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[streakybacon]

This may relate specifically to autistic children being home
educated, I'm not sure, but please bear with me.

J was deregistered just before half term and is emotionally very
unstable as a result of what went on before. I'm not fully 'de-
schooling' because his autism (Asperger's) needs routine and
structure, so I'm having to be very careful about how much activity
and interaction with others I give him at present - his ability to
cope varies greatly day to day and I need to judge him cautiously.
At present I'm giving him a lot of downtime but also giving him
regular KS2 workbooks (a page at a time) to keep him in the habit of
routine schoolwork.

But I've noticed that his work is of a much poorer standard than it
used to be. J was always a long way ahead of his peers at his
previous school, quite gifted at Maths especially and being taught in
the higher group of the year above, and achieving well. When marking
the workbooks I'm finding that he's making lots of careless mistakes
and getting rather simple calculations wrong. I don't know if this
is a) because the emotional stress he's still clearly suffering from
is affecting his thinking ability, b) his academic standard has
dropped during his time at this school, or c) this is a normal
initial response to home education. Or is it a combination of all
three? And what can I do to help him get through this difficult time?

I'd be especially interested in hearing what other Aspie parents have
experienced in the early days of home edding their children, but of
course this could be a general matter and not specifically related to
special needs so all views welcome.

Thanks for listening!