Summer's almost here! You survived (in some states) three months of your special needs child (and possibly other children you have) being at home with you, trying to learn with online schooling/"homeschooling." First of all, congratulations for making it this far and still being conscious--no joke, this has been a very difficult situation for most families with special needs children, since the school districts have (for the most part) NOT been as supportive as they could be and IEPs have generally not been fulfilled/accommodations not been made. So, kudos to you for being able to get through this time and hopefully you have learned how to carve out breaks for yourself so you can keep taking care of your family (please see my other posts for how to do this).
But, unfortunately, many children have fallen behind during this three-month timeframe--especially those with special needs. Not having the accommodations for learning or the 1:1 instruction by qualified professionals has stunted the progress forward many children were making in the past. Unless you are a behavioral therapist or a special needs teacher yourself, it's been difficult for you to know what to do to help your child learn when each special needs child learns in a different way than most typical children. You've done magnificently with what you've been given, hoping and waiting on the fact that schools will reopen and life will go back to normal come the fall. Only, now we're hearing that many schools may not fully reopen in the fall, or if they do, there will be such restrictions (such as children wearing masks or sitting in cubicles away from 1:1 help) that you're wondering if school will even be a right fit for your special needs child if they do open in the fall. You're wondering how your child can catch up in time for school if your school is going to reopen in a "normal" way, since your child fell behind in learning. You're tired and want "OFF" the "homeschooling/online schooling" treadmill and would like a peaceful summer!
So...now what? How should you prepare for the future?
The answer is to talk to a qualified person about your choices for fall, and also to hire a good teacher over the summer to help your child catch up.
I CAN HELP WITH THIS!--I offer a 1 hour free consultation to TALK THROUGH WHAT'S GOING ON, and help you decide how to go forward and make decisions, and I also do online tutoring for special needs individuals. I've been helping parents make decisions and helping kids catch up for over 20 years--and I've personally been through issues and situations such as these, having my own son with ASD (who is going to be a senior in HS this fall) and needing to either homeschool him, or help him catch up also in the past. The summer is an EXCELLENT time to help your child catch up and get ready for whatever your next steps may be for fall (going back to school, or doing online schooling, or doing independent homeschooling)--it's a good THREE MONTHS to help your child get back on track for fall. Also, it's a good time to reexamine what the last three months meant for you and your family--maybe it worked out wonderfully and you enjoyed doing homeschooling! Or maybe your school did not provide enough support and you were struggling to homeschool by yourself and now feel anxious about what will happen for fall if you have to do it alone once again. Maybe you even just skipped it altogether like a lot of other parents and now you're wondering what will happen if there isn't "normal school" in fall. I can help you sort through all these issues and come up with a solution that works best for you, your child, and your family!
CLICK THE BUTTON to sign up for a FREE 1 hour consultation with me, Special Needs Tutor Paula, and we'll start to make sense of whatever situation you are in now and clean up the aftermath of the past three months of online schooling! Your child deserves the best educational care in progressing forward,
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