The Rights and Entitlements of a Homeschooled Child

November 4, 2013

2:14pm

What kinds of special services are available for homeschooled children?

Anyone who knows my eldest child knows that he likes to talk. The kid can and will carry a conversation on with anyone given the opportunity. The problem is that Jay has a very prominent lisp that makes it very difficult to understand what he is saying. He comes by it honestly. Yeth, I had a lipth when I wath younger, thoo. If you listen to me speak long enough, you'll hear it come out. 

Turk had speech therapy lessons he attended in Pre-K and in kindergarten. Stephan and I would have bi-quarterly meetings with the special education staff at his school to discuss his progress and plans/goals to reach by the next meeting. When we made the decision to homeschool, we informed the staff at the very last meeting we had with them. Of course, some of them seemed uncomfortable with the idea (or even offended) of withdrawing Jay to teach him at home. When I asked about continuing services, I received all kinds of ambiguous responses from the staff. One side said that the state of Texas only gives services to students enrolled under the local public school district, and the other side said that the homeschoolers are still entitled to receive those services. Needless to say, nobody knew what they were talking about, let alone the laws regarding home-education. 

I received a phone call from the special education coordinator at the very beginning of the summer saying that Jay was still eligible to receive speech services and that she would contact me at the end of the summer to make those arrangements. Well, that phone call never came. I suppose I shouldn't have been upset, considering all of the students enrolled in the Killeen Independent School District who needs those services. They get first dibs, right? Through my research, I've seen many parents struggle with having the local school system provide services to their homeschooled children. Much of the time, the school system will say that there is "no educational need". What a cop-out. Laziness and attitudes over the fact that...OK. Calm down, Nesh. Most parents on these forums I've been reading have to go through private therapy centers and duke it out with their insurance to cover the fees. It's a crazy hassle, but it's worth it.

As of today, Stephan and I were successful in getting Jay back into receiving speech services on a regular basis. We had to get a referral through his pediatrician and wait for a phone call from the therapy center, but it's all done! Jay will be resuming speech therapy every Tuesday and Thursday for a half-hour session, and we were successful in doing this with no complications! Praise God! 

As much as I may think it, I can't do everything. I'm not a licensed speech pathologist, nor am I good at particular subjects. But, as long as there is someone who is, I will seek them out and solicit their services on behalf of my children. One day, I'd like to bring this to the attention of the state (whichever one we're living in) board of education. All students, whether public, private, or home-educated, should have equal rights to all special services, as well as resources and tutoring options. I don't believe in preferential treatment, because all of these kids are apart of the same future America. There are enough issues facing kids and their education today. 

Dude...

We have got to do better.