My child needs therapy services but we are special needs homeschoolers, can I get help? What does my state law say about my obligations, paperwork wise, so I can legally homeschool my disabled child?
After posting about IEP meetings gone wrong, the question many asked me was, ‘Which states require IEPs and extra paperwork for special needs homeschoolers?” After researching and double checking through various state homeschool groups, I have the answers you seek.
First understand each year there are laws and clarifications on laws constantly moving through your state government. Join your local state group to stay on top the most recent laws and changes. Also I am not a lawyer, I am a mom homeschooling my special needs children. I research and try my best to keep this list accurate.
Also under federal laws no matter what state you live in, according to IDEA, you have the right to have your child evaluated by your local school district if there is a clear need. This means that the school will use their school teacher, therapist, psychologists to test your child as they would any other public schooled child.
Your child will be tested as if they are in public school. As in what skills would the exact same child do in a class. Can they sit for the periods of time needed if they were in a class? You will not have things like can they successfully go to the grocery store and out in public without problems tested. The next step is even if your child ends up needing services they may not receive them.
The first group of states do not provide services for homeschoolers. You can come in and be tested but there is no obligation on the schools part to continue to help your child. The silver lining here is many times if there is space left over your local school might allow your child to still get services.
Schools are not obligated to give services by law
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Maryland
Mississippi
Montana
New Mexico
North Carolina
Ohio- CHEO’s page on the homeschooling state law
Oklahoma
Oregon
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Tennessee
Utah
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
The second group of states are states that do provide services with various restrictions. If you choose to receive services of any kind from the school system you are going to have to go through what a public school system child does, and IEP.
Not only that but there are occasional re-evaluations and testing. Other issues you will have to deal with are the services are mostly provided at the school. You will have to take your child to the school for any therapies.
Services Provided in LIMITED CIRCUMSTANCES
Depending upon how you choose which law to use you might get services for your child under private school or umbrella school options and there are only a couple of states that allow you to homeschool and get services. All states (I have been told by parents) will use the simple math of public school students first, private schools second, then homeschooling student if there is any time/therapist/ or money for services left.
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona – as per the school district
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii- as per the school district
Idaho-If dual enrolled
Illinois
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Nebraska
New Hampshire
New Jersey- If your school district (very few do) provides services to private schools you might be able to get services as well.
New York
Nevada
South Carolina
Texas
Virginia-A couple of school systems have provided special services so check with your district.
Washington- Unless you are a part time student
Now comes the states that once they know your child has a special need they require extra paperwork such as IEPs whether you are receiving services through the school system or not.
ADDITONAL PAPERWORK NEEDED
Iowa
*New York- while the law doesn’t explicitly talk about special needs students you do have to file quarterly paperwork. Some special needs homeschoolers have contacted me telling me this ends up being a quarterly IEP meeting and report. You can have this be your own private team.
North Dakota
Pennsylvania
Vermont
School districts have been known to provide special education funding services to homeschooled students on a case by case basis. Also, individual schools may or may not know the law concerning services.
Now that you know where you stand law wise with your local school services. I would like you to consider WHY do you want to use school services?
School services and therapies are not based around a child that can excel at life and home life. They are designed and planned with the idea that the child needs to learn to sit in a classroom for hours on end and do what a teacher says to keep order. Homeschooling is the opposite of this.
I looked into school therapy and even had my daughter evaluated for it. When I found out that even though she had a stroke she didn’t qualify because she could sit in her wheelchair at a desk and be taught, I walked away.
One of the best decisions I have ever made. We sought out private therapy. It took time to find a clinic that was open to homeschoolers and well trained.
We had to get doctor’s letters stating why my child needed therapy. When asked why this therapy was not received through our local school system I simply told them we wished to have private therapy. There were limits on the therapy amounts. No problem because as an active part of our homeschooling we did at home therapy.
Before asking for testing and services, take a serious look at how other homeschoolers are treated in your area by the schools. Whether or not the law allows therapy the people involved maybe hostile or welcoming.
If you do get services are you ready for all that entails? IEPs, limited say on who the therapist is, dealing with school officials often, and possibly facing a constant grumble or outright diatribe on homeschooling.
My youngest son has Apraxia. He’s not quite 3.5, so he’s not ready for school yet. But when he turned 3, we had to transition him from early intervention, to the public school Child Find program. They wouldn’t give him a speech therapist, instead he was assigned to a resource teacher. When I questioned this, I was told that everyone starts with a resource teacher “whether they have Down Syndrome or Apraxia”. The resource teacher had no idea what to do with him, each visit was a waste of time. She started mentioning autism, even though I told her he had been evaluated by two developmental pediatricians and both said he showed no signs, other than being non-verbal. It was at that point that I decided to drop the services, and we went with private speech therapy.
Thank you for this article. All of a sudden I don’t feel all alone in this very difficult issue. I thought that I had lost my mind. If this article is posted, then my recent experiences must be common. My eyes are open now through experience. I wish all could get this message prior to the experience. I facebooked this article in hopes that it will receive more attention. I’ve had to go as far as seeking an attorney/advocate just for someone to explain to me the rules. I couldn’t get anyone to give me the information. Don’t stop posting. Thanks!
My son receives services through the school system in Louisiana. He has an IT (resource teacher) and a Speech Therapist. We request he have services at home. I’ve also requested that he be assigned a different speech teacher on 2 occasions throughout the year because I didn’t feel the approach of the current one benefited his learning style. It is within my rights in this state to be able to request site and style with the school system therapies. The heads of departments aren’t always happy, but ultimately, my son is getting the services he needs in the way he needs them. If you choose to get into this system, simply know your rights. He does well with the play therapy approach both of his in home teachers offer.
I am a speech therapist in a public school, but as a Christian, am very sympathetic to homeschooling and have many friends who do so. I live in Maine and understand the special education system there very well. I feel terrible for the homeschooling parents as I read about their dealings with public schools. I have evaluated several homeschooled students and have tried to be very supportive. I know schools can be uncooperative and unpleasant, but beside that, I also think there is a perspective barrier. School personnel do not know what homeschool parents value and want from the school when it comes to special education. The school is a system and as such is sort of ‘set in its ways’. It is difficult for personnel to transpose this system onto an (unfamiliar to them) homeschooling situation. You can help this by being as clear as possible in telling the school what you want from them in a non-threatening way. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
I have a question for you. I know some homeschooling parents help each other out teaching different subjects. Do any of you have a special education teacher, speech therapist, or occupational therapist in your rotation?
In PA. the law is often misinterpreted to mean that the portfolio must be examined and reported on by a special needs qualified evaluator. This is not true. It is merely the objectives that must be approved and sent along with the affidavit. Even evaluators themselves have often misinterpreted this part of the homeschool law.
We also have a child that had a stroke (spinal stroke). Please email me. Would love to network.
Please add me to your network. Would like to know more. We have a child that is legally blind and hearing impaired. Thanks.
I have a 14 yr old daughter who has a diagnosis of Autism. At this time I strongly feel dissapointed and disgusted about many of the classroom/school performance. I’m seriously thinking about home school; however, who or where do I need to contact regarding curriculum?
Like Susan Pelayo, I have a 13yr son that is high functioning Autistic and ADHD. He falls in the grey area of the education system of where we live. I too would like what steps need to be taken to home school my son.
I have a 10 yr old boy with Down Syndrome and Hirschsprung’s disease. This school year has been his worst with sickness. He has missed a lot but all medically excuse and some days when he doesn’t feel good I want to keep him home. No sense in sending him if he is just going to lay around at school. Anyways, I would love to home school him but not sure what I need to do!!! Help appreciated!!!
My son is 7 7year-old where we live in ark the school in are city would not help my son he has CDLS what do we do about homeschooling my son with his CDLS he can not go to are local school bus he was in self cutand class when we true to tried to send him but it did not work out that is way I am disused to homeschool my so so what can I. Do on tis get back asap ok
But what do you do when you live in a state, like Tennessee, and your insurance is now requiring you to have an IEP, but the local school district has repeatedly refused to even issue an evaluation of your child? I understand that Tennessee is a non-obligatory state, but this refusal to evaluate was a large reason we began to homeschool and seek private services. She was a public school student at the time the refusals began. Now two years later, the insurance is requiring an IEP that I can’t have. Sometimes it sucks to be part of a system that knows nothing about dealing with high-functioning autistic children.
My son is ADD and is currently being tested for autism. He is in school right now but am thinking he may be better off home schooled. I have no idea what I need to do. If he already has an IEP will that carry to home schooling through the state? He currently has speech therapy, occupational therapy, extra math and extra reading classes. He can’t sit still… he’s so frustrated.
If you have an IEP you might be able to continue it. It depends on the state you are in. It would be a smart idea to talk to or go to http://www.hslda.org I’m not a lawyer but they are.
I’m a TA at my child’s school, I have worked in the school system for 7 years and this year has been really hard. Against my wishes and request they are placing my child in harms way of a violent child with special needs. We are considering homeschooling for safety and we feel I am qualified to better meet his needs. My child is 10 with down syndrome and is almost nonverbal. Could anyone recommend a good program to begin homeschooling our son?
Sincerely,
Karen
For all those replying that they want to homeschool and are wondering how to proceed, first know your state laws. HSLDA (Homeschool Legal Defense Association) is a great place to start. Simply Charlotte Mason,has a YouTube video explaining the 5 common styles of homeschooling that is very informative for “newbies”. As far as curriculum, children who are a little “out of the box” for whatever reason are probably not going to do well with a curriculum that comes in a nice, neat one-size-fits-all box either. Figure out what subjects your state requires, add in the subjects your child needs help in most (and the grade level they need – not the one they are currently in) and don’t neglect the subjects they love and excel in. Research each – Rainbow Resources, Heppner’s Legacy and Timberdoodle are great online stores to start with for this – and pull your plan together. Best wishes!
I have a 8 year old “Cj”, who has Down syndrome. Things have happened at school, I feel there’s a cover up for things and I feel my son isn’t safe at school. I live in California and want to home school him, I do not know where to start if I can get some feed back it would be great.
I am with the North Dakota Home School Association and our state is trying to pass legislation next year that would eliminate most of the homeschool special needs law requirements. Could we copy and use your info in our resources? Credit would be given to you. Please advise.
Feel free to use my resources. Please be clear that I am NOT a lawyer. These are resources I have gathered from families in these states, the state laws themselves, and legal organizations and their resources. I wish you all the best to create a healthy wonderful law and atmosphere for homeschooling families!
God bless
Heather
Hi, thank you for the helpful information. I love in Colorado and have to treat my daughter every odd year 3,5,7… grade level.
She does pretty well on most test boy math and spelling. She is having a horrendous time memorizing math facts which slows her down immensely. She had letter and number reversals which we addressed and now is a good reader but in math she still struggles. I don’t want to go into the IEP mess so wondered if you have any advice.
We do Mathusee and use a game called the brainz and other things to help her to memorize. Music helps her memorize BIBLE verses even skip counting though she had a hard time letting go of the song to answer math equations.
Any advice would be so appreciated.
Barbara from Colorado