New here - any homeschoolers?

April 30, 2003

Hi there. I am new to this group and wanted to introduce myself.

My name is Ruthanne and I have two children, 6 and 3 and we live in

southern CA. The three year old has been recently diagnosed with

oral/verbal apraxia. I am having a heck of a time getting

appropriate services from the school district. Have another IEP

tomorrow. I currently homeschool my 6 year old. What I was wanting

to know, is there ANYONE out there who is homeschooling an apraxic

child??? Please help! No one seems supportive of my desire to

homeschool this child, yet the speech therapist at the district is

totally clueless. Anyone have anything positive to tell me??

May 1, 2003

Hi Ruthanne and welcome!

I know a few people that homeschool their apraxic child -for various

reasons. Actually anyone that has a late talker -or a child that is having

speech problems looks for ways to help their child at home. Since

Mother's Day is coming up for example -here is a great page of

crafts you could have your husband do with your child to surprise

you

http://www.homeschoolzone.com/pp/mothers-day.htm (or you could make

one with your child and keep your eyes closed so you are surprised)

There has been some messages on this in the past. One compromise is

to continue to let the child receive therapy services at the school

while you educate at home. All would have to be agreed upon as

appropriate by both the school's child study team as well as the

child's parents and written into an IEP for this to be in effect.

Here is a great archived message from which shares a list of

resources. Perhaps Carol can share an update to her situation?

/message/18157

From: " M. " <khalidsvision@...>

Date: Sat Mar 15, 2003 1:21 am

Subject: Re: homeschooling

Carol your son's situation tugs at my heart, because it

reminds me of how overwhelmed I was when Khalid was 7 yrs

old. We faced some similar issues with our school district.

The district and insurance would not provide Speech and

Occupational services if we had considered another option

of schooling for Khalid. That was almost 10 years ago.

With no diagnosis, no resources, and no support line, I

definitely was not an informed parent to know all that

Khalid was entitled to in his younger years. I am moved

by all the informative responses you have received from

this group. Parents today are fortunate to be empowered via

Internet. If this luxury had only been available for us

back then, the knowledge offered would have been valuable.

Carol, hold strong to your vision and the faith that moved

you forward to know there is a better way to meet Micah's

needs. As suggested, I encourage you to contact HSLDA

Special Needs Coordinator http://www.hslda.org/ to discuss

your circumstances. I pray you find there, someone who will

listen and take your story to heart.

I have listed below some Homeschool articles, listservs and

resources that might be helpful to you and Micah during this

most difficult and unsettling time. My thoughts are with you.

Hang in there my friend!

Homeschooling and the Child with NLD

http://www.nldontheweb.org/thompson-7.htm

From Chaos to Confidence

Starting the Homeschool Journey

http://www.hsc.org/chaos/chaos-special.html

Helping at Home: Resources for families to encourage speech

and language at home

http://www.speechville.com/helping-at-home/helping-at-home.html

" Ending the Discrimination Against Disabled Home Schooled

Students.

http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000010/200104270.asp

HSLDA current active cases

http://www.hslda.org/legal/default.asp

HSLDA case archive

http://www.hslda.org/legal/casearchive/default.asp

HSLDA Attorneys

" HSLDA was established to provide low-cost legal

protection in the area of home education. "

http://www.hslda.org/about/staff/attorneys/.asp

Ultimate Homeschool-

" Ultimate Homeschool is the leading most place on the web

for veteran or new homeschoolers with normal progressive

children or LD homeschooled children including helps and

resources and dollops of links and sites. "

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Trail/6096/index.html

NATHAN -

" National Challenged Homeschoolers Associated Network -

international organization for homeschoolers for people

dealing with disabilities

http://www.nathhan.com/

ISER -

" ISER a unique and comprehensive Internet site pertaining

to the needs of families with special children and their

requirements.

http://www.iser.com/

Home Schooling Children with Special Needs-

" A large list of links about home schooling special needs

children.

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8259/special.html

Homeschooling Today® Magazine -

" A focus not only on the mechanics of homeschooling, but

also the mission and metrics of homeschooling.

http://www.homeschooltoday.com

Homeschooling LD/ADD Children:

Great Idea or Big Mistake?

http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/parenting/homeschooling.html

" NHEN volunteers have combed the internet to find links

directly to message boards focusing only on special needs

topics. You will want to bookmark these various message

boards - if you post a question there, you'll want to be

sure to check back to see the responses that other parents

give!

The Homeschool Language-Impaired Forum

http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/Meadow/7801/ta00007.htm

Unschooling and Special Needs Children

http://www.unschooling.com/discus/messages/board-topics.html

HEM's Homeschooling with Special Needs (under specific

interests)

http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/DSC/discus/index.html

Joyce Herzog's Special Needs Message Board

http://www.joyceherzog.com/

Special Needs Forum on Kaleidoscapes

http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/182528

Homeschooler's Curriculum Swap - Homeschooling Children

with Special Needs

http://www.theswap.com/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?

az=list & forum=ForumSpec & conf=conferen\

ce

Homeschool World's Forum

http://www.home-school.com/forum/

Unschooling Special Needs Message Board

http://www.unschooling.com/discus/messages/603/603.html

NATHHAN also has a message board, but it is for members

only. Membership is $25.00 and they offer a variety of

services, including a very comprehensive lending library.

http://www.nathhan.com

=====

May 1, 2003

Thank you! Yes, I would love to hear an update to this post that

you included - that is what inspired me to post. I am getting

services from the district - 30 minutes of speech a week! And the

therapist is totally clueless on how to deal with apraxia. I have

had to retain an attorney, we are on our third IEP since December,

it is just a stressful mess and I am getting tired! She is enrolled

in a " language based " classroom - and comes home frustrated because

she is the only one who cannot speak. Her teacher thinks they have

done something significant because she behaves at school, but not at

home. What good is that to me or her? Life is not all the

artificial atmosphere of the classroom. I'm just really frustrated

with the whole situation.

May 1, 2003

Hi ,

Since Mel does not attend school I made sure her Ped Rehab Center has a

few copies of the book for their library! The therapists are coming

up to me and thanking me. Not only are the speech therapists reading

the books but the occupational therapists and the physical therapists

as well are reading them. Mel is not the only one with apraxia that is

being treated at the center. I have ordered a few more copies as Mel's

doctors want to read the book as well.

Mel is still doing very well. I am told that this week has been her

best week in therapy yet!! Mel is speaking more and her motor planning

is better as well. I have Mel on 3 PRO Efas and 2 EPAs and have had

her on them for almost a week now. Mel yesterday and today asked me

for her pills. This is the first time she said the word pill. Mel

would just use the word med for medicine. We are actually buying a new

house and moving out of district so before meeting our realtor

yesterday my husband asked Mel where would she like to go to breakfast.

Mel looked at Tom and then said Mcs please. The word Mcs

was very clear. We are seeing from Mel many new words that she was

unable to say before and a lot of effort on practicing her words. My

husband said whatever I am doing with the supplements keep it up as we

are seeing some major changes with Mel. My husband and Mel's therapist

say Mel is just amazing them with what she is starting to be able to

do. It is nice to hear that they are not placing any limits on Mel and

are excited just to continue to see what the future holds for Mel.

For those who do not know Mel is now 19 and did not speak for the first

18 years of her life. We were told that Mel would never speak and just

accept the fact. Mel never had any correct therapy to address her

apraxia until the age of 18. Our school district and the IU13 still do

not accept her apraxia and refuse to work with her on her apraxia. We

have Mel in the private rebab center and I was just told since she is

doing so well they have increased the amount of their therapy sessions

with Mel each week. The therapists were able to prove to our Insurance

company and Mel's medical card the need to increase her therapy time

and how well the therapy has helped her that they approved the

increase. Mel will be receiving 4 sessions of speech, 3 sessions of

OT, and 1 session of PT each week for the next 6 months each week.

Each session is for 60 minutes. I then come and home and work with Mel

on our home therapy program. If someone would tell us Mel would be at

the point she is at today, I would never have believed them. Mel still

has a very long way to go but she is making progress each day.

I agree with leave your IEP without it but also it is important for all

the other individuals in our kids lives to have a copy of " The Late

Talker " as well. I am giving the book to Mel's therapists, doctors,

family members and friends. What an easy way for those individuals

that are in our kids lives to be able to understand apraxia.

Robin

On Thursday, May 1, 2003, at 19:24 US/Eastern, kiddietalk wrote:

> This is the most recent message from Carol about school: I'll copy

> her on here so she can let us know the update! (or you could email

> Carol at kcholt11@... (kcholt11 at netzero.net)

May 1, 2003

This is the most recent message from Carol about school: I'll copy

her on here so she can let us know the update! (or you could email

Carol at kcholt11@... (kcholt11 at netzero.net)

" From: " kenneth Holt " <kcholt11@...>

Date: Sat Apr 19, 2003 6:40 am

Subject: The Late Talker Book...leave your IEP without it

! You crack me up! I love your new slogan: The Late Talker

Book...leave your IEP without it. ha ha ha Actually I just presented

my

copy (after reading it of course!) to the special needs preschool

teacher/afternoon kindergarten teacher at the school where Micah

attended. I

am dying to buy like five copies and give it to all the

agnecies/schools/programs who have served him along the way...in

gratitude

and to help other parents who are there now! I wrote in it that it

was

donated for the use of parents and teachers and in honor of my son.

She was

THRILLED to get it and said she knew just the parent to give it

to.....AFTER

she finished reading it! I am so happy it will be there in that

school

to help other parents....maybe they won't have to go through all the

hassles

that I went through! I am biding my time until the administration

changes....then maybe they won't continue to ignore the needs of my

son.

GOOD for you getting the ESY! I could never get them to give more

than like

six half hour sessions over a 12 week period......way less than he

needed at

ages five and six! Wish you lived closer....I would have brought you

to my

IEP meetings! Carol "

=====

May 5, 2003

HI!

I am a homeschooler. I homeschool my 11 year old daughter. At this time I do

not plan on homeschooling my apraxia child. I don't feel I am equipped to do

that. However if it is laying heavy on your heart to do that for your child

then I say go for it. I plan on bringing him home to homeschool him as soon as

I feel he is ready and I am ready. However, I might change my mind once he gets