Deciding whether home schooling is the right choice for your child and your family depends on the nature and severity of your child's disability as well as your capacity to provide or procure the specialized instruction, therapies, equipment and materials your child will need. Despite the possible challenges in home schooling children with disabilities, experts such as Steven F. Duvall, Ph.D., assistant professor and director of Kansas-based Fort Hays State University's School Psychology Training Program, express confidence in parents' strong, positive impact on their disabled children's ability to learn. "Parents, even without special education training, provided powerful instructional environments at home," Duvall said.
While home schooling is legal in every state, parents who home-school children with disabilities must become knowledgeable about two types of state laws: general education laws and those that pertain specifically to home schooling. General education laws regulate matters such as the ages of compulsory school attendance, grade levels that must be completed, the number of days and/or hours in a school year, subjects required to be taught and in which grades, and testing requirements. Laws pertaining to home schooling define what it means to home-school, establish criteria for operating home-schools, outline requirements for teaching and spell out who can attend.
Many public schools provide free computers, curricula and instruction from certified teachers to home-schoolers who enroll in their programs. Some programs for home-schooled students include at least part-day instruction in a brick-and-mortar school facility once per week. Likewise, a number of charter schools offer almost identical services that may or may not include the onsite attendance component. Nonprofit organizations focused on specific disabilities, such as Hadley School for the Blind, also offer free home-based instruction for students with disabilities.
If your state treats home-schools as private schools, your disabled child may receive special education services funded by your state and the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. If, however, your state has special laws governing providing services to home-school students, your child may receive only state-funded services. In addition, the Home School Education Foundation offers assistance to home-schooling families of children with disabilities, to pay for therapies, equipment, testing and specialized materials through its Special Needs Children's Fund.