Special needs schooling

[YMo7]

My son is 6. He has mood disorder/s. he is intelligent but aggressive and violent.
Is there only one type if homeschooling or can I hire someone to teach him at home?

[LizaV]

Has he been diagnosed with special abilities (that's what I prefer to call it). If you've decided to homeschool and he has been diagnosed then you can probably look at the type of intervention strategies he would need and then work with the social agencies to get that.

[YMo7]

Yes he had been diagnosed with mood disorder nos and autism.

I don't particularly want up homeschool him but we aren't getting very far anywhere else.

[HarvestMoon]

Do you have an aspect school near where you live? They might be able to help you out.

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[oddsocksius]

It's hard to make good recommendations without knowing your son and your situation, but here are my thoughts and opinions (loosely based on my experiences with special needs kids and the education system):

First of all, you have options. If you want to keep your son in the mainstream education system, you will probably be eligible for a support worker as well as additional financial support. Even if something bad has happened and the school is threatening to throw him out because they can't take care of him properly, then there should be a local special school who will be able cater for your son. Don't underestimate special schools. Good specials school can be amazing, since the teachers are usually a lot better quality than in ordinary schools and each child receives a great deal more attention and patience than they would in an ordinary school. Maybe there's a small problem with bright children not getting challenged enough, but that's always a problem in any school, and special school teachers will usually recognize and make allowances for clever children (probably more than mainstream teachers, from what I've seen) so, somewhat ironically, being placed in a special school can give children much better a chance to grow their abilities than they'd get in mainstream schools. It works best if the child already has a deep passion for learning , though......


If he is taught appropriately, homeschooling will likely benefit your son in terms of providing him with the time and attention he needs to succeed academically and giving you and him a lot more time to work on any therapies and areas which he is struggling. If he is being bullied or excluded by his classmates or teachers, or if he is considered unsafe around his classmates, then homeschooling may remove him from a harmful situation. However, I think it's super important, given his underlying issues, that if you decide to home school him, you enrol him in a local after school program a few days a week or schedule lots of time for him to play with his friends. We all need other people, naturally, but social contact will be particularly crucial for your son's development. And I mean nice social contact, the type which actually involves getting to know with people as individuals, not one group of kids deliberately avoiding or bullying a single child they consider different while the adults look on and do nothing (you see this a lot with special needs children at OSHCs). If this happens, consider that Perth has a lot of options , including playgroups and meetups for other children with similar issues.

Another advantage of home schooling will be that you or the tutor will have lots of time to implement the therapies and strategies recommended by your child's psychologist, speechie, OT, and so forth. Try to make sure that you or whoever you get does this - it will make huge difference. If you hire somebody, make sure they know what they're doing and are committed to ongoing training and development, and are also willing to try everything. I've been at this game (the "working with children " game, lol) a long time and the single thing I can tell you with absolute certainty that different methods will work for different children and there is no miracle cure which will work for every child. Developmental and behavioural problems are multifaceted and multicausal, and the best thing to do is to try everything, and keep doing whatever work and whatever fits with the child's developmental pathway.

Although I'm a big fan of home schooling, you should know that it's a huge undertaking (and home tutors can sometimes be expensive) and don't feel forced to do it if it doesn't feel right. I think that, especially if you have a little girl about to poke her head into the world for the first time and are weeks away from chronic insomnia and all the other post-natal headaches associated with a new baby (that said, congratulations and cute pic, btw). If you still want to do it, there are many excellent curricula in place which will make your job a lot easier. Different methods work for different people and If I knew your son better I'd make a recommendation, but many of them have merit. However, be aware that some of them shouldn't even be attempted unless you are set out to follow through, since they don't slot in well with mainstream methods (I'm looking at you, Steiner method [ which doesn't even start teaching reading and writing until age seven or eight] XD ). You can purchase curricula online, so there should be something that suits your needs.


Hmm, the only other piece of advice i could give you is this: whatever method of education you try, the thing which is going to make the most difference is the people involved. Teachers, support workers, allied health specialists and tutors all differ in their approach and general level of competence, and -not to be overly judgmental- I can't even begin to tell you the number of otherwise competent people I've met who were totally out of their depths when dealing with special needs kids. The job requires a certain sensitivity, the ability to be firm, strong and gentle at the same time, to be patient and forgiving and relate to each child as an unique individual with their own needs and motivations. It's not something that just anybody can do.

Hmmmm, what other semi-solicited advice and opinions can I offer? Hmmmmm.... Maybe that the diagnosis of emotional behavioural disorders in children is a highly politicised thingamabob which people a lot more qualified than me could spend all day wondering about and debating over without getting anywhere, but one thing I've observed is that the amount that children will express their EBDs varies a lot depending on the situation. What I'm saying is that, if your son's problems have gotten a lot more severe since he started school or started with a particular class or teacher, then homeschooling might not be a bad idea, particularly if you or the person you hire knows how to handle your son in a way that improves his behaviour or stress levels.

Anyhow, good luck and sparkles for your new little girl!!


<- <-- sparkles

[bhjules]

Like the others have suggested - have you looked into therapies and support workers for him?

There is national funding available to help children diagnosed with ASD. If you scroll down that page further there's a list of organisations in each state to get in touch with.

I have a very good friend whose son is ASD and she is a special ed teacher too - she has been through a similar situation to you and her son is doing well in school now.

Good luck with it all.

Jules x

[sophiebowaus]

It's hard to make good recommendations without knowing your son and your situation, but here are my thoughts and opinions (loosely based on my experiences with special needs kids and the education system):

First of all, you have options. If you want to keep your son in the mainstream education system, you will probably be eligible for a support worker as well as additional financial support. Even if something bad has happened and the school is threatening to throw him out because they can't take care of him properly, then there should be a local special school who will be able cater for your son. Don't underestimate special schools. Good specials school can be amazing, since the teachers are usually a lot better quality than in ordinary schools and each child receives a great deal more attention and patience than they would in an ordinary school. Maybe there's a small problem with bright children not getting challenged enough, but that's always a problem in any school, and special school teachers will usually recognize and make allowances for clever children (probably more than mainstream teachers, from what I've seen) so, somewhat ironically, being placed in a special school can give children much better a chance to grow their abilities than they'd get in mainstream schools. It works best if the child already has a deep passion for learning , though......


If he is taught appropriately, homeschooling will likely benefit your son in terms of providing him with the time and attention he needs to succeed academically and giving you and him a lot more time to work on any therapies and areas which he is struggling. If he is being bullied or excluded by his classmates or teachers, or if he is considered unsafe around his classmates, then homeschooling may remove him from a harmful situation. However, I think it's super important, given his underlying issues, that if you decide to home school him, you enrol him in a local after school program a few days a week or schedule lots of time for him to play with his friends. We all need other people, naturally, but social contact will be particularly crucial for your son's development. And I mean nice social contact, the type which actually involves getting to know with people as individuals, not one group of kids deliberately avoiding or bullying a single child they consider different while the adults look on and do nothing (you see this a lot with special needs children at OSHCs). If this happens, consider that Perth has a lot of options , including playgroups and meetups for other children with similar issues.

Another advantage of home schooling will be that you or the tutor will have lots of time to implement the therapies and strategies recommended by your child's psychologist, speechie, OT, and so forth. Try to make sure that you or whoever you get does this - it will make huge difference. If you hire somebody, make sure they know what they're doing and are committed to ongoing training and development, and are also willing to try everything. I've been at this game (the "working with children " game, lol) a long time and the single thing I can tell you with absolute certainty that different methods will work for different children and there is no miracle cure which will work for every child. Developmental and behavioural problems are multifaceted and multicausal, and the best thing to do is to try everything, and keep doing whatever work and whatever fits with the child's developmental pathway.

Although I'm a big fan of home schooling, you should know that it's a huge undertaking (and home tutors can sometimes be expensive) and don't feel forced to do it if it doesn't feel right. I think that, especially if you have a little girl about to poke her head into the world for the first time and are weeks away from chronic insomnia and all the other post-natal headaches associated with a new baby (that said, congratulations and cute pic, btw). If you still want to do it, there are many excellent curricula in place which will make your job a lot easier. Different methods work for different people and If I knew your son better I'd make a recommendation, but many of them have merit. However, be aware that some of them shouldn't even be attempted unless you are set out to follow through, since they don't slot in well with mainstream methods (I'm looking at you, Steiner method [ which doesn't even start teaching reading and writing until age seven or eight] XD ). You can purchase curricula online, so there should be something that suits your needs.


Hmm, the only other piece of advice i could give you is this: whatever method of education you try, the thing which is going to make the most difference is the people involved. Teachers, support workers, allied health specialists and tutors all differ in their approach and general level of competence, and -not to be overly judgmental- I can't even begin to tell you the number of otherwise competent people I've met who were totally out of their depths when dealing with special needs kids. The job requires a certain sensitivity, the ability to be firm, strong and gentle at the same time, to be patient and forgiving and relate to each child as an unique individual with their own needs and motivations. It's not something that just anybody can do.

Hmmmm, what other semi-solicited advice and opinions can I offer? Hmmmmm.... Maybe that the diagnosis of emotional behavioural disorders in children is a highly politicised thingamabob which people a lot more qualified than me could spend all day wondering about and debating over without getting anywhere, but one thing I've observed is that the amount that children will express their EBDs varies a lot depending on the situation. What I'm saying is that, if your son's problems have gotten a lot more severe since he started school or started with a particular class or teacher, then homeschooling might not be a bad idea, particularly if you or the person you hire knows how to handle your son in a way that improves his behaviour or stress levels.

Anyhow, good luck and sparkles for your new little girl!!


<- <-- sparkles

This is a superb advice. I've been thinking on putting my son who has ASD for home schooling. Though, im also in doubt if I have the capability and ability to do it. I have 3 kids and a hand-full of household chores. I wanted to put him on home schooling mainly because I know my son and I know how to handle him especially if his behavior got out of place. In what I observe during his Special Ed class is that the teacher cant do so much due to the limited time and she should be always extra careful in handling him. Thanks so much for the wonderful idea.

[Raysmum]

Hi everyone,

I've just moved here from
Malaysia and have a 4.5 year old son who's suspected of having dyspraxia. He's supposed to start kindergarten next year but I'm lost as to which school to enrol him in and how much support the schools have to offer special needs children. Can anyone help recommend any schools that have good support for special needs? I'm open to any areas in NSW. I'm hoping to find the right school and then working backwards to find a place nearby to rent within the catchment area of the school. Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated 😊
Thank you so much in advance. 😊😊