Home schooling is never the correct answer as a societal solution for education.
Special needs education is a field that requires specialized training. This is something you need a degree for, not something parents can wing from self-study. It’s great that there is public funding for some people to allow them to get their kids specialized tutoring, but that is not common, and isn’t a substitute for actual school systems with IEP or other Special Education-trained professionals.
Yes, that’s why I specified above that “home schooling” usually comes with lots of extra funding.
In my jurisdiction, an autistic student gets ~$30K of funding, half of which is earmarked for education specifically. In a public school, that gets maybe 45 min of EA time + being on a learning support teacher’s caseload. With “home schooling”, that $15K can pay for enrollment in a specialized small-group part-time program for academics.
The other $15K funding can pay for respite workers, if parents need more time for work, or lots of other things.
Also, parents are much better equipped to follow their children’s interests with authentic experiential learning than any public school can be. Schools can’t afford 1-to-1 attention, and parents know their children best. With academic support covered, parents can focus on following their children’s interests.
These students are also followed by a teacher (like me) and a learning support teacher to help coordinate resources, support workers, and other planning. There are layers of support.
It’s an incredibly effective educational model.
I don’t know if something similar is available in the US. I imagine it varies by state, and I would not expect Red states to support programming like this.
Home schooling is never the correct answer as a societal solution for education.
Special needs education is a field that requires specialized training. This is something you need a degree for, not something parents can wing from self-study. It’s great that there is public funding for some people to allow them to get their kids specialized tutoring, but that is not common, and isn’t a substitute for actual school systems with IEP or other Special Education-trained professionals.
Yes, that’s why I specified above that “home schooling” usually comes with lots of extra funding.
In my jurisdiction, an autistic student gets ~$30K of funding, half of which is earmarked for education specifically. In a public school, that gets maybe 45 min of EA time + being on a learning support teacher’s caseload. With “home schooling”, that $15K can pay for enrollment in a specialized small-group part-time program for academics.
The other $15K funding can pay for respite workers, if parents need more time for work, or lots of other things.
Also, parents are much better equipped to follow their children’s interests with authentic experiential learning than any public school can be. Schools can’t afford 1-to-1 attention, and parents know their children best. With academic support covered, parents can focus on following their children’s interests.
These students are also followed by a teacher (like me) and a learning support teacher to help coordinate resources, support workers, and other planning. There are layers of support.
It’s an incredibly effective educational model.
I don’t know if something similar is available in the US. I imagine it varies by state, and I would not expect Red states to support programming like this.