As a former special education teacher, I can say that many kids get shortchanged in a public school setting, especially kids with learning delays. We have been fed lies that kids need a certified "pro" when parents can give children a better foundation than anyone else. Kids educated at home tend to score better on standardized tests and tend to be more prepared for college than their public and private schooled peers.

Public schools are mandated to give kids a "free and appropriate" education, not the best possible education. As someone with a professional background in special education, a public school is the last place I'd want my son. Free and appropriate is not good enough. Private school is not good enough with their cookie cutter approach either. Homeschooling allows him to have the best education possible where his education is completely individualized. With or without an education background, parents make great teachers because no paid instructor is more invested in a student than the parents.

Best decision I ever made! Some of my thoughts are here:
http://www.myautismteam.com/questions/4f07129d1...

There's a yahoo group also for parents of ASD who are homeschooling or thinking of homeschooling:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/asyoulikeit/

I homeschool my older two NT kids and hope that by the time my child with ASD reaches kindergarten age she'll have progressed to the point where I feel like I can HS her as well. Right now she's in a small SDC preschool with a 1:2 teacher-student ratio so that's actually better than what she'd have at home. She also gets twice-weekly pull-outs for speech & OT at school, but only qualifies for once every other week OT through our health insurance and we're on the wait-list for an opening with a network SLP. At this point, I feel like the benefits to her preschool outweigh the potential benefits to HS. We'll re-evaluate when she's closer to K. If the district wants to mainstream her, then I'm definitely bringing her home because even with an aide, having her in a class with 31 other kids would not be provide the kind of learning environment she needs.

We homeschool and love it. I teach to my child's strengths. He gets to pursue his passions. In kindergarten, we studied astronomy. In first grade, we studied anatomy. I have more control over issues that influence sensory challenges. My son loves to learn and asked me to teach him cursive this year. He could probably survive in a public school setting, but that's not good enough. I want my son to thrive, and he does with a home education. He's in second grade this year and it's been our best year yet. I highly recommend homeschooling.

Yes, I am actually doing a virtual online schooling program. That way he has a certified teacher and I as the parent am the learning coach.