Autism and Homeschooling

Autism and Homeschooling

Our youngest son, J., was formally diagnosed with Autism at the age of 3. Prior to this diagnosis he was diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder. Sensory issues are evident in all of my children and myself to varying degrees. A long series of events led to our decision to Homeschool J. I will talk about those events on this blog page. I will also discuss the numerous books that I have read on the issues related to both Autism and Homeschooling. I will talk about all of the tools we have used to help J. learn and grow into the beautiful 7 year old, now "high functioning" child that he has become.

I don't know what caused his Autism and I won't get into discussions on "causes" or "cures" in this blog. We view his autism as a part of his personality. It is a part of who he is and while some of the issues related to the autism are challenging for him and us, I would never want to change who HE is or belittle him in anyway by suggesting that he is "sick" and in need of "fixing or curing" etc. Everyone with Autism is unique and their family situation is just as unique, this is not intended to be a model to follow by any means, only an example, that if relatable, I would hope could be used to benefit another individual in their journey of learning.

Our first goal with all of our children is to LOVE them unconditionally. Our second goal is to teach them how to be contributing members of society. We teach each of them in the best way that they can learn at that time. Autism makes this goal more challenging because we have to find a way to connect the pieces of the learning puzzle together differently. Some times that puzzle has to be picked up and moved, pieces separate, some fall and have to be searched for then put back in place. There are many days that I would really like some puzzle glue and a nice firm surface to mount the pieces on!! I have come to realize that this is a multi-dimensional puzzle that is always growing and changing, it shapes all of our lives as we discover the place that each piece belongs.