My son is disabled and I plan to homeschool him come January but I don't know how to start. Does anyone know anything about homeschooling visually impaired persons?

Sarah,

While there are probably several of us here that do hs special needs children, you probably need a stronger support network than you may get here. There is a wonderful Yahoo mailing list that was a BIG help to me when I pulled my special needs son from the ps.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hskids-specialneeds/

I am not receiving group mail at this point, so I don't know if any current members have visually impaired children, but they are a wonderful group of really helpful people. They will have some great ideas of where you can find resources to aid in this transition.

For general hs questions, you will find the ladies here a wonderful source of information AND inspiration!!

One thing that will help us know how to answer your questions about getting started, is to know which state you live in, as states do have different laws about hs, especially homeschooling special needs children. Also, what grade is your son in, and is he under an IEP in his school?

Sarah,

I wonder if your school district, via an IEP-or a 504, could provide your son with some tutoring or materials, or special ed for his needs part time at home if possible. Then you would provide the "regular ed" portion at home as a homeschool or perhaps another designation. At one point when my son was ill, we had tutors provided by the school and he worked on his own the rest of the time. Remember, you are the consumer. Ask for what you want and you may get it. One note, school districts like to have you kid labeled special ed because they get additional funds. You do not have to have your child enrolled in his home district to receive these services. Good for you for doing the research now.

Ps my mom has been visually impaired since birth. She is 76 and has led a wonderful life. Your son will too.

Take Care,

Jill