HomeSchool Resources and TidBits (SpecNeeds)

"As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases." https://homeschoolspecneedstidbits.com/affiliate-disclosure/   Our son graduated from high school yesterday afternoon, and we could not have been prouder of him and all that he has accomplished. It has not been easy, but we will continue to push forward and advocate for his needs until he no longer needs us to do that for him. **SIGH** He has come so far from a four-year-old child that he would just point and say a few words to a young man who has achieved Honor Roll, earned Suma Cum Laude, and grown into an independent member of our society.  Being a parent of an autistic child is not easy, but it is worth it to see where your child has been and where they are now. Priceless!  So all those high school graduates, especially those with special needs, keep climbing, trying, and advocating for yourselves; hug your parents, thank your para educators and your teachers too.  Have a fantastic summer! ~Mom Advocate...

"As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases." https://homeschoolspecneedstidbits.com/affiliate-disclosure/ September is here! Did you create some memories with your loved ones this summer? We did lots of reflection of how far we have come when it comes to advocating for our autistic son.  Now we are in his senior year of high school and there is so much more to do, such as trying to figure out next steps and, in a nutshell, 'Life After High School'. What is next?  From one autistic/special needs parent to another, keep on advocating for your loved one and seek the prize at the end of this journey.... independence and a life fulfilled with people who love them and offer valued support and accommodations for a full life.  Until next time, take one day at a time and keep going.  ~Mom Advocate

"As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases." https://homeschoolspecneedstidbits.com/affiliate-disclosure/ Hello Everyone,  We are so ready for the summer to start. This year has been quite enlightening and busy. I am looking forward to new beginnings and enjoying watching our youngest grow into a young man. He will be a senior this Fall and to be a part of his growth and how far he has come is a true blessing. What are your plans for the Memorial Day weekend coming up? Here are some things you can do with your little ones-high school, especially those that are on the spectrum:  1. Easy Matching Weekly Workbooks- PreK-6th Grade 2 . Functional Academics-Summer BBQ Budget & Shopping-Life Skills - Special Ed 3.  Evan-Moor Daily Word Problems, Grade 3, Homeschooling & Classroom Resource Workbook, Problem-Solving Real Life Math Skills, Reproducible Worksheet ... Fractions, Time (Daily Word Problems Math 4.  B uilding Real-Life Math Skills: 16 Lessons...

"As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases." https://homeschoolspecneedstidbits.com/affiliate-disclosure/ Happy Spring Everyone! It has been a minute over here in our neighborhood. Can you believe that the school year is almost over? We are excited about the long summers and binge watching until whenever, right?!  Our autistic teen son is now in his 11th year of school and going into his final year of homeschooling this year as he enters his senior year of high school.  Time sure does fly when you are advocating(constantly) and busy being a homeschool mom who wears lots of hats and also writes too. Wherever you are in your journey with homeschooling, parenting, advocating, researching the many ways to educate your special needs child. Remember to keep your eyes on the prize of what is most important and that is your son/daughter to graduate from high school, learns to be more self-reliant and overall become more independent. For all of us, as parents of spe...

"As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases." https://homeschoolspecneedstidbits.com/affiliate-disclosure/   The teenage years of autism are downright hard and challenging when it comes to autistic boys. I think our son is at his highest, in regard to his anxiety level, and thankfully we have been able to get him to talk more about what is bothering him (that doesn't always work) but helping him find his voice and us listening helps him get it out of his system.  We have found a temporary fix to him navigating all of the news headlines of the day and there are a lot and as we all know NONE of it is good news. It is like once he reads a headline, this invades his entire day, and his homework doesn't get done ***SIGH***. So, we have decided to take away his phone temporarily and only return it to him after he is done with his homework. It seems to be working really well and he is definitely not as preoccupied or distracted by the world around him....

"As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases." https://homeschoolspecneedstidbits.com/affiliate-disclosure/ Hello November! How was your Halloween? Ours was celebrated the week before because that is how we roll, LOL! Although my kiddoes are now a teen and an adult, we still had our candy, watched a scary episode of American Horror Story:  Coven  ( never again ). My oldest loves that stuff but for my autistic teen son and myself it was definitely something that we would not want to experience again. Don't get me wrong, if you are into really dark, true story history then by all means go for it. On a lighter note, we watched the new Minions movie , and it was pretty awesome!      What's in the News.... We are officially, at least here in the PNW, in a tridemic -what the heck!? I am so very tired of all of this and thankful that our family jumped on it as soon as the new vaccines were available. Now we are hearing of the scarcity of av...

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" As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases." https://homeschoolspecneedstidbits.com/affiliate-disclosure/   We have a few more weeks left of school and cannot wait! So proud of our son who just completed his SBAC testing(***SIGH***). It was definitely nerve wracking, but he has such an awesome special education teacher that helped him through each painstaking minute, moment and second of his test taking ordeal. Thankfully we were able to get it all done and so now we are just chilling and celebrating with a three-day-weekend of sorts, so that we can just exhale for a moment. For those of you that are still test taking, GOOD LUCK! We know how painstakingly stressful these days can be not only for the parents, but the students as well, especially students with special needs challenges, anxiety, tears, panic attacks, etc.     I am not sure where your stance is on state test taking is in general, but it is and has been a debate for YEARS, especially in th...

"As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases." https://homeschoolspecneedstidbits.com/affiliate-disclosure/ Hello! Happy 2022!!! Hope your New Year celebration was safe and fun. We had some bubbly and the kids had apple grape sparkly fizzy juice (that's what I call it;-). It was a nice quiet time at home, of course there were early fireworks around 6pm that day and kept on going, but who's counting. Our cat did pretty well with all of the fireworks going on in the surrounding neighborhood and was pretty much not even bothered.                                    Samus our furry kitty Isn't she adorable? Pets are so funny sometimes and they always have their own personalities as well. She is fine just being around us and of course lets us all know when she doesn't want to be bothered with a little nip or scratch, so she is pretty independent. Aren't they all? ...

 " As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases." https://homeschoolspecneedstidbits.com/affiliate-disclosure/ Hello Beautiful People! Can you believe that there are about 3 weeks left of 2021?! It has been such a whirlwind, yet we also have so much to be thankful for as well.  I found this Christmas autism poem online and it really defines what a long 18 1/2 months it has been like for our family and that the journey continues...  This poem was written in 2008 by Cindy Waeltermann, who is the founder of the organization Autism Link. Autism Night Before Christmas by Cindy Waeltermann Twas the Night Before Christmas And all through the house The creatures were stirring Yes, even the mouse We tried melatonin And gave a hot bath But the holiday jitters They always distract The children were finally All nestled in bed When nightmares of terror Ran through my OWN head Did I get the right gift The right color And style Would there be a tantrum Or even, maybe, a...

"As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases." https://homeschoolspecneedstidbits.com/affiliate-disclosure/ Photo by  nappy  from  Pexels I learned today that my oldest had been targeted by a former 1st grade teacher, although she is an adult now, she says that she never forgot the incident because it was so traumatic. But as a parent hearing this for the first time it was very jarring and heartbreaking as well. Thankfully my daughter can look back on this incident and has grown from it but it happened and for me as a parent I cannot imagine what this would have done to my autistic younger teenaged son. He would literally be broken.  We advocate for both of our children every single day of our lives and whenever they need our help, But imagine if you will for a moment if your child was at school and being targeted or bullied by a person who is their teacher or para-educator, that are supposed to accommodate/support them, in their academics, daily living ...

"As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases." https://homeschoolspecneedstidbits.com/affiliate-disclosure/  "When life throws you a curve, deal with it, cry if you want to and then pick yourself up again and keep going." By Mom Advocate

"As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases." https://homeschoolspecneedstidbits.com/affiliate-disclosure/ Is it SAFE for your kids to return to school during a pandemic? My hubby and I asked each other that same question a few days ago when we received an email about our school district's reopening plan. There are so many things at stake: economy, opening of businesses, children's mental and emotional wellness,   parent's sanity and so much more that is happening in our world right now.  To top it all off, there is a pandemic that can kill you and your immediate family ***ARGH!!!***. If you are still on the fence about what to decide, in regards to sending your children back to school, the CDC has a great checklist you can check out and make the best decision for your family.  In our case, our son is autistic as some of you may already know and our concerns will obviously not be the same as your concerns when it comes to having your child return t...

"As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases." https://homeschoolspecneedstidbits.com/affiliate-disclosure/ It has been one heck of a  year! Between the pandemic , social distancing Amazon , Uber , Groceries and total strangers knocking on your door and a new strain of the COVID-19...I was honestly ready to say good riddance. But I digress.  I hope that you are mentally strong for what is to come for 2021. We still have to get over 20 million people vaccinated and we have only done about 2 million. Worst yet, I heard it through the grapevine that if we stay at this pace, it will take us another 10 years to get everyone vaccinated....TEN YEARS!!!!  My hope and prayer is that this nightmare will be over soon because we are tired(at least I am) of all the mess. So many people have been touched by all that has gone on since the pandemic hit our world. I will continue to power on and advocate for my family, my autistic son, my adult daughter and hopefully my sani...

National Autism Resources is the leading online resource for information, advice, toys, gifts, educational products and more. Every Year we have to usually get on our local school district to continue to accommodate for our son, especially when he is having a challenging time, whether it is about opening his locker to if the Gen Ed Math teacher is going to fast and he cannot keep up with the middle school pace.  This is a constant theme in all the years that we have been advocating for our autistic son. We understand that school districts are short staffed and/or that he may have had a substitute today for class, but this still does not answer the underlying question of who decides when an autistic or special needs child does not need to be accommodated for anymore?  We have had a school district psychologist tell us "Well, we want to see what he can do on his own?".  So what you are really saying is, 'well since he doesn't 'look' autistic and seems to...

" As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases ." https://homeschoolspecneedstidbits.com/affiliate-disclosure/ "Being the mother and parent of a special needs child is NOT easy, but I know in my heart that I am doing God's Work. The only thing that I need to do as my son's mother and parent is be the best advocate I can be, To make sure that when I lay down my head for the last time I will know that I have done all that I can to make sure he can take care of himself. Other parents with atypical parents have NO idea what a typical day, month, year can be like for parents of special needs children. We are tough and do what needs to be done. "  By Mom Advocate

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  My thoughts on this quote... It says it all really. This remote learning for us has been an up and down transition. There have been many days of struggle and tears, arguments, and more is coming but loving you is definitely the easy part.  Be Safe out there.....This pandemic is really trying us, as a family on all fronts but we are taking it one day at a time.  ~M.

  Visual Recipes Good Morning(Or Afternoon/Evening, depends on where you are)! I hope this finds you well, practicing safe distancing and trying new things to create more beautiful moments and inspirations with your family. I thought that this would be a great way to show what may come in handy during the early days of back to school or anytime. As well as a learning moment for your autistic child/teen/adult or someone that likes to visualize what each step looks like in a recipe( I do!). I like to see what the end game will look like after I complete a recipe. Sure it may not look exactly the same but worth it to at least try something different.  I hope you enjoy these recipes by Tasty! Recipes and more visual recipes from other food vloggers as well. They are so fun to watch from start to finish, but it is also a game changer when you can pause, rewind, slow down and really visualize what each step will look like.  If anything, this will be a great life skill for your ...