New Goals, New Page

Today we got an updated autism assessment for 'A' on it there were some clear cut recommendations on areas that need the most work. On top of that, we also had some good insight into his demonstrated 'cognitive skills'... I put quotes because I question the value of measuring intelligence and cognitive abilities based on a few select milestones, meanwhile it is common on the spectrum for children to skip milestones and move on without having actually attained the skills prior to where they are at now. I digress, this is a baseline assessment, not intended to measure strengths, only weaknesses.

my sample IEP for homeschool kindergarten

Here are some tips when assembling hands-on learning activities for your young learners:

* include two elements that are appealing.. these should be the child's 1st and 3rd senses to be triggered. I say this because a) it gets their attention right away, b) by the time frustration hits, the other element should keep them engaged for some more time, if not then guide their attention to these elements to ensure they are remaining systematic.

* include two challenging elements.. one of these should be the goal you wish to accomplish (which should be moderate on the list of tasks involved in the activity, not profoundly challenging or too basic). The other element should be a secondary function, if you can challenge the mind and the motors, engagement and retention of skill or experience at least seems to be higher.

* do NOT forget that any hands-on activity that you or a peer is present for, is also effecting their social energy, schedule your activities for when you want them to develop more work ethic. Perhaps during a hectic period of time, you want your child to function multisensory and calmly, that is a great goal, often times a good place to start is quiet, calm, and one-on-one without interruptions.

Repetition, Consistency, and Habit-forming are KEY. That being said! do not waste too much time on activities that are not working out in a positive manner, it is not worth the inevitable conclusion of burning bridges.. your child may avoid particular themed activities, or whatever factor of this experience they found the most challenging to deal when faced with their breaking point. It is not necessary for every child in every situation to be expected to persist in an activity if it is not doing them any favours on the surface that you can see through behaviour. Sometimes, myself included, we have to learn the hard way that when it comes to supporting and parenting, principle is usually more of a weapon than a solution.

Socialization and Integration

I am often asked.. don't I worry about socialization? when someone hears that I am homeschooling. The question is then repeated with a clearly more emphasis on the word 'worry' when someone hears that I am homeschooling children with autism. My answer? well of course not, No.

It's a myth that school is good for socialization

When a child is enrolled in public school, he or she is under the guidance of an adult instructor and expected to follow a set of rules set in stone, and to behave accordingly. Disrupting the learning of classmates is a serious offense. Indeed the definition of socialization is the development of group-based functional social skills, towards an end. Oddly enough, if you remember your time in public school, sans-bias its very likely you remember partaking in very little of this. In order for true socialization to occur, the rules and structure would need to be decided upon by the collective of students as a whole, socialization is the ability to navigate the challenges of working together. Most schools do not offer that opportunity. In many cases a child can successfully graduate from all levels of public education without making a single friend, saying hello to their peers, or working collaboratively at all with other classmates. If public school were the true source of development for social skills in our youth, it would not be following the structures it continues to maintain today.

Furthermore, a homeschooled child is expected through nature to participate with their instructor and any other learning partners, develop plans and advocate for themselves on their needs, or to express their needs. A one-to-one home-based educational platform regardless of ability or philosophy does require the child to adapt socially, to function on a constantly social basis of interaction. In a public school the child can zone out, or so long as they are interacting with the manipulatives handed to them, or the tools provided, they are considered to be sufficiently socialized for remaining well behaved in a classroom of 10-30 other children. Those who are struggling to remain diligently focused on their tasks, and obey the rules of socialising are said to be performing poorly.

In my experience as a mother, the friends my children were making at school lacked the social skills outside of the controlled environment to function comfortably in a socially-focused scenario. They were uninterested in their environment, and constantly waiting on adult intervention to dictate what was right or wrong. If a child is able to exist comfortably within the unrealistic confines of the classroom, how are they to expand and generalize these things to the outside world where many people work, live, and exist.

It is in my autistic child's best interest, if they are to smoothly transition into an independent living situation, to be able to maintain a job while remembering to pay their bills, maintain a healthy social life, eat well, and be diligent in all manners of self-care.. to have role models in their social environments who have the most opportunity to excel in these ways. The most socialized students are often the homeschooled students, and this intensity in naturalistic intervention is a non-intrusive, and most typical path of growth that a child with ASD can experience akin to their neurotypical peers.

There are of course exceptions to this concept, children in public school can develop good socialization skills, particularly through an intensive extracurricular schedule, through play-based learning environments, Montessori-styled early years centers, and kindergarten programs. The challenge to this however, is that they do not remedy the ill effects experienced in the containment of the mainstream classroom itself, it lends itself to putting a band-aid over it, masking it, or worse generalize the bad habits. Often times a student from a Montessori-styled program may struggle transitioning as they go up through the grades, particularly a child with ASD. Integration is of course a favoured option over segregation in most communities, however the individual child's well-being needs to be prioritized above the rest of the class when considering their personal development, needs for success and expectations. In a truly socialized classroom, the idea of independent learning plans, is a given.