AUTISM CHILD BEHAVIOR

After a crazy summer of appointments, healing, disorganization and losing our ABA tutor... we are finally starting to get on track with homeschooling again :)

I will be updating which curriculum we are using in the days ahead(it hasn't changed that much from last year) and sharing how our reorganization of class time is working.

I needed to make room for several hours a week of one - on - one with Avery to keep up on his ABA. Many of the programs aren't easily integrated to what the other boys are doing so its taking me some time to find a balance that works.

My dear husband has graciously offered to take on teaching a couple subjects in the evenings which will hopefully take some of the pressure off me and allow me more room to work with Avery independently without sacrificing the education of the other boys.

We are trying to keep things very simple this year which included taking Colin out of phys Ed and Music at the public school down the street. Trying to schedule their class times into our days was a nightmare since they operate on a 6 day cycle with different times for each day. I see the benefit of working this way in a public school (crowd control and trying to spread around the classes missed on the inevitable holiday mondays) but it is NOT ideal for our small group.
Colin was no longer getting anything out of the music class due to the number of times he missed (if a homeschool co op activity happened at the same time, Music got ditched) and the group moved much slower then what he was capable of.
He does miss phys ed but we have put him in Irish Dancing on Saturdays to fill the void of physical activity in a more specialized way. He does not have the coordination and gross motor skills to keep up with a regularly developing peer group and was beginning to get teased by the other children. The phys ed teacher was wonderful but agreed something slower paced and specialized would suit him better. So far he loves Irish Dancing and the instructor( a good friend of mine) understands his delays and I look forward to us all being able to work together.

I'm optimistic about the year ahead and , as always, feel incredibly blessed that I can stay home to teach my own :)