Homeschooling the child with Asperger Syndrome, a book review

Homeschooling the Child with Asperger Syndrome by Lisa Pyles is one of the best introductory books on homeschooling I’ve found. Her approach is unique in that she discusses the broad topic of homeschooling with specific suggestions for overcoming the learning challenges that a child with Asperger’s might face.

As an experienced homeschooling parent, I can attest that most of her advice is relevant to all homeschooling families. For example, after a brief discussion of Asperger’s, she challenges the obstacles that many parents voice as reasons not to homeschool in the first place. These perceived obstacles seem to be common among many families who are pondering this decision.

First is the issue of time. She says one mom followed “…her two (non-AS affected) middle school aged children around their classes.” This mom reported that each child received less than two hours of actual instruction time.

“The rest of the day was eaten up by passing between classes, getting settled, collecting homework or lunch orders, handing out papers, taking attendance, making announcements, waiting for quiet, dealing with rowdy kids, and getting ready to go to the next class.” (p23)

Pyles also challenges myths such as

*It’s too expensive,

*I’m not a teacher,

*I don’t know what to teach,

*I can’t handle him, he won’t learn from me,

*my child doesn’t want to, and

*my family won’t support me.

Behavioral issues in and out of the classroom are not unique to children with Asperger Syndrome, children who are naturally introverted often have meltdowns when they arrive home after spending hours interacting with others, energetic boys often have trouble sitting still for long periods of time, immature children have short attention spans, and some kids just struggle to control their emotions when bombarded with stimulation and demands all day long. 

You may not have the skills to teach a group of 25 kids you’ve just met, but God has given you the skills to teach the one child whose gifts, skills and learning style you’ve been studying since the day he was born. Parents are always teaching, from walking and talking to eating independently, personal hygiene, cooking meals, mowing the lawn, following directions and more – and we rarely stop to consider whether or not we are qualified to teach these things.

“Our job as teacher is to teach academic subjects. The other job, as a parent, is to help our children cope in the world.” (p38)

“What if we change things so that… [the child] is allowed to feel safe and comfortable and calm, and is allowed to learn at his own rate and in a way that suits him?” Might this change in his environment also change the way he responds to it? Perhaps for the better? (p29)

Throughout the text, Lisa Pyles breaks down topics by academic subject and age range, offering websites, book lists and tips from experienced parents.

The author of Homeschooling the child with Asperger’s Syndrome is not a lifelong homeschooler. She pulled her child so that she could meet his needs. This gives her the perspective of having tried the public school system, taken an adventure in homeschooling and later re-enrolling him into a private school.

I often meet young moms who say, “Oh, I’ve been thinking about homeschooling, but how do I get started?” and it’s been so long since we started that I have a hard time remembering what it was like. I would recommend Pyles book to those moms.

At first, I was curious about the topic, but convinced she would have little to offer me… I mean, I’ve been doing this a long time, and I don't have a child with Asperger Syndrome. But, even I found some good tips. My favorite is the Learning Jar – this is a jar filled with educational activities for children to do when they need a break, or when you need to help another child. The child can pull a slip of paper from the jar and find a special task to do, such as counting the stairs for little ones, measuring the area of a room or alphabetizing the books on a shelf. The tasks can be specific to the child, such as march the stairs for gross motor skills, count the paper clips in this cup for fine motor skills, stand on one foot for fifteen seconds for children who need help with balance, etc.

Overall, Homeschooling the child with Asperger’s Syndrome is an excellent overview of homeschooling and a good read for anyone just getting started with it, and it may have some great nuggets for us old pros too.