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I was encouraged to see that there is another Maryland resident on this board. I too am considering homeschooling my son (age 8) and my daughter (age 5). My son, however, is visually handicapped and has a very difficult time reading and seeing classroom materials, especially blackboards. Our local school district has done a very good job in meeting his needs for visual support, but I am more concerned about the quality of his education. That's why I'm looking at homeschooling.

I'm a stay-at-home Mom, so I have enough time to do it but I'm concerned about being able to find and apply the right resources for his special circumstances. Nathan, do you have any experience with homeschooling that involves children with special needs? Do you know any disabled homeschool students? Finally, are there any Internet resources out there that can help me make a decision one way or the other about this issue? Thanks so much for helping.

By Nathan (Homeschool) on Wednesday, September 26, 2001 - 03:42 pm: Edit

Yes, I know of some homeschoolers who have some special needs. It ranges from ADD and ADHD to speech and physical problems (no sight problems, though). However, I don’t know of any homeschool parent who uses a blackboard. My mother never used any kind of board, just pencil and paper. I wear bifocals and had problems with seeing blackboards, but didn’t have that much difficulty with dry-erase boards if the teacher used dark colors. If you think that might help, you can generally find those at office supply stores.

As for websites, that is this moderator’s weakness. I don’t normally surf the net for homeschool related websites. However, I do know that msn.com, currently has over 600 homeschool communities on its servers. (I believe this will take you to that list). You might be able to find some communities like Special Needs Homeschooling on there. I’m sorry I can’t be of much help, I know there are sites out there that cover these issues, but I’m not aware of them.

Finally, you might try asking your child’s therapist (if he has one, and if applicable) for some recommendations on educational materials for special needs children with his disability. A family friend did that with much success.

Good luck!