I am probably mad but I love the school holidays

[Blossomhill]

Just before breaking up dd had had a couple of serious meltdowns and I just think that she is finding it harder and harder and the school aren't putting into place all the things they should be.
To be honest though it's because dd is so stress free and happier and I can see how much more at ease she is not being at school.
I know this probably sounds strange but I was saying to my mum today I only really feel safe when she is with me,if that makes sense.
The worrying thing is with dd is that she can't tell me what's happened at school so it's hard to know what's going on. Sometimes I feel like home educating her as she just seems so much more relaxed then when she's at school.

We've been homeeddding 4 years (asd and other things) and its much less stressful than school was. There are some good resources available - Education Otherwise website, HE-SPECIAL list (an email list for parents homeedding special needs kids that has loads of info) and books like "Home educating our special needs children - paths are made for walking", also the home ed section on mumsnet. Worth doing some research on it and seeking out a local HE group. Our relatives and a lot of friends tried to dissuade us but it was the best thing we could have done. The speech therapist said she hadn't heard of any asd kids being homeedded - we met 4 on our first group visit...
Whatever you decide, all the best!

I home edded my older 3 cos of ds1's aspergers and it was so much easier than school (the HE-Special group is mainly ASD).
I'd like to HE dd but she can't move or speak and requires all sorts of cerebral palsy related help that I just can't do at home

I'm thinking about Home Edding next year if we can't get a place in an ASD unit. Family and professionals are against it but would love to hear about others' experiences/success stories.

I home edded ds1 for 8 years. He has aspergers and had to be carried to school every morning, screaming and kicking for 2 farking years. I would hand him over to the Head who assured me 'he's fine when you are gone' (not true - he sat under the table for 2 years and wouldn't use the toilet and soil himself when we were walking home cos he was desperate) then blamed me for having a nice home life
There wasn't really 'proper' ASD units back then, they were all for children with intellectual impairments and wouldn't cater for a bright articulate child.
So I took him out at 6. Then took the other 2 out as it was so great.
Over the years he has improved beyond belief and at 13 returned to school and has been there 2 years and is top of his class, speaks in class - even gave a speech! I put it all down to HE and the fact he could develop strategies to deal with the world at his own pace.
It wasn't always easy as he hated home ed groups and events whilst the other two loved them and wanted friends so we'd go (after a brief tussle) and he'd sit rocking with his t-shirt over his head and his arms inside (he became a ball) chanting 'homehomehomehomehomehome' and there was a bit of judgeyness from some poeple but no-where near like school.
He still has aspergers but is a different child at 15 to how he was at 6 and I put it down to HE and the fact that the stress was gone and he could develop at his own pace, not the pace of school.
We didn't do formal stuff and from the outisde it looked like he played computer games for 8 years but he passed the entrance exam to a posh school when he was 13 (and returning was his choice because he wanted structure - I am crap at straucture, especially with dd2's needs)
HE was, for him, the best thing I ever did.

Hi All,i'm new on here but just thought i'd drop a line to say its been good reading about other people that home educate. My eldest daughter is quadraplegic and has global brain damage,i've been home educating her now for 7 years . It is a weighty commitment but even so its been worth it in the sense it hasn't put her or us as a family through the stress of sending her to the local 'special' school. I also have a 6 year old son with autism but he goes to main stream school and is doing well there. It's good to have found this site !

do you have any trouble getting equipment or communication aids? So many kids have had their powerchairs whipped away when they left school to HE and we were told we wouldn't get a commuinication aid if we HE'ed dd.

Blossomhill - that could have been me writing the post about my ds. Ironically its not that he doesn't love school because he does, its just that he is about to have his 4th afternoon LSA change with no back up from the school regarding training, shadowing etc. Have been to head, been to governors and now am informing LEA with the intention of getting specification in his statement!

Yes i so know where your coming from have had a lovely relatively calm week of school i know at the weekend i will start thinking about Monday and how hard it is taking DD to school and i worry about her all day being unsettled and not getting the right help, and like you say you don't get their side of the story so you never know what truly happens at school i often think things that happen may get blowen out of proportion.

My daughter gets her powered chair through Whizz Kidzz so she hasn't lost anything by being home educated as they're a charity.
Also re communication aids etc,that all comes through the O.T's at the hospital or social services. In Wiltshire if a child is statemented then the LEA are supposed to provide them with neccessary educational support and resources. My daughter was never statemented,through my choice and i've never asked the LEA to provide me with anything but they've always been willing to offer help in providing resources etc.
I was really suprised to hear of any child having their power chair taken of them just because they were being home educated. Its their right to have mobility,i would have taken it up immediately with social services and M.P etc.