Is homeschooling your special needs child a mission impossible?

Deciding to homeschool can be a daunting task. There are just so many questions to ask! However, deciding to homeschool your special needs child can be even more intimidating. Nevertheless, with support and faith, homeschooling can be done. In fact, many voices (including your own) may be whispering that homeschooling special needs children is foolhardy at best, and downright abusive at worst! I am here to tell you that wish I had homeschooled my children sooner! We were able to study at our own pace. To cover and recover areas of struggle, follow rabbit trails of interest, and take breaks when the need arose.

My first step was to learn how my children learned. We hear it all the time in the homeschool realm: learning styles. But what if the difficulty was compounded by a learning deficit, and if this deficit caused a developmental delay? I truly understand where you’re coming from, but the more pressing question is this: Is your child’s foundation solid?

If there are struggles in arithmetic or reading, then the child most likely missed a developmental milestone. The key then is not to forge ahead in the correct learning style, but to retrace steps to find the missing ingredient. This, after all, is why we homeschool. It is the most splendid inclusion! We form a support around our children as they learn. This is called scaffolding and is based on the human development theories of Lev Vygotsky. He described scaffolding as an adult (parent and/or teacher) supporting the child by first demonstrating, then later only assisting in, an endeavor that leads to mastery.

This concept demands investment, which is nothing new to most parents of special needs children; however, it bears repeating again because so often we feel ineffective. We parents of special needs children also have a heightened concern about socialization. Not only that our children will just have friends, but that they will know how to behave in public. Knowing what is appropriate and inappropriate to say in public, indeed, is important, but even knowing who and what the word “public” means can be a challenge.

Depending on the child’s need, the parents’ exhaustion can be a real concern, yet I encourage you to bring your child home! Why? An article by Dr. Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) concluded that when special needs children are homeschooled, they achieve more. This was certainly true in my circumstances. Upon graduation from high school my one daughter tested at a fifth-grade reading level. Please understand the tremendous achievement in that statement as this daughter struggles with dyslexia. We made steady but slow progress.

I can affirm that God prepares us as we go. In our addressing foundation issues then finding ways to maximize learning through different styles – visual or audio, kinesthetic or tactile, or maybe a mix of all the above - God gave little snippets of bliss along the way. The dividends were amazing. When I look at my now grown daughters, I am amazed at how God orchestrated His design in their lives. Through the struggles of learning, they have become confident and willing to persevere. It reminds me of this truth, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (II Cor. 12:9 NIV). Bringing home your special needs child will transform both you, as the parent, and your child.