I use McKay Scholarship (Florida specific) to send her to school with other peers with ASD. The public school system where I live has great special needs programs but I can't prevent the bullying or social isolation imposed on Abbe so I am reticent to "mainstream" her any time soon. Wish I had the time and ability to home school...have to work.

Best help I got was from www. bullies2buddies.com. They have a downloadable curriculum you can use at home with your child to empower him or her to deal with bullying. As for bullying from teachers, you will find that you have to educate the school system if they don't have a good handle on ASD and how it impacts kids in school. Even in school districts working to educate their teachers, they still don't have the same understanding of ASD that you get as a 24/7 parent! As for homeschooling, I did that with my oldest for a year full time, and one year part time while waiting to get diagnosis and meds adjusted for ADHD. I learned a lot about him that was helpful to me in advocating for him, but I don't know that homeschooling is the best solution for a ASD child as it may increase the disinclination to interact socially. But it was very hard on me as a mom! There are some women who homeschool very well, but I was not one of them! Good luck! :-)

Happy New Years everybody. I home schooled my son for 11 years. He got beat up everyday at public school, and they told me was nothing they could do to help him stay safe. Well here we are 2011 and Cheyenne graduated in June with 3.95 GPA and is trying college. I am so proud of him, but we still have along way to go. We had a pretty good day today.

Fortunate for you, @A MyAutismTeam Member, you have a Homeschool support group there in K-town. Check them out at/www.txchess.com/ . Quite a bit of local support, and I'd believe you'll find at least another family with a Kindred Spirit, if not more who can help navigate Rookie or any other year. You don't have to do it alone! Plus, you can tailor curriculum to include Manners & Special interest.

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A MyAutis...

Dr Temple Gradin, a brilliant autistic, and who has had a wonderful HBO movie about her life, writes of her experiences. She tells in her co-authored book with Sean Barron, 'Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships', that her mother, a Harvard graduate, refused to accept the traditional 'institutionalization' non-treatment. Her mother kept close tabs, and children of the 50s & 60s were privileged with TV, and were held to a uniform social standard enforced by parents. By exposing our children to as many opportunities, yet avoiding Too Much Information (stimulation) Temple learned to Keep Asking Questions. I believe that true intelligence is not found in regurgitation of facts, but in forming relevant questions. I would read aloud a book a month to my 3 home schooled children, and they thirst for Qs & As today!