Reality of he an autistic 12 year old??

[NameMyyyee3333]

Hi , my daughter is (12 years old) in year 8 in school and is autistic with an official diagnosis she’s finding school very hard and is suffering mentally and having daily panic attacks and now feeling suicidal
She wants to be homeschooled but I’m so overwhelmed with the thought can anyone point us in any direction please 🙏
My worries are costs?
Exams?
Finding the time and not falling her as she’s quite bright and rather talented in certain subjects! Like would we be enough
Can any year 8-9 parents (age12-13) be kind enough to share like a daily or weekly plan roughy of what you would do so I can get some kind of idea and if you pay for tutoring etc what it costs? I’d really be so grateful 🙏

Can you afford online school instead as a half /half option? I don’t blame you for not wanting to home school, it’s a lot for someone who’s never taught. My friends daughter goes to this online school and is doing extremely well…
kingsinterhigh.co.uk/contact/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=15208118371&utm_content=%7Badid%7D&utm_term=kings%20high%20online%20school&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=15208118371&gbraid=0AAAAAD_SX2BMg5uM1U9_gPjctm-iPDkTp&gclid=CjwKCAjwrbfWBhAeEiwAc2e6Pjsf8bD6fiEBBU5HThNd1iz1lXpXR3oo4H6HCU3Xu8ly8Bl9uMQRGhoCRQQQAvD_BwE

Sorry to hear about your situation OP. Don't have any advice, just commenting to boost your post. Hope you find your DD the help she needs and get it all sorted. Sounds like you're doing the right thing and are a great mum, she's lucky to have you.

I have a 12 year old, they do have tutoring in one subject at the moment as hoping to take a gcse in it (£40 an hour once a week). They do some online classes, I think we're paying about £10 a week, and do two clubs a week which cost about £8-£10 each. And one day a week is a farm school which is about £40 I think.
The rest of it we take quite a relaxed/child led approach for so they read, listen to podcasts, go to the library/gym/swimming pool, meet up with friends.

Reach out to local home education groups and see what others in your area do. Depending on how motivated she is, there are online secondary 'schools', but I don't know what they cost (far less than a private, in person school). There are also charities which provide tutors for students that are not in school, but I don't know the criteria to access their services. Perhaps talk to her head of year and see if they can offer any help. It is heartbreaking, but really quite common. I am sure we all know several teens that have withdrawn from school for MH or ND reasons.

Hey OP, I’m not a parent of an HE teen but for my credentials I was a very mentally ill teenager (now diagnosed ADHD) who was hospitalised multiple times and missed a huge amount of school as a result, left with no GCSEs etc (got my education later though) and if HE had been an option for me it would have been a good one. I’ve also seriously considered and research HE for my own kids, who are small, it’s not the choice we’ve made now but may in be the future. My 14yo DN is also HE so I’ve seen that up close.

here’s my thoughts

• if she’s generally bright and wants to learn on her own terms that’ll go a long way. Education at home doesn’t have to look like school, she’ll get more done in a couple of hours at home than she would in 6 hours at school.
• you can do so much for free, things like Khan Academy are free and have loads of lessons. She can read, visit places, do projects of her own choosing.
• Join Facebook groups. HEFA is really good, also search for ‘home education (insert local place name/counties)’ for a few places round you and find local groups who do meet ups and put things on for HE kids. There’s loads. Meet other HE families.
• The £2 Tuition Club does lost cost online tuition for HE kids in groups.
• You don’t have to follow a curriculum you can follow her interests
• She doesn’t have to do all her GCSEs in one go (if she does them at all, there are other routes) and yes you’ll have to pay for exams but can stagger them, exam centre costs vary but get in with HE groups and learn from others. She can do what she wants/needs when she wants/needs it. My DN has just done her maths GCSE age 14, she’s deciding 2 more to do this year.
• Maybe read Naomi Fisher ‘Changing Our Minds’ (she can be controversial but I think this book makes a good case for self directed education)
• Read Brave Learner by Julie Bogart. A very different style of home ed but she inspires me.
• theres LOADS of HE podcasts. Go have a search and a listen.

You can absolutely do this, her mental health matters and if she’s motivated and happy she will learn so much better. Life can take many different routes to be successful. Good luck.

All HE will require your child to be focussed and prepared to put effort in. Be honest with yourself as to how likely this is before you even think about it.
I know very little about how online school is structured but it may be worth taking a look at oak national academy. It is free to all and covers content in all major subjects up to gcse. It contains lesson videos and activities etc. it’s not very inspiring perhaps but should be a good grounding.

We had a fantastic time - so MJ as my opportunities, lots of he’s friends, we literally found our tribe

I'd recommend online school such as Minerva Virtual Academy if you want to stick as close to the 'standard path' as possible, or if that is too expensive then buy IGCSE textbooks and lessons (£2 Tuition Hub is a good place to start though if you ask in HE Exams groups on Facebook there are other providers with great reputations for specific subjects such as Humanitees and Southwest Science School) and do them staggered over the next few years - sit one or two in Year 9, two or three in Year 10 and the rest (inc Maths and English Language for the highest grades in those) in Year 11. Doing millions of past papers is the key. There is a wiki called HE Exams Wiki which has a lot of exam-specific info.