Special-Needs Requirements

Q. Are there extra requirements to homeschool a child with special needs? Are they still eligible for services like speech and occupational therapy (OT)? A. A child with special needs has the right to be homeschooled, and the parents of a child with special needs has the same rights to homeschool as any other parent — there are no additional requirements. As a homeschooler, your child will NOT be eligible for public school services, but most school districts have designated funds for a limited number of students (homeschoolers and private-school students) to take speech therapy and sometimes OT. Under the homeschool law, testing or an evaluation is required after each year for every child in order to continue homeschooling. Instead of end-of-year testing, you can provide an independent evaluation. We have more information about submitting an evaluation here. Many parents of children with special needs have had good results with an individualized curriculum and one-on-one tutoring in a homeschool setting. Please let us know if we can help you with other questions or concerns. With regards, Yvonne