Florida Homeschool Help Inc.

 Service Providing Company for Homeschooling Families in Florida.

We will TEACH YOU all that you need to know  (( From: Start to Finish ))

CALL TODAY: 305-525-5525

FloridaHomeschoolHelp@yahoo.com

Florida Homeschool Help
Miami Lakes, FL 33015
ph: 305.525.5525
fax: 305.821.8505

Information for Parents of Children with Special Needs.

http://www.hslda.org/strugglinglearner/sn_help.asp

What Help is Available?

Parents of struggling learners or children who have special needs are often made to feel that they need to have their children taught by a professional in order for them to reach their potential. This opinion is often presented by very loving people. The parents can’t help but ask themselves, “Am I doing a disservice to my child by teaching him or her at home? Would he be making more progress if he were in a school setting, with the professionals?”

Homeschooling a special needs child is an individual decision, of course, but if you decide to homeschool such a child, we are here to help you be the best special education teacher you can be. Our finding is, that with the literature, teaching aids, and other resources now available, that any parent who desires to help their child learn can find that help, and eventually do a much better job with that child than any school could do.

At times there may be a need to enlist the help of some of these professionals in areas such as speech or physical therapy. However, the bulk of the teaching can be done by the parent, and is being done by parents across the nation very successfully!

Resources / HSLDA

Special needs coordinators: Where else can you talk to a professional about your child’s special needs in learning, just by picking up the phone? This is a very valuable service for HSLDA members. There are three special needs/struggling learner professionals available at HSLDA to answer your questions, and guide you on your way to make your child’s learning successful.

Legal advice: State-by-state laws, testing issues, progress expectations, and transferring IEP’s from the public school setting are just a few of the areas of legal advice that are available to HSLDA members, along with all the other general membership benefits.

Rental of skills tests to determine grade levels: HSLDA has copies of the Brigance Skills test available for you to rent to find the achievement levels of your child at home. Other informal tests are also available through your special needs/struggling learner coordinators.

Books

Homeschooling Your Struggling Learner by Kathy Kuhl
In this book , Kathy Kuhl, homeschool mom, offers resources and insights for anyone working with students in order to help them address and overcome learning problems.

Therapies

While the bulk of the child’s education occurs at home, outside interventions for a period of time can be very beneficial in helping a child overcome some larger obstacles. These therapies are offered by professionals in your community. Their services are paid for by the family of the child. Even though it can be a hardship financially, most places offer payment plans and reductions for certain situations. If the parents consider this something they want to do for their child, God always provides a way to help with the finances.

There are times when some of these services can be paid for by the family’s medical insurance. This is particularly the case if the service is recommended by the child’s pediatrician. Then a local hospital or clinic would provide the speech or occupational therapy or such, with the insurance company picking up the majority of the cost.

If the parent chooses to have his child's services provided by a regional center, or public school, then there is a chance that there could be some strings attached. For example, the professionals could decide that the child is not being served well in the homeschool setting, but would be better served in a government-sponsored program. This is not always the case, and varies from state to state. The best way to find out if your state is friendly to homeschoolers, is to check with HSLDA.

There are times when a child would benefit from therapy that is difficult to provide at home. An example of such therapies would be:

Speech Therapy

Hospital settings: Most children’s hospitals provide speech therapy services through the child’s insurance. This is weekly or biweekly one-on-one therapy or small group, and continues for a set number of weeks. This is generally done with a referral from the child’s physician.

Public school settings: If the child has been tested by the public school and determined to need speech therapy services, the child is brought to the school one day a week for about an hour for this service, usually in a small group setting. This method carries the most risk to parents, because of the involvement in a government program.

Private clinics:

  • There are many speech therapists who work privately with students. They will see a child once or twice a week, and always in a one-on-one setting. They regularly test to see if services are still required. Parents take the child to the setting, and are responsible for payment. Local homeschool support groups are the best source of information about good speech therapists in your area.
  • Scottish Rites Speech and Language Clinic offers free testing and language services to qualified applicants.

Home settings

  • The video tape and manual, Straight Talk by speech pathologist Marisa Lapish is available for homeschool families. (Availabe at www.nathhan.com.) It contains daily lessons that the parents can implement at home to help their child with speech issues in both articulation and speech delay.
  • The Listening Program, a home program designed to help children hear frequencies they did not hear before, improves both speech and auditory processing disorders. (Available at www.advancedbrain.com.)
  • Mouth Madness: Oral Motor Activities for Children by Aby Catherine Orr
  • Earobics is a computer-based program to improve auditory memory and sound discrimination and is very inexpensive.

Occupational Therapy or Physical Therapy

Hospital settings: If your child’s physician is made aware of your child’s need for occupational therapy for gross or fine motor development or physical therapy, a referral can be made for this therapy to take place at your local hospital, if the services are available there. This is often paid for in part by your insurance company.

Public school setting: If you have had your child tested through the public school, then they will provide the services. These are generally provided only once a week, and you will need to bring your child to the school to receive the services. This is inexpensive, but does come with some risk of involvement with a government agency.

Private clinic: If you suspect that your child would benefit from occupational or physical therapy intervention (very common with autism, and very special needs), you can explore the services provided in your community by calling the clinics listed in the phone book, checking with your support group , or asking your child’s physician.

Home settings

  • It is possible that after watching several therapy sessions with your child, you may feel confident continuing these same activities at home, if your child is cooperative. Some parents also pay for the therapist to come into the home. For private therapists who are stay-at-home moms, working just a few extra hours a week, this works very well, and they will train you to work with your own child. You also can inquire at a private clinic, if an occupational assistant could come into your home and work with your child. That is generally less expensive.
  • Interactive Metronome has home programs that are similar to the ones used by occupational therapists used in clinical settings.

Vision Therapy

Private clinics: If you suspect that your child has a visual tracking problem, you can have your child screened by a developmental optometrist. If vision therapy is recommended, you can take them to the optometrist’s office for weekly or biweekly visits, and continue the exercises at home.

Home setting:

  • Some vision therapy offices will show the parents how to do the exercises at home, eliminating the need to come to the office for continued therapy. This is far less expensive. Other parents have found that if they do the exercises and retraining in brain integration therapy, there is much less need for vision therapy services.
  • HTS (Home Therapy Systems) is a computerized program that helps reduce symptoms of eyestrain. For those who don’t have the time or finances for in-office vision therapy.
  • PTS (Perceptual Therapy Systems), is a home-based computer therapy program to improve visual processing

Applied Behavioral Analysis Therapy

Public setting: In public schools and regional centers a specific method of modifying the difficult behaviors of children with autism, PDD, or other disabilities that affect behavior, is employed. ABA, as it is commonly called, is used with the children on a daily basis, in a special education, self-contained setting. This has the advantage of giving the parent some break time from the difficult behaviors, and allowing the child to be exposed to other authorities. The disadvantage is the risk it carries of having a government agency involved in our child’s life.

Private clinics: Local clinics often provide the intensive behavior modification program called the Lovaas method on a daily basis. A parent takes the child to the clinic each day. This is paid for by the parents, or possibly with some help from an insurance carrier.

Home setting: Some parents use the home consultation program that Lovaas offers. Therapists come into the home daily to train the parent to work with their own child. This can be very helpful for parents who need this type of intervention for their struggling children. Again, if the child’s physician sees the need, and makes a referral, the parent may receive some help in paying from an insurance carrier.

Neurodevelopment Therapy

  • International Christian Association of Neurodevelopmentalists provides individualized neurodevelopmental plans that can be carried out by parents in the home.
  • The National Association for Child Development is one organization that employs this brain-based therapy, which can be done at home with the guidance of neurotherapists. It is quite expensive, but parents who do it report good results.
  • Brain integration therapy, can be done at home with your child, and the other children at home also. It is very inexpensive, but is an independent program, totally parent-led.
  • Brain Builder is a neurobic, computer-based training program designed to build memory and thinking skills.
  • Christian Access to Neurodevelopmental Organization (Can-Do) provides families and interested professionals with neurological, educational, and developmental information regarding learning and the brain.

Specific Educational Therapy

  • Lindamood intensive phonics program is designed by speech/language specialists. This sequential system of teaching phonemes can be very effective for children struggling to learn to read. It is usually provided by local clinics, and is expensive.
  • PACE program (Processing And Cognitive Enhancement) is clinic-based, with additional exercises to be done at home. It is geared more towards visual processing deficits, but includes other areas also. It is usually proved by local clinics and is fairly expensive. Home programs are less expensive.
  • Learning Rx is a clinic-based program that uses exercises to stimulate better visual and auditory processing. It is an intensive program that is clinic based and expensive.
  • Brainworks (formerly SOI) is a clinic-based program aimed at helping a child with balance issues, visual issues, etc., through exercises. It is usually provided by local clinics and is fairly expensive.
  • Interactive Metronome is a clinic-based program that helps a child or adult gain better rhythm, timing, etc., to aid in reading and many life activities. It is fairly expensive. Home programs are less expensive.
  • Sylvan Learning, a tutoring clinic, is designed to help a child gain reading or math skills using regular curriculum and techniques. The centers help children who just need more exposure to systematic teaching in various subject areas. It does not correct processing skills (visual, auditory, visual/motor). It is expensive. Sylvan now offers online tutoring for home use.
  • Huntington Learning Centers have been helping children achieve their education goals for more than 30 years. There are currently more than 350 centers in 42 states. Programs are completely individualized and in many cases tutoring is actually one on one.
  • Brain integration therapy for children is a home program that can be used with all the children in a family, to make processing skills (visual, auditory, visual/motor…writing) easier. It is inexpensive.
  • Home Schooling Children with Special Needs—Turning Challenges into Opportunities! Written by Sharon Hensley, M. A. This book and other materials are available through Almaden Valley Christian School.
  • Keyboard Classroom helps children learn to type in a home environment.
  • One Hand Typing is a program for children who are physically impacted in their fine motor skills, such as children who have cerebral palsey, or any other condition that could use this very specialized typing program.

Helpful Parent Resources

ADD/ADHD

 

Florida Homeschool Help
Miami Lakes, FL 33015
ph: 305.525.5525
fax: 305.821.8505