dawn because I hadn't been able to sleep in weeks.  I was 40 weeks pregnant and tired.  We lived in a tiny government issued, war-time apartment in a beautiful small town in northern Bavaria.   Paul's first assignment with the Army was in Germany and we were so young, but so wide-eyed and excited to be on this new adventure together. Although we had no family within 3000 miles, we had friends, many of whom have come to be our dearest in the world...Kathleen, Dan, Shauna & Stacey. Jackson was born at 4...

A lot of people having been asking me lately how I manage to get everything done now that I am homeschooling Jackson.  I think those closest to me worry that I have taken on too much and it will negatively impact me on a variety of levels. Prior to pulling him out of public school around Halloween, I was substitute teaching on a regular basis and/or part-time teaching reading, but did have plenty of free days as well.  Now that I have J home everyday, I have rearranged a few things, but have found a nice rhythm that seems to meet all our needs, without adding unnecessary stress. So please don't worry about me - I have the best life and find plenty of time to take care of myself:) I thought I'd write up schedule for a typical day for me and give you a behind the scenes look at how I keep it all running relatively smoothly and keep my sanity as well.  I found this blog entitled "What Kind of Mom are You?" and it is awesome! I am definitely a "Rountine Lover...

Math has always come easily to Jackson.  He is not a numbers genius or anything, in fact, I find it offensive that some people think all kids with autism have some weird super-math brain.  He is just a like any other kid with a normal aptitude for math, but since he struggles so profoundly with language-based subjects, he excels in math by comparison. However, teaching math to Jackson has not always come easily.  Traditional classroom educators relay so heavily on verbal instruction that any student who struggles with audio-processing is going to get frustrated very easily.  I found this to be true with Jackson during our first month of homeschooling. When we pulled him out of Poe Middle School, after 8 weeks of being there, he had done "zero academic work".  So I had to go all the way back to May of 2011 to get a sense of where to start with him.  I decided to start him at the beginning of 3rd grade math just to sort out his strengths and weaknesses....

Caroline was home sick last Friday.  Ever since she has been begging me to homeschool her.  As a way to defer these irritating pleas, I told her to write me an essay detailing why she wanted to be homeschooled. I told her it was due by the end of the week and that we were not to speak about it again until then. She gave it to Paul and I last night.  I asked her if I could share it with you all because I think it offers an honest look at a traditional school environment from a 4th graders perspective.  It does not compel me to homeschool her at this point, but it does give me insight into the type of education she craves and makes me ask myself if I could provide that for her someday. I think I should be homeschooled for many reasons, but I'm going to limit it to only four. If you homeschool me, I wouldn't be late to school everyday.  We wouldn't need to rush to school, giving me three pieces of cereal for breakfast.  I could actually take my time, eat ...