HomeSchool Resources and TidBits (SpecNeeds)

"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 special

" As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases." https://homeschoolspecneedstidbits.com/affiliate-disclosure/

"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.  School

"As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases." https://homeschoolspecneedstidbits.com/affiliate-disclosure/ Anxiety is high up there, especially when it comes to autistic individuals and their parents, and this year ( as well as the last two years ) is no exception. Emotional wellness is huge this year even with atypical individuals and school, social media, TikTok, etc. We have had to be more proactive when it comes to keeping him off the computer and into more hobbies, outdoor activities (that he is comfortable with), and finding more ways to keep him occupied. It started happening more and more with his increase of sceentime and he slowly started to become obsessed with all of the negative comments online.  Thankfully we are finding things that do keep his interest and actually work. If you are an autism parent struggling to keep your autistic son or daughter from becoming depressed, please reach out to an autism support group and find ways to keep them from

"As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases." https://homeschoolspecneedstidbits.com/affiliate-disclosure/ We have been through a lot this year with inflation prices, a recession on the horizon and so much more we have to look forward to in 2023. But overall, we are thankful for the little things like a roof over our head, food on the table, friends and family and our sanity.  We have had to change our tune when it comes to how we do things, especially the way we eat and shop in our grocery stores. Picking up our groceries after shopping for them online and so much more, but we are especially thankful that we have the opportunity to homeschool our autistic son and college aged daughter is able to do her studies in an environment where they both strive and blossom. No distractions and total focus.  Happy Holidays! From HSSNTidbits

"As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases." https://homeschoolspecneedstidbits.com/affiliate-disclosure/   Thanksgiving is the time to feel gratitude for everything that we have. It is not only the celebration, but also the spirit of thanks that makes this holiday so special. If we think about our life, and ourselves we should thank the clouds for giving us rain, the trees because they give us fruit, the earth because it gives us a place to live. Our parents for giving birth to us, our friends, for sharing our thoughts and being with God and us for giving all these. Thanksgiving Screensavers can help us remember all these and fill us with an attitude of gratitude. Let me tell you how to choose and download the Thanksgiving Screensavers.  Message and Impact - When you view a screensaver, it should make you feel good. It should make you feel truly grateful. The colors should be very pleasing to the eyes. The font sizes and the effect of text should be very rea

"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 available COVID-19 vacc